Twelve people move a little closer to Achieving Something Remarkable

Henri Lloyd and the GORE-TEX® Experience Tour have announced the twelve finalists who will compete to win three places on the Clipper 13-14 Round the World Yacht Race. Going head to head over two days, the finalists will need to demonstrate the will to succeed that encapsulates the whole philosophy of this life changing race.

The finalists of the current GORE-TEX® Experience Tour all have two things in common; a passion for life and an adventurous spirit. Other than that, they couldn’t be more different, which shows the diverse range of people that this amateur sailing race attracts. The finalists are:

For Leg 3 – The Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride
Andrzej Swiderski (Poland), Niall Newport (UK), Julie Cully (UK) and Jorieke Van Der Stelt (Netherlands)

For Leg 4 – Cape Leeuwin and Three Oceans
Romanda Simpson (UK), Tuija Mantyla (Italy), Theresa Pine (UK) and Grace Freret (UK)

For Leg 5 – The Asia Pacific Challenge
Mark Rushmore (UK), Simon Straetker (Germany), Mark Nichols (UK) and Ciendra Heaney (Northern Ireland)

No sailing experience is required, so for some of these people their first experience of sea life will be on Thursday 9 May in Portsmouth, when they board the new Clipper 70 ocean racing yacht – the same boat that the eventual winners will crew for one leg of the round the world race.  Even the most inexperienced finalists needn’t worry as they will be kitted out in the latest GORE-TEX® products from Henri Lloyd who are Official Technical Clothing Partner to the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Once on board, the finalists will be set a variety of tasks over two days designed to assess their suitability for the project. Sailing skills as well as qualities including resilience, team work and ingenuity will be taken into consideration by the judging panel when it makes its final decision. Although there is a very serious outcome to the selection program, there will also be a lot of fun along the way. 

The three winners will be announced at a dinner on Friday 10 May and will be allocated to their teams for Leg 3, Leg 4 and Leg 5 the following day. After that the really hard work will begin as the lucky winners prepare to learn all of the sailing skills necessary to tackle this infamous ocean race.