Canada's Entry in the Clipper Around The World Race in Cape Town

by Guy Perrin on 21 Nov 2009 Sail-World Canada is catching up with the Canadian entry in the Clipper Around the World Yacht Race; a ten months, 35,000 miles of ocean race that will provide 400 people the challenge of a lifetime. The starting gun went off for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race on 13 September 2009 when a fleet of ten sleek, stripped down 68-foot yachts embarked on a full circumnavigation of the globe. They will have visited ports in six continents when they return to The Humber, UK in July 2010.

Crew members in the Clipper Around the World Yacht Race are housewives, taxi drivers, chief executives, lawyers, doctors, carpenters, truck drivers, IT specialists, marketing executives and even members of the clergy who have all taken up the Clipper challenge – to race around the world under sail. It is a feat that fewer people have completed than have climbed Mount Everest.

The Fleet has already travelled to the first major stop-over in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they spent a few days recuperating in preparation for the challenging, and much colder, crossing towards South Africa.

We now find Cape Breton Island, the Canadian sponsored yacht in the race in Cape Town, South Africa. This is the first time the island, part of the maritime province of Nova Scotia, has fielded an entry in the race, although Sydney hosted part of the Nova Scotia stopover during Clipper 07-08. Sponsored by Sydney Ports Corporation the yacht forms the centerpiece of a campaign designed to drive tourism and inward investment to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia’s masterpiece. Boasting Canada’s largest inland sea, the Bras d’Or Lakes, the island is a paradise for sailors.

Jan Ridd, from Devon in the south west of England is the proud skipper of Cape Breton Island; he has led his crew to a second place finish in Cape Town. Ten crew members have signed up for the entire challenge and will race in all seven legs; others will come and go for different legs based on their availability to complete the total of 16 to 18 per leg.

Sail-World Canada will be sharing reports from various members of the crew over the next few months. Stay tuned! Their experience might entice you to join the next event in 2010-11.