It is difficult to sum up in a few words the experience of sailing around the globe in a race with 10 other boats.
We sailed 45,000 miles around the globe, come third overall and had the most podium finishes, all whilst suffering minimal damage to our boat and the crew. There are many elements to the adventure such as sailing across an ocean, learning to work for a common goal, living with 20 other souls in cramped, damp conditions as well as the impact of being away from home for 11 months.
The race starts and finishes in Portsmouth via Cadiz, Punta del Este, Cape Town, Freemantle, Newcastle, Airlie Beach, Halong Bay, Zhuhai, Qingdao, Seattle, Panama Canal, Washington DC and Oban. We arrived back into Portsmouth on the 27 July, jubilant but exhausted.
As a circumnavigator (there were nine of us on my boat) with others joining for individual or multiple legs, I did the victualling for the Zhuhai and helped other boats. The Zhuhai team ate like kings thanks to donations from Peter Allen and Ian Afflec from the Worshipful Company of Butchers and other colleagues from the foodservice industry who I used to work with.
The stop overs allowed us to restock food, do maintenance and sail repairs, get some much needed R&R and occasionally meet up with loved ones, have prize givings, say goodbye to the departing crew members and welcome new ones.
The core team took on the key management roles on the boat freeing up the skipper to work on training and tactics. As the race progressed the circumnavigators took up some of these activities. As watch leader on the second half of the race I enjoyed the training side especially as our skill levels had increased from race start, looking back we did not have a clue on what we were taking on.
Photo: © Brian Carlin/16 Degrees South/Clipper Race
It was a tough race with highs and lows, the low for me was the Pacific for 10 days where we were very cold, wet from the weather and a very leaky boat, beating up wind and running out of gas (limited hot drinks and hot food) and loo paper. The highs were working as a team, the achievement of battling the elements as well as helming in some big seas. In addition, we saw some big skies both at day and night, great sunrises and sunsets, swam in the doldrums in the Pacific and the Atlantic, those memories will stay with me for life.
We had magical wildlife experiences during the eleven months but whilst coming down the coast of California we had Dolphins dancing around the boat in the pitch black of night, covered with bioluminescence which made you think of mermaids. On another occasion, we were surrounded for days by a carpet of blue jelly fish (velella velella) or by-the-wind sailors. Then there were the tuna being chased by Orcas and jumping out of the water, the 20 boobies who took up residence on our bow sprit for a few days taking it in turns to fly around the boat, then rest again.
In summary, I sailed 45,000 miles around the globe, developed my sailing skills especially in the extremes of the weather and seas and I can proudly say Zhuhai came third overall, with the most podium finishes. Sadly, we scored badly in the ocean sprints and scoring gates which ultimately let us down.
Jess (one of the worlders) made amazing videos of each of the legs, and I can share these via Whatsapp if anyone would like to see them.
The next stage for me with sailing is to use the skills I have learned to good effect and I will be volunteering as watch leader for the Tall Ships Youth Trust sailing on a 72ft Challenger boat from next year.
I will also be involved with Clipper later this year with skipper trials. I’m looking forward to acting the numpty whilst potential skippers get assessed. I will also have to get used to my 15 foot catamaran and remember how to race at close quarters on a smaller piece of water, once I dig it out of the weeds!
If you get a chance, sign up for the Clipper experience and cross an Ocean, have a go!
https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/
Andrew Berisford, CLYC Member