Nasdaq Clipper Race skipper revealed

Rob Graham has today been formally announced as the professional Skipper who will lead the Nasdaq team entry in the Clipper Race 2017-18 © onEdition

Rob Graham, 39, from Angmering, West Sussex, has today been formally announced as the professional Skipper who will lead the Nasdaq team entry in the 40,000-nautical mile Clipper Race, the biggest round-the-world yacht race, when it sets sail from Liverpool on Sunday 20 August.

The Nasdaq Stock Market in New York is sponsoring one of the race's twelve 70-foot ocean racing yachts, and its non-professional crew who will compete in the eleven-month long circumnavigation challenge of a lifetime, carrying the firm's 'Ignite Your Ambition' message.

Speaking about his appointment as the Nasdaq Skipper, Rob said: "I am very proud to be the Skipper of the Nasdaq Clipper 2017-18 Race team.

"Both the Clipper Race and Nasdaq are ambitious leaders in their respective fields so ignite your ambition is a very fitting message to carry around the world and one that rings true to both businesses, the Nasdaq crew and to myself as a Skipper."

Since being announced as a Clipper Race Skipper, Rob has been busy preparing Nasdaq and his crew for the challenge ahead. On Wednesday, Rob and some of the Nasdaq crew departed Clipper Race HQ, in Gosport, headed for Liverpool where they are due to arrive on Monday 14 August ahead of the Race Start.

61 crew members make up Rob's Nasdaq crew. Representing 14 nationalities, they include a Doctor, a Lawyer, a Veterinary Surgeon, a Rowing Coach and a Bricklayer. Their ages range from 20 to 64.

Approximately 40 per cent of Clipper Race crew have never sailed before they sign up to the race and start their intensive sail and safety training. The Skipper is the only professional on board.

Rob's Nasdaq team and the rest of the Clipper Race fleet will spend next week in Liverpool's Albert Dock ahead of the Clipper 2017-18 Race start on Sunday 20 August.

After bidding farewell to the crowds in an exciting departure ceremony in Albert Dock in Liverpool on 20 August, crew will start their opening 6,400 nautical miles race on the River Mersey before making their way across the Atlantic Ocean to the first stopover port, Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The fleet will then continue on to Cape Town, Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, the Whitsundays, Sanya and Qingdao in China, Seattle, Panama, New York, and Derry-Londonderry, before completing the circumnavigation in Liverpool on July 28, 2018.

clipperroundtheworld.com