Taking on the elements

Norwegian, Janicke Forde will take on the South Atlantic and Southern Oceans during the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race which starts from London on Sunday 1 September 2013.

The 51-year-old equity trader has signed up for Legs 2 and 3 of the world’s longest yacht race which will see the brand new fleet of 12 yachts race from Brazil to South Africa and onto Australia.

“I first heard about the race from a good friend that works for De Lage Landen in Norway. She had attended a trip organised to Derry-Londonderry, for their most important clients,” explains Janicke.

“They had been out sailing on one of the Clipper Race yachts and she immediately thought this could be something for me. She was so right!”

Janicke has been allocated to Vicky Ellis’ team and will log over 8,000 miles during her participation in the race.

“I have for a very long time dreamt about doing a big ocean crossing on a sail boat, joining the Clipper Race will make this dream come true.

“I first signed up for Leg 2, but decided soon after being accepted for the leg that I wanted to add another. I would now get the chance to do two big ocean crossings, including the famous Southern Ocean.”

The Southern Ocean is seen as one of the toughest legs of the Clipper Race with waves expected to reach as high as 80-foot and speeds closing in on 30 knots.

“I have no experience of weeks with broken sleep pattern so I don’t know how that will affect my energy levels. I have of course watched all videos on YouTube about Southern Ocean crossing; I know that the weather can be rough with huge waves. I am nervous about facing this, at the same time this makes it much more interesting.”