Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Approaching the starting line on a leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 12 June 2008

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was conceived in 1995 by well-known yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and together with William Ward, founded Clipper Ventures, a company that would run the race. The first race set off a year later on 16 October 1996. The event gives paying amateur crew members the chance to sail around the world. The organizers own a fleet of identical yachts, and provide qualified skippers to lead each team. Crew can either sign up for the whole race, or one or more legs. In contrast to the slightly older Global Challenge, the Clipper race uses lighter, faster boats and the route follows the prevailing currents and winds.

The race ran every two years between 1996 and 2002, and then skipped a year, with a race beginning in 2005 and finishing in July 2006. The Clipper 07–08 race started on 16 September 2007 finishing July 2008 in Liverpool. The Clipper 09–10 race started from Kingston upon Hull on the Humber Estuary on 13 September 2009 and finished on 17 July 2010 when it was won by Spirit of Australia.

History

In 1995 Sir Robin Knox Johnston’s vision to allow people from all walks of life to race around the world was rapidly taking shape. Eight 60-foot David Pedrick-designed yachts were being built by Colvic Craft and the crews recruited. The yachts were all named after the original tea clippers which ruled the waves 150 years ago, racing to deliver their cargo from China to the fashionable, tea-drinking sets in London. In the Great Tea Race of 1866, Ariel was first over the finish line, completing the 15,000-mile race from the Chinese port of Foo-Chow-Foo to London in just 90 days.

More than a century later, another Clipper race was underway as eight yachts, devoid of sponsors’ badges and with minimum fanfare, slipped out from Plymouth under the watchful gaze of a handful of spectators, heralding a new dawn in ocean racing. And it was fitting that on their return eleven months later it was Ariel, skippered by Ras Turner, which picked up the inaugural trophy.

The contrast from the first race to the start of Clipper 09-10 could not be more pronounced. At the start of the most recent circumnavigation, an estimated 150,000 spectators packed into Hull to watch ten stripped down, Ed Dubois-designed 68-foot racers head for the start line. Each boat carried the proud team colours of its global sponsor. The Red Arrows flew overhead and by the end of the race the race had been exposed to an estimated combined global circulation of more than 470,000,000 people.

1996 In 1996, the Clipper route went west about, racing from Plymouth to Madeira, Fort Lauderdale, Panama, Galapagos, Hawaii, Yokohama, Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Seychelles, Durban, Cape Town, Salvador de Bahia in Brazil and back to Plymouth via the Azores.

1998 In 1998, the route was modified slightly, to allow a visit to Marina Hemmingway, (located five miles west of Havana) in Cuba; this adjustment also included a brief stop at Nassau in the Bahamas. A visit to New York replaced the Azores and the new route worked well for Ariel which once again took overall first place under the youthful skipper, Alex Thomson, who used the win to springboard him in to the international racing scene on his Open 60 Hugo Boss.

2000 The Clipper 2000 Race heralded a big change when The Times newspaper came on board as title sponsor, featuring the race as its Millennium project. The event was re-named The Times Clipper 2000 Race and for the first time, the yachts were backed by UK cities. In a grand parade out of Portsmouth harbour, the home boat prepared for the off against entries from Plymouth, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Jersey and Liverpool. The race attempted to make it from Yokohama to Shanghai but a fierce storm in Tokyo Bay caused damage to several of the boats and by the time they had returned to Japan for repair, the entry visas to China had lapsed. Instead, the fleet raced to Naha, the capital of the Japanese island, Okinawa. Another diversion took place in May 2001 when mechanical problems to Bristol Clipper’s generator meant the fleet spent two days in Christmas Island and the crews got an unexpected Australian stamp in their passports. In another modification to the Clipper ‘96 and Clipper ‘98 route, stops were included in Vilamoura (Portugal), Singapore and Mauritius with the penultimate race going from New York to the Channel Island port of St. Helier. It meant that the race back to Portsmouth was a short one, providing a grandstand finish for spectators and media alike. And what a finish they had with Jersey, Bristol and London all fighting for overall honours. In the end, it was Bob Beggs on Bristol who just pipped Jersey for the lead crystal Times Clipper 2000 trophy.

2002 The city concept was expanded for the Clipper 2002 Race with entries from international cities including Cape Town, Hong Kong and New York. The race continued to go westwards for the fourth (and final) circumnavigation by the venerable Clipper 60 fleet. On this occasion, the race start was from the city of Liverpool – the first time a global yacht race had used the River Mersey, endorsing Clipper’s strategy of taking the sport of ocean racing to new markets and new audiences.

The north west of England threw down a powerful gauntlet over race start weekend with 100 mph gusts turning the local waters in to a boiling maelstrom and the start was postponed from the Sunday until the next day. Despite that, more than 40,000 spectators were there to cheer the fleet on its way.

As in 2000, the attempt to race into Shanghai failed – this time thanks to the promised berthing facilities being withdrawn. Further along the route, the fleet was challenged by the dreaded SARS virus and the yachts were forced to find an alternative location close to Singapore. The popular Indonesian island of Batam provided the facilities and the stop proved so popular, it was a catalyst for Singapore to enter a yacht in the next running of the race.

Jersey Clipper, which had come so close to winning in 2000, now tasted the victor’s champagne as skipper Simon Rowell and his crew stood on the podium’s top step as overall winners.

A new fleet of Ed Dubois 68-foot racing yachts was commissioned in time for Clipper 05-06 and the race fleet increased from eight boats to ten. Built in China, they have now successfully completed three circumnavigations and represent a truly international mixture of cities. Going eastwards for the first time, the race route has taken in more firsts including Cascais in Portugal, La Rochelle in France, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Fremantle and Geraldton in Western Australia, the Olympic sailing venue of Qingdao in China, Victoria in British Columbia, San Francisco in California, Halifax and Sydney in Nova Scotia and Cork in the west of Ireland.

Despite these changes, the race remained true to its Clipper heritage, selecting routes that allowed for a high proportion of downwind sailing, the most technically demanding point of sail. A longer hull line, taller mast, lighter overall weight and a flatter bottom meant faster boat speeds and the Clipper 68s have logged downwind surfs approaching 30 knots.

Since 1996, the Clipper Race has taken more than 2,000 people from all walks of life and turned them in to long distance racers. In Clipper 09-10, these came from 41 nationalities, representing 230 different professions and were aged from 18 to 69. Most have gone on to continue their love of the sea through boat purchases, sailing holidays and jobs in the marine sector.

Clipper '96

The first race took a route starting from Plymouth and then sailing to Madeira, Fort Lauderdale, Panama, Galapagos, Hawaii, Yokohama, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seychelles, Durban, Cape Town, Salvador (Brazil), the Azores and back to Plymouth.

Clipper '96 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	Ariel	Ras Turner	24
2	Mermerus	Jim Thom	47
3	Taeping	Adrian Faiers	61
4	Chrysolite	Colin de Mowbray	64
5	Blackadder	Andrew Spedding	77
6	Serica	Bluey Neale	82
7	Thermopylae	Mervyn Wheatley	91
8	Antiope	Charlie Osborne	93

Scores were calculated on a for each race. First = 1 point, Second = 2 points and so on...

Clipper '98

In 1998 the race had its second running. Colin de Mowbray, took over as race director. This time, seven boats raced, with Blackadder not competing. The route was largely the same as the '96 race, but called briefly at Nassau in the Bahamas before going to Marina Hemingway, just to the west of Havana, a direct course between the USA and Cuba being impossible. The race was won, convincingly, by Alex Thomson, who was the youngest skipper to win a round the world yacht race at just 24.

Clipper '98 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	Ariel	Alex Thomson	24.5
2	Antiope	Keith Harris	50
3	Chrysolite	Tim Hedges	58.5
4	Mermerus	Barney Sollars	67
5	Taeping	Nick Fleming	71.5
6	Serica	Rupert Dean	76
7	Thermopylae	Malcolm Todd	82.5

The Times Clipper 2000 Race

The Times Clipper 2000 race saw the return of an eight boat fleet. All of the boats were renamed after cities in the UK, with the crews, where possible, drawn from the city their boat was named for. The stop in the Azores was replaced by one in New York and to compensate for the extra distance the Seychelles to Durban to Cape Town leg was reduced to Mauritius to Cape Town. The fleet suffered a bad storm east of Tokyo bay in March 2001 in which several of the boats were damaged, and the race had to be restarted from Yokohama. This was the only race to have a title sponsor, with the UK daily broadsheet The Times sponsoring the race and trophy.

The point scoring method was altered, with the races now scoring 8 points for a win, 7 for second and so on.

The Times Clipper 2000 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	Bristol	Bob Beggs	97.4
2	Jersey	Paul de la Haye	96
3	London	Stuart Gibson	82
4	Liverpool	Rupert Dean	77
5	Plymouth	Matt Baker	75
6	Portsmouth	Martin Clough	72
7	Leeds	Simon Rowell	40
8	Glasgow	Ed Green	38

The Clipper 2002 Race

In 2002 the start point was moved to Liverpool, and an estimated 40,000 spectators came to see the boats off despite a 24-hour delay due to storms in the Irish Sea. It was the final circumnavigation for the well weathered Clipper 60's. Three of the boats were renamed, and international cities were now added to the race, Hong Kong, Cape Town and New York. Colin de Mowbray stepped down as race director, to be replaced by Tim Hedges.

Clipper 2002 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	Jersey	Simon Rowell	97.5
2	Bristol	Richard Butler	95.5
3	Liverpool	Adam Kyffin	74
4	Hong Kong	Justin Taylor	71
5	Glasgow	Rupert Parkhouse	65
6	London	Rory Gillard	57.5
7	New York	Ross Daniel	55
8	Cape Town	Roger Steven-Jennings	30

Clipper 05–06 Race

The 2005 race involved new boats and a course that circumnavigated from east to west. The new yacht design was the Dubois 68, eight feet longer than its predecessor, but weighing two tons less. After the initial three international boats from the 2002 race, the race was made fully international, with boats sponsored by Victoria, Canada, Qingdao, Durban, New York, Singapore and Western Australia as well as the home teams of Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff and Jersey. The route was altered to take account of the faster boats, and to take in stopovers at many of the sponsoring cities. For the first time a leg across the Southern Ocean between Durban and Fremantle, and a leg across the North Pacific between Qingdao and Victoria, Canada. The race schedule was significantly altered when Glasgow Clipper reported keel problems in the South China Sea, and diverted to Subic Bay in the Philippines, followed by the rest of the fleet that were showing symptoms, causing an enforced 6 week stopover. The revised schedule dropped the planned stopover in Yokohama from the route, and moving the Caribbean stopover from Curaçao to Jamaica.

Clipper 05–06 Leg Results

Start	Liverpool	Cascais	Salvador	Durban	Fremantle	Singapore	Subic Bay	Qingdao	Victoria	Panama	Jamaica	New York	Jersey	Holyhead
End	Cascais	Salvador	Durban	Fremantle	Singapore	Subic Bay	Qingdao	Victoria	Panama	Jamaica	New York	Jersey	Holyhead	Liverpool
Liverpool '08	1	2	Jt. 5	6	5	-	1	3	3	9	8	6	1	3
Glasgow : Scotland with Style	10	10	9	10 (-1)	9	-	8	8 (-2)	8 (-4)	10	4	9	7	9
Uniquely Singapore	4	6	Jt. 5.	9	6	-	4 (-1)	9 (-1)	1	4	1	7	4	6
westernaustralia.com	2	1	1	3	2	-	9	5	7	2	2	2	2	1
Jersey	9	7	10	5	8	-	10 (-2)	10 (-1)	10 (-4)	7	10	5	9	8
Durban	3	5	8	1 (-1)	1	-	3	2 (-1)	2	1	6	8	3	7
New York	6	4	2	7	3	-	6	7 (-1)	4	3	3	1	5	2
Qingdao	7	9	4	4	7	-	7	6	9	5	5	4	6	5
Victoria	8	8 (-1)	7	2	4	-	2 (-1)	1	6	8	7	3	10	4
Cardiff	5	3 (-1)	3	8	10	-	5 (-1)	4	5	6	9	10	8	10

Races score 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9 pts, etc. However, Race 1 ( Liverpool to Cascais ) and Race 13 ( Holyhead to Liverpool ) were scored at half points. In addition, the race committee did sometimes apply points penalties, invariably for excessive sail damage. The penalty points are shown in brackets after the result.

The original race 6, from Singapore to Qingdao was abandoned when the fleet diverted to Subic, and no points were awarded.

Liverpool and Singapore were awarded a tie in Race 3, after Liverpool had a GPS failure, and could not confirm its finish time with sufficient accuracy to determine whether it was ahead or behind Singapore. 5.5 points were awarded to each boat.

Clipper 05–06 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	westernaustralia.com	Dave Pryce/Mark Preedy	94.5
2	Durban	Craig Miller	85.0
3	New York	Joff Bailey	82.0
4	Liverpool '08	Tim McGee ( Sam Fuller Jamaica->New York )	80.5
5	Uniquely Singapore	Richard Falk	68.5
6	Victoria	Ewan Hind	65.0
7	Qingdao	Danny Watson	59.0
8	Cardiff	Conor Fogherty ( Mervyn Wheatley Victoria->Panama )	51.5
9	Jersey	Mark Taylor/Simon Rowell/Richard Franklin/Mervyn Wheatley	25.5
10	Glasgow: Scotland with Style	Graeme Johnston/Rory Gillard	23.5

Clipper 07–08 Race

The Clipper 07–08 race started on 16 September 2007. Once again, 10 Clipper 68s took part. There were some changes to the lineup with Victoria, Jersey and Cardiff replaced by Jamaica, Hull & Humber and Nova Scotia. Joff Bailey takes over as race director. The race had some changes compared to the 05–06 route. La Rochelle was the first stop, replacing Cascais, and the route for Leg 5 changed, with the race leaving Qingdao and heading to Santa Cruz via Hawaii, eliminating the stopovers in Yokohama and Victoria. The final leg also changed, with an extra stop in Halifax, and the final pitstop in Cork, rather than Jersey.

Clipper 07–08 Leg Results

Start	Liverpool	La Rochelle	Salvador	Durban	Fremantle	Singapore	Qingdao	Hawaii	Santa Cruz	Panama	Jamaica	New York	Halifax	Cork
End	La Rochelle	Salvador	Durban	Fremantle	Singapore	Qingdao	Hawaii	Santa Cruz	Panama	Jamaica	New York	Halifax	Cork	Liverpool
Liverpool '08	2	4	2	9	2	8	7	7	6	5	3	9	4	5
Glasgow : Scotland with Style	3	2	3	6	6	3	3	5	5	3	5	2	7	6
Uniquely Singapore	7	7	8	7	7	7	4	1	7	6	7	8	5	2
westernaustralia2011.com	9	6	6	2	3	6	RTD	DNC	9	10	2	1	9	9
Jamaica	RTD	10	9	8	9	5	8	6	8	8	6	10	6	7
Durban 2010 and Beyond	5	1	7	1	5	2	6	DNC	RTD	7	10	7	8	8
Hull & Humber	1	5	4*	4	4	4	1	4	1	1	8	4	3	3
Qingdao	6	8	5	3	10	10	5	8	2	4	4	3	2	4
New York	8	9	1	10	1	1	2	3	3	2	1	6	1	1
Nova Scotia	4	3	10	5	8	9	9	2	4	9	9	5	10	10

• In Race 3, Hull and Humber crossed the line first, but had a four hour penalty applied for using her motor during a casualty evacuation near the start of the race. As New York were six minutes behind, and Liverpool and Glasgow also finished within four hours, Hull and Humber dropped to 4th place in that race.
• In Race 8, Western Australia and Durban did not compete after losing their masts in Race 7. The race committee awarded them points for the race based on their average position in races 1–7. Durban got 7 points, Western Australia got 5.

RTD = Retired, DNC = Did not compete

Clipper 07–08 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	New York	Jerry Crew/Duggie Gillespie	103.5
2	Hull & Humber	Danny Watson	98.0
3	Glasgow: Scotland with Style	Hannah Jenner	87.0
4	Qingdao	Marcus Cholerton-Brown	77.5
5	Liverpool '08	Ben Galloway	75.5
6	Durban 2010 and Beyond	Ricky Chalmers	70.0
7	Uniquely Singapore	Mark Preedy	69.0
8	westernaustralia2011.com	Martin Silk	65.0
9	Nova Scotia	Rob McInally	50.5
10	Jamaica	Simon Bradley	40.5

Where two teams are equal on points, their relative position is determined using the countback rule. That is, the team with the most first place finishes is placed higher; if those are equal, look at second place finishes, and so forth...

Points have been deducted for sail damage : Glasgow & Hull and Humber 4, Nova Scotia & Jamaica 3, Liverpool 1.

Race 1 was for half points.

Clipper 09–10 Race

Clipper 09–10 started from Hull on 13 September 2009.^[1] The same fleet of Clipper 68s took part. The yachts were named Hull and Humber, Qingdao, Uniquely Singapore, Cape Breton Island, Spirit of Australia, California, Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, Jamaica Lightning Bolt, Team Finland and Cork. It was won by Spirit of Australia on 17 July 2010, when the yachts returned to Hull Marina for a gala celebration.

For this race, stealth mode was introduced along with scoring gates.

Clipper 09–10 Leg Results

Start	Hull	La Rochelle	Rio de Janeiro	South Africa	Western Australia	Singapore	Qingdao	California	Panama	Caribbean	New York	Cape Breton Island	Cork	Ijmuiden	Gate Points
End	La Rochelle	Rio de Janeiro	South Africa	Western Australia	Singapore	Qingdao	California	Panama	Caribbean	New York	Cape Breton Island	Cork	Ijmuiden	Hull	Gate Points
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	3	2	3	5	2	3	5	5	4	6	4	5	2	3	1
Jamaica Lightning Bolt	6	8	6	8	8	9	9	9	6	3	3	9	3	6	5
Uniquely Singapore	4	3	8	4	4	7	7	2	5	10	7	1	5	4	7
Cork	8	6	10	1	0	4.6	4.6	4.6	3	1	1	4	1	10	3
Team Finland	10	10	9	10	7	1	8.3	7	7	4	5	10	10	2	5
Qingdao	2	5	4	6	3	8	8	8	2	8	2	8	4	5	1
Cape Breton Island	7	7	2	7	10	5	10	6	8	9	8	2	8	7	8
Hull & Humber	5	4	7	7	5	4	6	4	9	7	10	7	9	9	5
Spirit of Australia	9	9	5	9	9	10	10	10	10	5	9	6	7	8	12
California	1	1	1	3	6	6	1	3	1	2	6	3	6	1	1

Aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious leading the contestants in the 2011-12 race down Southampton Water to the start line off Cowes, IoW, 31 July 2011, as seen from Calshot Spit.

Clipper 09–10 Results

Position	Boat	Skipper	Points
1	Spirit of Australia	Brendan Hall	128
2	Team Finland	Eero Lehtinen / Rob McInally	105.3
3	Cape Breton Island	Jan Ridd	104
4	Hull & Humber	Piers Dudin / Justin Taylor	98
5	Jamaica Lightning Bolt	Pete Stirling	98
6	Uniquely Singapore	Jim Dobie	76
7	Qingdao	Chris Stanmore-Major	74
8	Cork	Richard Fearon / Hannah Jenner	56.8
9	Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	Matt Pike	53
10	California	Pete Rollason	42

On 15 January 2010, Cork Clipper ran aground near Gosong Mampango in the Java Sea. The crew successfully evacuated the yacht and were aided by competitors Team California and Team Finland. Cork Clipper was abandoned a few days later after the decision was made that any attempt to salvage her would be uneconomical.^[2] A new Cork yacht was chartered and rebranded and prepared in Antigua. She rejoined the race in Panama in May 2010, where she was skippered by Hannah Jenner - former 07/08 skipper of 'Glasgow - Scotland With Style'. The Cork yacht was able to finish the race in style as they achieved line honours into their home port of Kinsale, and won the final race from IJmuiden to Hull; winning a second coveted yellow pennant.

Clipper 11-12 Race

With the fleet departing Ocean Village on 31 July 2011, the race will start in the Solent.^[3]

In this edition of the race the fleet including a newly built Clipper 68 to replace the yacht lost at sea will take a new route around the world. Lasting a full year and covering 40,000 nautical miles the yachts will visit Eastern Australia and New Zealand before sailing up to Singapore.

Scoring gates and stealth mode will again be a feature of the 11-12 race.

Clipper 11-12 Leg Results

Start	Southampton	Madeira	Rio de Janeiro	Cape Town	Western Australia	New Zealand	Eastern Australia	Singapore	Qingdao	California	Panama	New York	Nova Scotia	Londonderry	Holland	Gate Points
End	Madeira	Rio de Janeiro	Cape Town	Western Australia	New Zealand	Eastern Australia	Singapore	Qingdao	California	Panama	New York	Nova Scotia	Londonderry	Holland	UK
New York	8	7	3	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Welcome to Yorkshire	5	9	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Gold Coast Australia	10	10	10	10 -4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Geraldton Western Australia	2	4	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
De Lage Landen	4	3	8	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Derry-Londonderry	7	1	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	1	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Singapore	6	8	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Qingdao	3	5	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Visit Finland	9	6	9	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Clipper 11-12 Results (to race 4)

Boat	Skipper	Points
New York	Gareth Glover	28
Welcome to Yorkshire	Rupert Dean	27
Gold Coast Australia	Richard Hewson	41
Geraldton Western Australia	Juan Coetzer	14
De Lage Landen	Mat Booth/Stuart Jackson	28
Derry-Londonderry	Mark Light	17
Edinburgh Inspiring Capital	Gordon Reid	6
Singapore	Ben Bowley	25
Qingdao	Ian Conchie	19
Visit Finland	Oli Osborne	32

References

1. ^ "Crowds watch Clipper race start". BBC News Online. BBC. 13 September 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/8253287.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
2. ^ "Sailors rescued near Java during clipper race". BBC News Online. BBC. 15 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8458382.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-20. 
3. ^ "Southampton to host round-the-world Clipper yacht race". BBC News Online (BBC). 25 May 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13540479. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 

External links

• www.clipperroundtheworld.com Clipper Race Official Website
• www.clipper-ventures.com Clipper Ventures Plc Official Website
• www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/the_hatch/past_results/ Past race results
• www.jamaicaclipper.com Jamaica Clippers' own Website 07–08 Race
• www.durbanclipper.com Crew site for Durban 2010 & Beyond
• [1] Crew site for Uniquely Singapore