SAFETY IS EVERYTHING
When you’re facing fierce storms and unpredictable conditions, safety must come first. Everyone who joins the Clipper Race will be fully trained by our expert team, learning all the skills they need to stay safe while racing on the open oceans.
Race Training
Nobody starts racing without completing our rigorous four stages of training. Taking place over four progressive levels at our training headquarters in Hampshire, UK, these will ensure that you’re ready to sail confidently and safely. You’ll also be given refresher training by your Race Skipper a few days before joining each stage of your race.
Personal Safety Equipment
As part of your kitting out, you’ll be issued top-of-the-line personal safety equipment – including the Spinlock Deckvest VITO lifejackets, which incorporate an AIS beacon.
This vital piece of personal safety equipment have been tested and refined in the toughest environments – so you can have confidence that you’ll stay safe whatever Mother Nature sends your way.
Technical Clothing
Having the right technical clothing is critical.
Just like the Clipper Race crew, Musto is driven out of the desire to go beyond the accepted, enabling sailors to tackle the most extreme ocean conditions. It's for this reason that Musto has been appointed Technical Clothing Partner for the Clipper 2025-26 Round The World Yacht Race.
With over 40 per cent of Clipper Race crew having never sailed before, Musto and its reputation for proven performance will enable them to take on one of the toughest challenges on the planet.
Fitness
As an intense physical challenge, a good level of aerobic fitness is a must. Most crew members have to embark on a dedicated training programme to ensure their core strength and stamina is up to the task. We’ll teach you the correct techniques, but your fitness is up to you.
Teamwork
More important than physical fitness is having the right attitude. The Clipper Race is all about teamwork – being willing to roll up your sleeves and get on with any task that needs doing, no matter how tough or unpleasant. Most people will naturally be stronger in some areas and weaker in others – so it’s all about being open and honest with each other and learning how to work as a team.
Yacht Safety
Our ocean racing yachts are designed to be safe and dependable – but it’s ultimately up to every member of Race Crew to ensure they’re operated and maintained correctly. For a significant portion of the route, crews will be closer to the International Space Station than they will dry land – so any problems have to be resolved by the people on board.
Your professional Race Skipper and First Mate are experienced experts who can be trusted to lead the crew whatever happens at sea.
Life rafts
Horseshow rings
Throwing line
Dan buoy, with AIS tracker
Scramble net
Retrieval kit
Emergency signalling (flares)
Additionally, every yacht in our fleet carries advanced communication equipment, including satellite phones and two VHF radios. You’ll also find the latest navigation technology (including RADAR) and an on board watermaker to turn seawater into safe drinking water.
Navigation
Multinational tech brand, Garmin, have supplied the eleven-strong Clipper Race matched fleet with their industry leading navigation hardware, and Premium Chart Plotter GPS maps that track fluid position and heading changes with update rates of 10 times per second. Additionally, its Blue Chart G3 provides industry-leading coverage, clarity and detail with updated coastal charts and additional technology to equip Race Skippers and crew with all the essential data pertaining to their location and speed of the yacht at all times during the eleven-month circumnavigation.
FAQs
Each Clipper Race team is led by a professional skipper and first mate. As well as being excellent sailors who are proven in taking on the planet’s most hostile environments, Clipper Race Skippers must also be outstanding instructors, exceptional motivators, and strong role models to safely lead their team around the world.
Regardless of prior sailing experience, all Clipper Race Crew must pass the four weeks of rigorous and intensive mandatory training. Along with providing on the water experience, this training programme also includes an approved Sea Survival course and a classroom-based Advanced Safety Course.
Join the Race
40,000nm. 5 Oceans. 1 Circumnavigation. See you on the start line.