News

Sold Out

17 June 2009

The countdown to the start of the next Clipper Race continues a-pace and, with less than three months to go until the starting gun fires across the Humber River to set the fleet on their 35,000-mile race around the globe, comes the news Clipper 09-10 is completely Sold Out.

436 people have signed up to take part in the challenge of a lifetime, either on a single leg of the race, several legs, or the entire race. They come from all walks of life and represent more than 30 nationalities, making the crews in this edition of the Clipper Race the most internationally and culturally diverse ever.

Two weeks ago more than 300 of these brave souls arrived from all over the world to attend the crew allocation event in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard. There they discovered which of the ten teams they would represent, and who would be their skipper. Since then the phones at Clipper HQ have been ringing off the hook with crewmembers calling in to add an extra Leg or two to their adventure, others added to waiting lists for several of the Legs that had already sold out. 

As the hours and days tick down towards the start of the race they are now preparing to leave behind families, friends and work colleagues and getting ready to experience the sheer exhilaration of taking that huge step outside their comfort zone to take on the challenge of a lifetime. They’re spending as much time as possible getting to know their team mates, planning strategies, completing their training and preparing the 68-foot yacht they’ll be racing across the world’s oceans.

They’re people like you – taxi drivers, CEOs, nurses, mothers and fathers, lawyers, marketers, bankers, IT specialists, florists, builders – many of whom had never even set foot on a boat before they decided this was the challenge they were looking for. And, while you might have missed the boat for this edition of the race, you could be part of this great adventure when the eighth running of the event takes place in two years’ time.

Registration is now open for Clipper 11-12. If you’ve got a thirst for adventure and think you have what it takes to become a crew member get in touch now. You’ll be among the first to receive the new brochure, hot off the press, when we publish details of the Clipper 11-12 route in a few weeks’ time.