Visit Seattle and co-sponsor Seattle Sports Commission, in partnership with the Port of Seattle and the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association, will play host in April 2016 to the fleet of yachts currently participating in the 10th edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which benefits Unicef, is the world’s longest ocean adventure and regarded as one of the toughest endurance challenges. At 40,000 nautical miles long and taking almost a year to complete, it consists of twelve teams competing against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of 70-foot ocean racing yachts.
The Clipper Races is unique as it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors, with 40 percent of the 696 person crew being novices and never sailing before starting a comprehensive training program in preparation for the race.
Crew must be 18 or over before starting the race but there is no upper age limit with the oldest competitor to date being 74.
Crew can choose to take part in either the entire 11-month race or individual legs. This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to taxi drivers, nurses and firemen, farmers, Olympians, airline pilots and students.
The race started on August 30, 2015 from London’s St. Katharine Docks and returns to London on July 30, 2016. The overall route is split into a series of 14 races and points are awarded for each race. The team with the highest cumulative points at the end of the final race wins the series and the Clipper Race trophy. The race enters its 5th leg, from Sydney, Australia to Hobart, Tasmania on December 26 with the Visit Seattle yacht in 11th overall place.
The race route is as follows:
Leg 1 – London to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Leg 2 – Rio to Cape Town, South Africa
Leg 3 – Cape Town to Albany, Western Australia
Leg 4 – Albany to Sydney / Sydney to Hobart / Hobart to the Whitsunday’s, Queensland
Leg 5 – Whitsundays to Da Nang, Vietnam / Da Nang to Qingdao, China
Leg 6 – Qingdao, China, to Seattle, USA
Leg 7 – Seattle, USA to Panama Canal / Panama to New York City
Leg 8 – New York City to Derry Londonderry / Derry Londonderry to Den Helder, the Netherlands / Den Helder to London
