2019-20 Clipper Race Crew Pose for Photo With Race Founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

13th May 2019

Afloat.ie Team

Four hundred crew members pose on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall, with sailing legend and Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

Four hundred crew members pose on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall, with sailing legend and Clipper Race Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, after discovering their Skippers and which teams they will be sailing around the world with. The Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race Crew are the most global ever, made up of 44 nationalities, with ages ranging from 18-76 with professions such as hairdresser, roofer, chiropractor and CEO.

Almost 700 adventurers will be taking part in the British run Clipper 2019-20 Race which will set off on the 1 September 2019. And it has been announced today that the event’s Race Start will be from London’s St. Katharine Docks. This will only be the third time in twelve editions the race has launched in the capital city.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Clipper Race Chairman and Founder, who last month celebrated his 50th anniversary of being the first person to sail around the world, non-stop, said to crew at the Portsmouth event “I want you to be able to say this is the best thing that you have done with your life - so far. Then I will know we have broadened your horizons. Don’t paint your life in pastel colours. You only have one life, make it bright.”

In a string of race updates, it has also been announced that Punta del Este, Uruguay, is set to return for the second consecutive edition on the 40,00nm race route. After a hugely successful stopover during the 2017-18 edition of the global race, the Yacht Club Punta del Este will again host the eleven-strong fleet as the final port of call in the first Leg. Punta del Este will also be entering its debut team, which will be led by the Clipper Race’s first ever Spanish Skipper Jeronimo Santos-Gonzalez.

The V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, SA, will return as a Host Port for the tenth time. The fleet will have raced approximately 10,000nm from London, UK, when it reaches Cape Town. Another 10,00nm later, after a stop in Fremantle, AUS, the fleet will arrive into Airlie Beach, Whitsundays, which was revealed as the final port for Leg 4.

After claiming an impressive second place in the last race, Seattle, USA, has confirmed that it will be returning with a team entry in the 2019-20 Race. The team will be led by British Clipper Race Skipper Ben Keitch.

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About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is undoubtedly one of the greatest ocean adventures on the planet, also regarded as one of its toughest endurance challenges. Taking almost a year to complete, it consists of eleven teams competing against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of 70-foot ocean racing yachts.

The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors. Around 40 per cent of crew are novices and have never sailed before starting a comprehensive training programme ahead of their adventure.

This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to train drivers, nurses and firefighters, farmers, airline pilots and students, from age 18 upwards, to take on Mother Nature’s toughest and most remote conditions. There is no upper age limit, the oldest competitor to date is 76.

Now in its twelfth edition, the Clipper 2019-20 Race started from London, UK, on 02 September 2019.