The Yachting Year 2018

THE YACHTING YEAR 2018 | 47

Amateur sailors race

in the Clipper Race,

while the Volvo is

the pinnacle of

ocean racing

Susie Goodall

competes in the

Golden Globe Race

V O L V O O C E A N R A C E

C L I P P E R R O U N D T H E W O R L D R A C E

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

COMES TO CARDIFF

2018 will be a particularly exciting year in terms of

pinnacle events coming to the UK. Foremost amongst

these is the much-anticipated Volvo Ocean Race, which in

June will visit Cardi. It’s been 12 years since race the race

last stopped-over in the UK, and never before has a Welsh

city had the opportunity to welcome the crème de la crème

of the o shore racing crews in this way.

Sailors will leave Newport, Rhode Island, USA, on

20 May, heading towards the  nal European hop in its

45,000nm circumnavigation.  e completion of the tough

transatlantic leg will not only be a momentous ‘tick’ as the

race works its way towards the  nish in  e Hague, but

also could well see records broken on the 2,900nm

crossing.

Visitors will be welcomed to Cardi ’s race village from

27 May, and in-port racing will take place on 8 June, with

the  eet setting o for Gothenburg on 10 June.  is will be

a fantastic chance to see the  eet of seven one-design

Volvo 65s and their crews up close, learn more about the

race, and enjoy various activities and entertainments.

With new crew requirements for this edition of the race

seeing all seven teams opting to have a mixed crew on

board, it will be interesting to see at this stage of the race

which teams have fared the best over the distance and

which crew are able to drive their one design boat the

hardest. With the  nish now in sight as the  eet reaches

Europe, the pressure will certainly be on the top crews to

push hard.

All crews have a mix of nationalities on board, and

amongst the British sailors counting this as a home

coming leg are Turn the Tide on Plastic’s Dee Ca ari, Brian

 ompson, Henry Bomby and Bleddyn Mon; Mapfre’s

Rob Greenhalgh; Vestas 11th Hour Racing’s Simon ‘SiFi’

Fisher and Hannah Diamond; Akzo Nobel’s Ross Monson;

Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag’s Steve Hayles and John

Fisher; and Team Brunel’s Annie Lush and Abby Ehler.

CLIPPER ROUND THE WORLD RACE

Sticking with epic circumnavigations, the amateur crews

seeking to emulate their o shore heroes will have their

moment in the spotlight with the  nish of the Clipper

Round the World Race, coming to Liverpool in July.

Around 700 crew in total over eight legs and up to 16

individual races, together with a professional skipper, will

have battled 40,000 nm around the globe.  e  eet of 12

Clipper 70s will be returning to the seafaring city a er 12

months of gruelling o shore racing. Liverpool itself has

strong ties with the race, being the  rst northern host city

a decade ago – and the Albert Dock forms a natural

amphitheatre from which to admire the boats and

welcome the crews. Not to be missed will be a special

parade of sail as the boats sail into the Mersey on 28 July.

GOLDEN GLOBE RACE

YOUNG BRIT TO TAKE ON

THE UNCONVENTIONAL

A third round the world race is destined to get a fanfare

send o , as the Golden Globe Race 2018  eet of solo

sailors gathers in Falmouth for a parade of sail before

crossing to France for a  ve-day start window. And by

modern standards at least, this is no ordinary race.

Participants will be recreating the race of 50 years ago,

when Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the  rst person to

sail solo non-stop around the world on his 32 yacht

Suhaili. As it was in 1968, competitors this time around

will have no access to modern day equipment,

communications or technology, so will be relying on

sextants, paper charts, logs and kerosene cookers.

Once in Les Sables d’Olonne, the 22 modernday

competitors will have a  ve day window in which to start

the 30,000nm trek around the globe – solo and unassisted.

British interests include Susie Goodall, one of two female

skippers and amongst the youngest of competitors at 27

years, racing on board her Rustler 36 class yacht Ariadne.

As with the 1968/9 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race,

the competitors in 2018 have a huge range of sailing

experience and their progress will be fascinating viewing.

TYY4 Year ahead Y&Y.indd 47 04/12/2017 15:15