Clipper 70 fleet refit complete for Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

by Kathryn Foulkes / Clipper Ventures on 31 May 2017 Following nine months of intensive work, the last of the twelve Castro designed Clipper 70 foot yachts that make up the world’s largest matched fleet of ocean racers, has just completed her re-fit. She returns to join her sisters in training the 700 crew members who will participate in the Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race which starts from Liverpool on 20 August 2017.

In preparation for the eleventh edition of the Clipper Race, and the fleets third circumnavigation across 40,000 nautical miles of the world’s oceans, a team of twenty-one have been working on refitting the yachts over the past nine months, totalling more than 35,000 man hours of work.

With the support of Official Supplier Sta-Lok all standing rigging has been overhauled, as well as engines, generators, water makers and the winches and deck gear have been thoroughly serviced and the electronics updated. During the refit process the Clipper Race has also worked with Official Supplier Coppercoat, and taken the opportunity to apply the specialist antifoul to the hulls.

The launch of the last Clipper 70 marks the end of the refit process but the Clipper Race maintenance team will continue to carry out a number of final modifications and improvements across the fleet. The last editions will be new suits of sails from long-standing Official Supplier Hyde Sails, complete sets of running rigging – which amount to over 30 individual halyards, sheets and other control lines per boat – from Official Supplier, Marlow Ropes, the latest editions of safety and survival equipment from Official Supplier Ocean Safety and the most up to date Navigation Software TIMEZERO by MaxSea will be installed.

Simon Johnston, Head of Maintenance for the Clipper Race said: “Thanks to the tireless efforts and wide ranging skills of the refit team and the support and engagement all of our suppliers and service providers, modifications and improvements have been made and we’re in great standing to have the fleet in the most evolved state it’s ever been in as we head into this race.”

This will be the Clipper 70’s third circumnavigation, which takes in the Southern Ocean as well as the equally challenging North Pacific, providing the chosen amateur crews with the experience of all the major oceans of the world.

Starting 20 August 2017 and finishing eleven months later on 28 July 2018, from the Historical Albert Dock in Liverpool, the fleet of twelve Clipper 70s will be raced by professional skippers and over 700 crew who are currently completing their four levels of training at the Clipper Race base in Gosport.

Crew can complete the full circumnavigation, or one or more of its eight legs, with its global route including stopovers in South America (port TBC), Cape Town, Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, Airlie Beach, Sanya and Qingdao – China, Seattle – USA, Panama, New York, and Derry Londonderry – Northern Ireland.