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  Two different offshore animals—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
 | | Volvo Ocean Race fleet tackles Rolex Fastnet Race © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race |
If you like following ocean-racing news, get psyched: the next ten months are promising to pack a lot of sailing excitement into a short window as two big events, the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) and the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, will both be unfurling. While the former, of course, is a serious test of teamwork, leadership and all-out athleticism, the later is an entirely different animal that could be of great interest to sailors looking to turn their green horns to brass.
Seven teams will be contesting this year's VOR, which begins on October 22 in Alicante, Spain, and the 12 teams participating in the 2017/2018 Clipper Race, which began on August 20, are already underway from the starting line in Liverpool, U.K., to Punta Del Este, Uruguay.
 | | Volvo Ocean Race – Leg 0 start © Nic Douglass / www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com |
While the VOR fleet is populated by professionals who earn their livings mowing down offshore miles, Clipper Race sailors pay the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race for the opportunity to train and sail with a professional skipper and an amateur crew in a race setting that's far more orientated towards teaching the ropes of seamanship and offshore sailing than attempting to set 24-hour distance records.
Still, offshore miles are offshore miles, and while the third-generation, 70-foot, Tony Castro-designed Clipper 70 boats don't hold a candle in the speed department to the Farr-designed Volvo Ocean 65s that are used in the VOR, this sure doesn't mean that the Clipper fleet doesn't sail through it's share of “hard yards”. Take, for example, the fleet's 2015 visit to Seattle, when numerous boats arrived with broken sprit poles, peeling (or peeled) livery decals, and at least one broken wheel pedestal, not to mention myriad other smaller issues after the fleet tangled with some awful conditions crossing the Pacific Ocean from Qingdao, China.
 | | Clipper Race crew racing on board Visit Seattle across the Pacific Ocean Clipper Ventures |
Both races will spend significant time steeping their hulls and their crew in the wind-thrashed brine of the Southern Ocean, and both feature a seriously long leg. At “nearly 6,000” nautical miles, the Clipper Race's Leg 6 (AKA “The Mighty Pacific Leg” in Clipper Race parlance), which again stretches from Qingdao, China to the Emerald City (AKA Seattle) is sure to test each crew's ability to spend long parcels of time in 70-foot fiberglass microcosms, and the VOR's 7,600-nautical-mile leg that globe-girdles its way from Auckland, New Zealand to Itajai, Brazil falls into offshore racing's purely titanic category.
Both races also feature a series of international stopovers as teams wend their way around the planet. As mentioned, the Clipper Race will be arriving in Seattle in April, while the VOR will be paying a visit to beautiful Newport, Rhode Island in mid-May. This is great news for North American fans who are interested in seeing their favorite raceboats in person and breathing the air of these (in)famous races.
 | | More than 130,000 people visited Volvo Ocean Race Village Newport © Marc Bow / Volvo Ocean Race |
These stopovers can also be a chance to get closer to the race, with an eye towards future participation. In the case of the VOR, this likely comes in the form of dewy-eyed junior sailors looking up at their sailing gods, saying “someday”, while the Clipper Round The World Race presents itself as a great opportunity to expand one's sailing horizons as an adult.
Having been fortunate enough to have spent fair amounts of time around these events over the years, I can report that both are well worth your time to check out, especially if you dream of bigger, bluer, windier horizons. In Newport, fans should get a front row seat to watch the teams finishing their offshore run from Itajai and starting their next leg, which will take them to Cardiff, Wales; on the left coast, the 2016 Clipper fleet started and finished their racing near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca (where it meets the Pacific), which made the racing safer and fairer (read: less heavy metal and better wind than in Puget Sound proper) but made it tricky for spectators to see the action. It will be interesting to see if the Clipper Round The World Race opts for this same starting and finishing line in 2018.
 | | Clipper Race fleet in Parade of Sail by Seattle Waterfront Marina Thomas |
So, if you love offshore racing and are just coming to terms with the fact that this coming Friday marks the autumnal equinox, immersing yourself in one (or both) of these great races could be your ticket to smooth sailing through the winter, or-even better-to broadening your offshore capabilities and confidences.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
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