Clipper Round the World Race: "This experience remains"

While the 23-year-old co-skipper lounges on the saloon seat with his legs up, playing video games on his mobile phone and stuffing his face with potato crisps, the retired head doctor of a prestigious US private clinic slides around on his knees in front of him and wipes the toilet floor with an old sponge. Not an unusual scene on a yacht in the Clipper Round the World Race. If you have enough time and financial means, you can sail around the world as an amateur in a ragtag crew on one of the 70-foot standard class yachts. I took part in five of the eight legs of the race as a recreational sailor.

Leg 1: Portsmouth-Cadiz; Cadiz-Punta del Este (7,386 nm)

After two years of waiting and four weeks of training, during which the crew composition for the eleven yachts was also determined, the race got underway on 3 September 2023. After a successful start with a light tailwind under spinnaker, the aft wind north of the Bay of Biscay changed to a headwind and gave the fresh crew their first baptism of fire: many of the sailors became seasick and were overtired due to the watch system that had been introduced (6-6-4-4-4). I was woken up at three o'clock in the morning and sent to the foredeck: Squatting on the pulpit and washed over by waves, I attached the riders of the heavy headsail to the forestay. A first taste of the next ten months.

More on the topic:

• Preparations for the Clipper Round the World Race: "The race of your life"
• Clipper Round the World Race: Amateurs set off to circumnavigate the globe
• Hannah Brewis: The youngest skipper in the Clipper Round the World Race

On the fifth day at 2.20 a.m. MOB was called! A fellow sailor had been caught by a wave and washed overboard. Fortunately, he was on a lead and was hoisted back on board by our skipper Hannah. Thanks to the warm water and the quick rescue operation, there was no damage to his health. 500 nautical miles before the finish in Cadiz, the first race was cancelled due to a persistent calm and ended for us in seventh place. After the first week, two of our fellow sailors dropped out.

Although we were the last boat across the line, it was an exciting second race start. We passed Morocco and the Canary Islands while sailing in the freshening trade winds. Things got dramatic when the spinnaker got wrapped around the forestay during a night-time helm change, whereupon the first mate had to spend three hours in the mast to free the huge sail. Near the Doldrums, a special regulation allowed the engine to be used for five degrees of latitude due to a long lull. We finally crossed the equator on 30 September, which was followed by a small ceremony.

Four days before the finish, I broke two ribs when I slipped and fell on a grinder. Shortly afterwards, the chain connecting the two oars broke. The repair cost us several hours and a few places. After a lengthy recovery, we reached the finish line in Punta del Este in Uruguay on 14 October and finished the race in eighth place.

You get used to life on board. Space is precious, which is why "hot bunking" is practised; two sailors share a bunk. If you're unlucky, you get one of the two upper berths, which is not without its challenges: you have to climb up a slippery wall to reach the berth, which is over two metres high. The food on our boat was good, but was adjusted accordingly depending on the weather conditions: In extreme cases, you eat overcooked noodles with glutamate-rigid sachet sauce from steel dog bowls, while the person sitting next to you vomits loudly into a plastic bucket. The sanitary facilities also take some getting used to: you wash with salt water, there is no shower and the toilet bowls are so tiny that they tend to spill over when the boat is heeled over.

Leg 3: Cape Town-Fremantle (5,548 nm)

After the start with 25 to 30 knots of headwind, there was a lull at night. However, the wind soon freshened and as we were heading south-east, the nights soon became colder. On 22 November we reached the Roaring Forties and two days later we turned back to the east-northeast at position 45°31'00S as we reached the virtual ice limit. The nights were bitterly cold at two to three degrees, and the wind speeds rose to 45 knots over the next few days. For a week we only sailed on starboard bow in identical conditions.

It only got a little warmer at the beginning of December when we emerged from the Roaring Forties. This was followed by lulls and a stiff headwind, and on 15 December we finished tenth in Fremantle.

Stage 4: Fremantle-Newcastle; Newcastle- Airlie Beach (4,175nm)

The start of the race was unspectacular under spinnaker and was followed by a calm. A little later, we recorded a headwind of 25 knots, which again led to persistent seasickness among fresh crew members.

Finally, the deck bolt of the inner forestay broke. The repair took eight hours and put us in last place. On 25 December, we celebrated Christmas on board with a menu consisting of ham, potatoes and vegetables. When the yacht "Punta del Este" appeared on the horizon during our chase to catch up, the first mate made a completely irrational decision: At 25 to 30 knots, the spinnaker should be hoisted. The overtired crew laboured, but the wind was too strong for the light sail. It took around two hours, accompanied by a lot of shouting, until the sail was finally below deck.

On the 30th, at the height of Tasmania, I reached speeds of more than 20 knots at the helm for the first time. On New Year's Eve, the crew celebrated with zero per cent gin and tonic. During a sail change shortly before the finish line, we were washed over by waves to such an extent that the mode of a fellow sailor's sports watch switched from "Sailing" to "Open Water Swimming". We reached the finish line on 5 January, again in tenth place.

The start of the leg to Airlie Beach was spectacular: through the narrow outer harbour, the eleven yachts passed each other by just a few metres. Due to a wind hole, we dropped back to sixth place over the next few days, but were able to work our way up to third again. The yacht "Our Isles and Oceans" remained in sight of us for a few days. Around ten miles from the finish, she sailed into a squall that tore her spinnaker to shreds. This allowed us to work our way up to second place; the first and so far only podium finish for our Washington, DC team.

Many participants only realised late on that an ocean crossing on a racing yacht is exhausting. The cancellation rates were correspondingly high. A number of fellow sailors gave up, mostly for health reasons. When our boat crossed the Pacific, a total of eight of the 21 participants announced were missing. This increased the stress, but also the fun factor: sailing a racing yacht of this size in such extreme conditions with only five people per watch is a challenge.

Leg 6: Zhuhai-Qingdao; Qingdao-Seattle (8,157 nm)

On 11 March, I boarded the yacht again in Zhuhai, China. After a successful start, we initially sailed into the lead. With a strong headwind, we battled hard against the wind and waves for several days. On 16 March, we circumnavigated Taiwan and fell back to last place due to a wind hole. Two days later, the wind increased from three to 25 knots. A headsail stored on deck caused the bow rail to buckle in strong winds, which made all sail changes more dangerous. We finally reached the finish line in last place on the first leg.

The start of the second race of this leg was surreal due to the fog and calm, as we couldn't see the other boats. Over the next few days we passed Japan in better wind conditions. At the end of the first week, we sailed through a storm with winds of up to 63 knots. The attempt to switch from reef 1 to reef 2 failed as the main was pushed too hard against the mast. Despite this, we jibed in winds of almost 50 knots, which reflects how courageously and confidently our skipper Hannah knew how to deal with extremely rough conditions.

The following days were characterised by increasing cold and constant wind and sail changes. Around the middle of the Pacific, the spinnaker code 3 tore during a sun stroke. It took our sailing expert eight days below deck at the sewing machine to repair the sail, which was torn in three places. We crossed the International Dateline on 14 April and experienced this Sunday twice. In the days that followed, we jibed several times in 40 knots of wind. The rudder chain broke again at night during rain showers and squalls, while the yacht "PSP-Logistics" overtook us just a few metres behind the stern.

After 30 days at sea, we finally reached the finish line. It was an exciting finish: with a lead of just 400 metres over the yacht "Dare to Lead", we were able to defend ninth place. Eight of the eleven yachts crossed the finish line within just 42 minutes. In a race of more than 6,000 nautical miles and 30 days, this result shows how few sailing differences there were between the yachts, the crews and the skippers.

Stage 7: Seattle-Panama City; Panama City-Washington, DC

After a successful start, we set off on a hard upwind course. After three days, we passed San Francisco and were sailing with the spinnaker on the beam when a gust tore up the Code 3 again. This time the repair took six days. We then headed south in more than 40 knots of wind, whereby I achieved my personal speed record of 21.3 knots at the helm. Along the coast of Mexico, the wind dropped and the heat increased. When we arrived in the Doldrums, we were met with sweltering heat and numerous lulls. The race organisers set five finish lines, each 250 nautical miles apart, off Panama and finally abandoned the race at the second finish line due to the calm. Tenth place.

On 6 June, we cast off for the passage through the Panama Canal. This took place with three yachts tied side by side. It was interesting, but not breathtaking, as we were piloted through the six old locks, which are not much bigger than those of the Kiel Canal. The next day at twelve o'clock we headed north again. As we had drawn the joker for the race (double points), only the four best sailors per watch were allowed to take the helm. After three days, the wind freshened from zero to over 50 knots until we reached 56 knots at the top. We reached the finish line on 16 June at 10 p.m. in ninth place.

My personal conclusion

The clipper race is an unforgettable experience. My adventure lasted ten months, during which I experienced and learnt a lot, including sailing with asymmetric spinnakers. I lost all respect for wind forces below seven and learnt that you can still reef, jibe and change headsails in winds of more than 40 knots. Nevertheless, what Clipper sells to the outside world is not necessarily what you get as a customer. The boats are in too poor a condition below deck for that. Nevertheless, I wouldn't want to miss the experiences, acquaintances and adventures. When asked whether I would do it again, I can answer with a decisive "no", which is the opinion of almost all my fellow sailors. Do I regret investing so much time and money? Absolutely not. This experience will stay with me for the rest of my life and I am happy to have had it.