Clipper Ventures unveils route for Clipper 07-08

Clipper Ventures unveils route for Clipper 07-08 © Clipper Ventures

Clipper Ventures Plc is pleased to announce the route for the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. This will be the sixth biennial round the world race for non-professional sailors operated by Clipper Ventures, which offers a unique opportunity for amateur sailors to experience the thrills of ocean racing.

Building on the success of the new East-about format, which was adopted for the first time for the Clipper 05-06 race, Clipper 07-08 will follow a similar route with some exciting new stopovers and return visits to ports much favoured by the 05-06 crews.

Liverpool will again be hosting the race start and finish with the boats setting off on their exciting adventure from the River Mersey on 16 September 2007. From there the boats will have a short stopover in Europe before tackling the first of their three Atlantic crossings en route to Brazil. The second ocean crossing will see the boats head across the South Atlantic to Durban, where they will have to navigate up the East Coast of South Africa avoiding the tricky Agulhas current.

Clipper’s Round the World Yacht Race is currently the only crewed race to take on the infamous Southern Ocean and the 07-08 Race will return there in December 2007. The crews will be ready for a break when they arrive in Fremantle, Western Australia in time for Christmas celebrations.

Speaking from Fremantle, where he is preparing his yacht SAGA INSURANCE for Leg Two of the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo round the world race, Clipper Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said:

“This will be our sixth Clipper race and over 1,500 people have now taken part. We’re not just coming back here to Western Australia, we’re also going back to Durban, Singapore and Qingdao so the crews have got something really exciting to look forward to.”

Following their Christmas celebrations the fleet will head North to Singapore and up through the South China Sea to the Olympic Sailing Port of Qingdao in China, both cities proud to be repeat boat sponsors.

An amendment to the Clipper 05-06 route will see the boats race to the tropical destination of Hawaii via a short stopover in Pusan, South Korea. Hawaii was an extremely popular port in the first four Clipper races and the team is pleased to announce it as a stopover for 07-08, confident that the crew will enjoy this Pacific Island destination.

From Hawaii the boats will head to a port on the west coast of North America and then travel south to pass through the man-made wonder of the Panama Canal. A Caribbean stopover will make for a relaxing break before the crews battle tropical storms to reach the vibrant city of New York.

The third and final Atlantic crossing will take the boats homeward from an additional port on the east coast of North America. After another short stopover in Europe for provisioning and maintenance, the boats will return to the familiar waters of the Irish Sea to reach their final destination of Liverpool in July 2008.

Commenting on the Clipper 07-08 route, Clipper Race Director Tim Hedges said:

“This Clipper 07-08 route will contain all the excitement of the 05-06 Race with some interesting new additions. The East-about route enables us to visit Fremantle, making Clipper the only crewed round the world race that currently takes in the Southern Ocean.”

Places are still available on the Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race. To find out more or to apply for a place, please call Clipper Ventures on +44 (0)2392 526000 or email the Crew Recruitment Manager David Cusworth.

More information on the route and further confirmation of port stopovers will be released over the coming months.