Mark Light – This is your Clipper Race life

After starting his journey with the Clipper Race over 14 years ago, Race Director Mark Light steps down from the role at the end of October.

An instrumental part of the Race Management Team, Mark has successfully developed and overseen the 40,000 nautical mile race spanning across six continents, three times over. Putting his all into the role over the past seven years, Mark has taken on the challenge with his own personality, leadership and vast sailing experience.

Image: Mark Light

As Mark sails off into the sunset, it’s new beginnings for the Race Management Team, as former Deputy Race Director Dale Smyth steps up into the Race Director role. We also welcome familiar faces from the 2023-24 edition, Max Rivers as Deputy Race Director and Hannah Brewis as Race Manager.

Now over to Mark as we look back on his Clipper Race life...

Tell me about your history with the Clipper Race, what made you make that initial application? 

My Clipper Race journey started in September 2010 when I first applied to be a Race Skipper after meeting previous Clipper Race Skippers and hearing about some of their stories. I had my trial in late November in 2010 out in the Solent. It was very cold, and it was my first time on a Clipper 68 yacht. Being asked to carry out a surprise MOB drill, with emergency steering, mid-spinnaker gybe, in the busy shipping lane off Cowes gave me a hint of what was to come.

Thankfully, my skipper trial for the Clipper Race was much more successful than my very first racing experience - sailing dinghies on a lake in Gloucestershire. I remember my first dinghy race because in my haste to be first over the line, I gybed aggressively about 30 seconds before the start, capsized, stuck my mast in the mud and stayed there for about three minutes…not the most auspicious of starts at all.

However, after doing well on my skipper trial, I went on to be selected as a Race Skipper for the Clipper 2011-12 Race and was very proud to lead the newly formed Derry~Londonderry team around the world in what was for me an unforgettable and career-defining voyage.

Image: Mark Light as Race Skipper

Being appointed as Deputy Race Director for the next two race editions was my chance to bring my round the world experience into more of a Race Management role. I was then extremely honoured to be asked to take charge of the Clipper 2017-18 Race as Race Director. This would turn out to be the pinnacle of my sailing career in a position that few have had the opportunity to fulfil. Three editions later and I feel that I made the most out of the chance given to me and can walk away with lifelong friends and a wealth of experiences that I could only have dreamt of a few years earlier.

You started out as a Race Skipper, what makes that role so special?

The job of Race Skipper for the Clipper Race is so much more than just a job. It is the biproduct of lots of hard work and persistence to realise a sailing dream that had existed in my head for a very long time... sailing around the world and leading your own race team, in a hugely competitive and matched fleet. Being so well supported by the Clipper Race organisation behind the scenes was instrumental to the enjoyment that I had with this experience. I can honestly say that it was the best thing that I have ever done in my life, and to coin a phrase from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston… “the best thing that I have ever done in my life…so far!!”

What was your standout moment as a Skipper?

There are so many memories that stand out in my mind as a Race Skipper, finishing the North Pacific Ocean crossing by blasting under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at 15 knots, arriving into our home port of Derry ~ Londonderry in front of thousands of spectators all stood out in the rain to see us, completing the circumnavigation by coming back into the Solent and finish port of Southampton and receiving that final cannon blast from Sir Robin on his legendary yacht Suhaili… the list goes on.

However, the proudest moment for me personally was celebrating my 40th Birthday in the Southern Ocean with my team in November 2011. It was a very windy day around 30-35 knots and we were power reaching with white sails, surfing along on the huge Southern Indian Ocean swells under blue skies. I took over the helm for a while and my crew, realising that I was enjoying myself, all left the deck one by one, and I was left stood alone on our 68-foot racing yacht, battling Mother Nature, but having a wild time! That memory will stay with me forever as I felt the luckiest person alive on that day.

Do you still talk to your team?

Yes, I am still in touch with lots of my team from the Clipper 2011-12 Race. You can make friends for life, and it is no secret that we created such a good team spirit - we were known as one of the happiest teams in the fleet (standing out splendidly in our bright pink shirts and sunglasses). I am very proud of that group of people and still think back very fondly on that time and all those shared experiences we had along the way. The crews definitely make the Clipper Race, and that particular crew were very special people to me.

Why is the Clipper Race such a unique place to work?

People will talk about the ‘Clipper Race Family’ on a regular basis, but it is only when you work within the company, either as a Race Skipper or First Mate, or as part of the staff behind the scenes that you can really feel the warmth and reality of it. Sir Robin and William Ward OBE have been exceptional at recruiting top-class people to work for the Clipper Ventures, and it really pays dividends when organising and running the Race.

Image: Mark and the Clipper 2023-24 Race Skippers in Punta del Este

As far as Sir Robin’s legacy goes, well I think it speaks for itself as no other company has introduced so many people to ocean sailing as Clipper Ventures has, and it keeps going from strength to strength. Sir Robin and William are the only two people that could have built the Clipper Race from its humble beginnings to where it stands now at the forefront of world sailing, and I still think we all owe them a debt of gratitude for their foresight and persistence to make the Clipper Race what it is today. It is truly wonderful to see so many like-minded people taking on the challenge of sailing the world's oceans, but more importantly, putting themselves out there and stretching outside their own comfort zones. This is what humas have been doing for years and is a big part of how we all develop. The Clipper Race definitely has a positive effect on most people that participate and that leaves an incredible legacy and indelible mark on all of us who have taken part.

What has been your standout moment while in the role of Race Director?

I think organising the fleet for my very first Race Start as Race Director on the Clipper 2017-18 Race from Liverpool was a very proud moment. Seeing the fleet race away out of the River Mersey in front of thousands of people on a beautifully sunny day was super exciting and very emotional for lots of people. So much work goes into making that happen and seeing the Race Skippers that I had selected finally setting off with their crews for an amazing adventure around the world was incredible. For me personally, it brought back so many memories of my own race start from Southampton in 2011, as well as countless other starts that I had been involved with, but this one was very special as my first as Race Director.

I think also seeing all the teams coming back into port at the end of each circumnavigation (into Liverpool 2018, London 2022 & Portsmouth 2024) is always special because it is a job well done and such a mixture of pride, satisfaction and ultimately relief for their safe return.

Image: Clipper Race fleet departing Liverpool

Image: Clipper 2019-20 Race Start

What opportunities have you had as part of the role that you wouldn’t have had in any other job?

I’m not sure how to really answer this one fully as I have been very fortunate to do so many extraordinary things within my time at the company. Working for and then subsequently alongside one of the world’s most well-known sailors, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, has been something that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do otherwise and so that is most definitely the obvious one that springs to mind.

Image: Steve Westwood, Nicky Miller, Sir Robin, Mark Light

I once heard that the richest people on earth are the ones with the experiences, and in that sense, I feel that I have experienced a wealth of things that nature and life can offer.

What has been your biggest success in the role?

I think, along with many other people who work for the Clipper Race, it is the knowledge that I have played a very small part in allowing hundreds of people to live out their ambitions and dreams and to experience the hardships and sheer joy of sailing. For many, it really is a life-changing experience, and I count myself firmly in that group.

Image: Washington, DC prizegiving

What’s the best place you have visited as part of your role?

Derry ~ Londonderry will always have a special place in my heart as my ‘home’ port as a Race Skipper and I have many good friends there still. Washington, DC as an amazing and iconic city first visited on the Clipper 2023-24 Race and Panama as an unusual location with the industrial wonder of the modern world being the Panama Canal. Nova Scotia is also up there for the outstanding beauty of the landscape.

However, my favourite location visited, over all editions, goes back to my days as a skipper and has to be North Pacific Ocean. The biggest, most hostile and roughest ocean on the planet. We had a great race across the North Pacific, and it has the ability to offer the best and most exhilarating sailing, the scariest moments that challenge you to the very edge of your control, but also reminds you of just how small we are on this planet, as well as the sheer power of Mother Nature. It is gloriously hostile and stunningly beautiful. For me there is no place quite like it on earth and even though I may never go back to the North Pacific Ocean, I will never forget being there.

What are your words of wisdom for Dale as he takes over as Race Director?

There would be so many bits of advice to give, but two of the most important would be these:

Firstly, never stop thinking about the ‘what if?’ scenarios and ask yourself what would I do if this happens, or how can we react to this situation? And how is this going to affect all stakeholders? This will always help when the inevitable curveballs come flying at you and you may well have already considered certain options or plans far in advance. I spent a lot of my time monitoring, thinking and planning out ideas and thoughts to be as ready as I could be when something from leftfield arises, and it certainly helped me at times.

The second piece of advice is more personal rather than operational. Always remember that you are doing things with the greatest of intentions for the success of the Clipper Race and its people. There are so many difficult situations and challenges that you face, and decisions may not always be easy, or prove to be correct. However, as long as you always listen to all around you, solicit ideas from trusted people, consider all options, and then make decisions based on the greater good, you can rest easy that you have most likely arrived at the best conclusions, and therefore, implemented things that are justified and in the best interests of the majority. That is all you can do, and this will help you to continue making the tough decisions, enjoy your work and walk away at the end with a huge sense of pride in the achievements of others.

Image: Mark and Dale

What’s next?

Quite simply, a break. A time to reflect, recharge, spend time with my friends and family and then go again in a new direction and chapter in my life. The Clipper Race is one hell of an adventure to follow and has given me the ability to travel to amazing places, work with the best of people and to live my life fully, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity given.

Thank you.

Image: Clipper 2023-24 Race Officials in Airlie Beach

A big thank you to Mark for all his fantastic work over his past 14 years with Clipper Ventures, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours.