Debriefing the 2015-16 Clipper Round The World Race with Huw Fernie

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 28 Jul 2016 The Clipper Round The World Race was the brainchild of the great Sir Robin Knox-Johnston-the first sailor to race solo non-stop and unsupported around the world-as a way to teach hard-core sailing skills to sailing greenhorns while also exposing them to the rigors of offshore racing. The event pairs paying sailors with an experienced skipper and other teammates aboard one of 12 identical 70-foot, Tony Castro-designed offshore steeds. For the sailors, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime; for the skippers, the race presents its own unique challenges and rewards, ranging from instruction and team building to strategy and tactics.

The 2015/2016 Clipper Round The World Race began last August in London and has now returned to Europe, where the sailors are preparing for their final challenge, a sprint from Den Helder, The Netherlands to London, England. This final sprint is part of the greater Leg Eight experience, which began in New York City in June and took the fleet across the Pond to Derry-Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. From there, the fleet engaged in the Den Helder Northern Seas Challenge, which brought the fleet from Derry-Londonderry to Den Helder.

Skipper Huw Fernie and his Visit Seattle teammates took top honors in the Den Helder Northern Seas Challenge, marking their second trip to the podium during the 2015/2016 Clipper Round The World Race. I caught up with Fernie just before the fleet departed for London to learn more about Visit Seattle’s success in the Den Helder Northern Seas Challenge, and to learn more about the life of a Clipper Round The World Race skipper.

Visit Seattle was the overall winner of the Den Helder Northern Seas Challenge, which was your second podium finish of this year’s race. Can you tell us how your recent success might affect things during the final leg?
Yeah it’s been really great to really sort-up our game towards the end of the race. We’ve done lots of good things recently, with our third-place and now first-place [finishes], and we’ve got some scoring points. So really race-wise, we feel like we’re really up there at the moment. And the best possible outcome for us would be fifth overall, [which is] on the table. It would be a little bit of good work for us, a little bit of [bad] luck for everyone else if they do [poorly]. But no there’s a lot to play for still, [so] hopefully we’re in a good place to do that.

Can you describe the biggest challenges and rewards that you’ve experienced so far on Leg Eight?
The challenges and rewards of Leg Eight, well don’t forget it’s a big leg that we start in New York so we’ve frustrations. We’ve crossed oceans. We’ve been to Ireland, we’ve been to the Netherlands, and we’re heading to London, so it’s a huge mixed bag of challenges there. I think for us at the moment the final part of Leg Eight is all going to be about keeping focus.

Looking back on the entire 2015-2016 Clipper Round The World Race, what were your best three days?
My best three days... Getting going, the first day of the race had to be a huge day. Obviously arriving [in]-and sadly leaving-Seattle, as well. But obviously that whole [Seattle] stopover was huge. My third [best] day so far… I have many, many to choose from, I would say... shall we say winning the race into here was pretty good. But maybe we’ll top that next time!

And what about your three worst days?
So the kite wrap we had on Leg Two was a disaster, so that was pretty bad. The worst two days [were] probably mid-Southern Ocean. Just cold. Wet. Just more cold and more wet and miserable and realising that we still had halfway to go. There were some tough days there in the Southern Ocean. Picking that third day is going to be tricky, too.

Plenty of Clipper sailors talk about how participating in the race changed their lives…I’m wondering how participating in the race as a skipper affected your life?
That’s a good question, how has it affected my life. Well it’s actually been my life. It’s dominated completely. So I think really what I’m wondering now is having nearly finished this race, ‘what comes next’? And what I’m going to take away from [this experience]. So it’s certainly had a big impact and maybe in the next six months or year, I’ll actually figure out what that was. But I’ll tell you, it’s been good.

What are the best aspects of being a Clipper Round The World Race skipper?
You’ll be challenged in ways that you never imagined or anticipated. You’ll be pushed further and harder than you thought possible and if you manage to come out on top, then you get the sense of achievement that comes with that. You’re sort of making new ground. That’s sort of a personal aspect and then within the team you get to see twenty, maybe sixty [sailors] within the team doing exactly the same. Regardless of where they start, they’re all pushing their own boundaries. And so at the end of this yearlong adventure, we really are different people to who started.

And what about the worst aspects of being a skipper?
The world’s not big enough, so what comes next?

After having just completed a proud circumnavigation, what are your plans for the next few months?
Well, I have no plans. I’m going to take some time off, depending if nothing turns up, then I’m going to see what happens. We spent the past few years visiting different places around the world so there are a lot of places I know I want to go back to. I think I’m going to be drawn between doing that, and doing something maybe a bit sensible. It’s been an eye-opening trip around the world and there’s a lot of opportunity out there.

On that note, would you consider becoming a clipper race skipper for next time?
The great thing about this race is the people and my team in particular. I think that if I did it again, I would want to do it with [this same team] again so, initially no. Not because it wasn’t a fantastic experience, but because it was a unique experience, however I do know that skippers have come back and maybe within six months I’ll get a little bit of an itch to re-join this adventure.

Looking ahead, can you describe the races’ last leg?
So our last leg, our race between Den Helder and London is for us going to be a sprint. 200 miles, so in good winds we could do that within a day. And with the forecast looks like it’s going to be light to start with, quite strong upwind after that, so maybe two days’ worth of sailing. Very tight all the way so the margins are going to be much smaller to keep it very intense for us.

Anything else you want to add, for the record?
We’ve had loads of support and we really couldn’t have done it without all the support from home. So really I just want to thank everyone that kept sending through the messages. Kept joking on Facebook, all the friends and family who do just keep in touch with our adventure ‘cause half the time we’re doing it for those people. And obviously the Seattle Sports Commission and all our friends in Seattle who have really spurred us on as well.