Race start week is here. On Sunday, 31st August 2025, the Clipper 2025-26 Round the World Yacht Race will depart Portsmouth. Leading up to the start of the first race, there is a lot happening. The Race Village will be open from 10:00 to 19:00 daily starting on Friday, 29th August. In addition, there are several events scheduled to take place on the main stage. This includes panel discussions, live music and more. Just come down to Gunwharf Quays and enjoy the festivities.
I am really looking forward to getting started. The past two weeks of prepping the boat and getting to learn the people I will sail with, have added greatly to the anticipation. I believe everyone is longing for the start. Only then we will know what works well and what might need adjustment. There are still a lot of unknowns, but this is part of the game. We are prepared and ready to go.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we will officially register for the first leg of the race. Following this, we will run through the safety briefs before heading out on the water. Once out on the water, we will get in line for a practice run of the parade of sails, which will be held just before race start. Afterwards we will continue out in the Solent and have pictures taken of all the boats. This will be the first time we will be out with the official branding and our new sails.
Following the pictures being taken, we will conduct some emergency drills. Those are required whenever new crew comes onboard. In the evening we will dock our boats in Gunwharf Quays Marina. We will stay there until the start of the race on Sunday. During this time we will have some final preparations to make and the boats are available for tours.
Thursday
On this day we will get our team wear. This will be branded polo shirts and a jacket. We don’t know yet, how these will look like, but it will be great to have the name of our team sponsor Tongyeong on us as well. This will be the final piece of kit to receive and then we are fully equipped for the race.
Apart from that, the day is free from any program. The plan is to keep it free from any other commitments, such that everyone has some time off. As the next days will be packed with different activities, this break will be very welcome.
Friday
This is the first day the Race Village will be open and thus the official start of the pre race festivities. Our boat will host several private groups for tours and we might be able to join other boats naming ceremonies as they proceed. In addition, the first two episodes of the Clipper Race documentary – No going back – will be shown on the big screen.
In the evening there will be a big crew party in Portsmouth Southsea. We celebrate the start of this years race and our farewell. With the majority of Race Crew for Leg 1 and probably many more to join, this will be a big party and surely a lot of fun.
Saturday
Saturday will start with the crew briefing for us. We will learn about the details of our race to Puerto Sherry. Which marks we have to pass in order to finish the race. Where we are not allowed to go. And what kind of weather we have to expect initially. Following the crew briefing, we will have our team briefing. There we will learn what our strategy will be for the first race and how we are going to approach it.
In the afternoon our boat will be named officially. It is branded as Tongyeong since last week. For the naming ceremony a delegation from South Korea will be onsite including the mayor of Tongyeong. It will be an honour to show them the boat carrying their name around the world.
Sunday
Sunday is the big day. The pontoons will be off limits to the general public. All the teams will gather onboard their ships and stow their personal kit. We will have team pictures taken onboard. And all the teams will be presented on the main stage. Then we will slip lines and prepare for the parade of sails.
Starting at 14:30 the parade will lead our fleet past the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and all the way to Southsea Castle. That is where the start line will be. The start is scheduled for 16:00.
This can be observed from the shore in Portsmouth. Starting with the parade of sail there is ought to be a live stream available from the Clipper Race website. This is also where the race tracker should be available, once the race has started.
Please be aware that all teams will have the possibility to use stealth mode during different parts of the race. This will hide them from the race tracker and the position reports all teams receive. So if our boat just disappears from the tracker, it is because we are using this tactical opportunity and not because something went wrong. We should be back after 24h.
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