Mererid gave a fascinating talk about her memorable round the world trip as a paying volunteer on the Round the World Clipper Race, founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnson. This is the world’s longest race at over 41,000 nautical miles (nm), and the only such event organised for amateurs. The race comprises 8 legs and 15 individual races to gain points and decide the overall winner.

The adventure started with an interview at Clipper Headquarters in Gosport, when she was accepted for the programme of training, 4 weeks on the water and a week on theory. The crew allocation was announced on 3th April when the 10 race skippers were announced and they read out their crew lists. The final training week was in June 2011, aboard “Singapore” with the skipper and some of her fellow sailors.

On Sunday 31st July, after a presentation, 10 identical 68ft masthead cutters, each sponsored by a corporation or city, paraded down Southampton Water, escorted by HMS Illustrious and an armada of spectator boats, and made their way to Cowes for the 16:30 start; an opportunity for “ordinary people to do something extraordinary”.

Race 1 was a quick sprint to Madeira, 1,340 nm, including a calm crossing of the Bay of Biscay. Race 2 was on to Rio de Janeiro, 3,850nm, with steadily rising temperatures but avoiding the Doldrums. The trade winds continues to carry the clipper south and across the Equator and “Singapore” crossed the line in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Mountain in third place, despite the need for a Heath-Robinson repair required to the steering and damage to one of the spinnakers. In Rio the team had to re-provision and modify planned menus to accommodate local availability, which then had all to be packed into waterproof bags (one for each day until the next port) and stored securely under our bunks, odd and even on opposite sides, working from bow to stern so that the boat remained balanced as they were consumed.

For Race 3 to Cape Town, 3,400nm, the boat headed into the South Atlantic and then the fringes of the Southern Ocean, where an albatross flew into a shroud. “Singapore” crossed the finish line in Table Bay in fourth place and then motored to their berth in the Victoria and Albert Marina.

Race 4 from Cape Town to Geraldton, Western Australia 4,800mn was looked by many as one of the biggest challenges. The boat followed Latitude 41S but at 43S “Qingdao” saw an iceberg, so a fleet was issued and all bulkhead doors had to be closed until moving further north approaching the finish. At one point all 3 spinnakers were in need of repair, so Mererid dropped the watch system and spent the time patching and machining until two were fit to fly again. This lost time and they arrived last. It then took two days spread out in a local high school sports hall in Geraldton to repair the last one as it was the size of a tennis court.

Race 5 was on to Tauranga, New Zealand, 3,600 nm, but this did not go according to plan. The steering gave way again but there was no onboard solution and no part could be found in the stores the fleet carried so Clipper HQ had to make arrangements for us to put into Queenscliffe, near Melbourne. The local yacht club effected a speedy repair but by then the boat was so far behind the rest of the fleet that last place was accepted and the “Singapore” made its way around the north of New Zealand motoring or sailing depending on th wind, while the fleet rounded South Island.

Race 6 was on to Gold Coast, Queensland, 1,370nm, by a short, high speed dash across the Tasman and Coral Seas, arriving on 13th December. Here, the boats were lifted out of the water, hulls cleaned and re-coated with anti-foul. Mererid’s husband travelled out at the end of term for a brief reunion; the race re-started on Christmas Eve.

Race 7 was on to Singapore, 4,500nm. As it was the hurricane season, the fleet avoided the Torres Strait and went around Papua New Guinea and sailed through the Celebes and Sula Seas between Malaysia and the Philippines, experiencing high humidity, tropical storms, fleets of fishing vessels and a warning of pirates.

Race 8 was on to Qingdao, China 2,578nm, across a very grey Yellow Sea for a red carpet welcome ceremony. As well as re-victualling, a group travelled by high speed train to Beijing for two nights for sightseeing, and where Mererid became separated from the party and was “lost” for some 45 minutes before being re-united. They also visited the Great Wall and returned to Qingdao in time for the Race Dinner and Entertainment hosted by local dignitaries.

Race 9 was then on to San Francisco, 5,680nm. Due to snow and poor visibility, that start was called off just before the due time and the fleet motored and did a “Le Mans” style start at sea the following day. Driving rain, high winds up to 55 knots, big seas, the boat covered in condensation, everything aboard being damp, including the crew, was the norm for the next 29 days as the fleet crossed the largest ocean in the world. The fleet was not allowed above 42N because of worse conditions. During a sail change on my watch, the bowman was washed overboard, fortunately his life-line held and he was quickly dragged back on board by two burly Americans who were up front with him. “Singapore” crossed the International Date Line on 20th March, so the following day was also 20th March, and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge in second place.  

Race 10 was down to Panama, 3,329nm, but due to lack of wind the fleet motored much of the way. The transit of the Panama Canal took 12 hours for the 51 miles, roped together in convoy.  

Race 11 was on to New York, starting through the Jamaica Channel, the Windward Passage, the Caicos Passage and then out into the Atlantic Ocean and crossing the finish line in 6th place.

Leg 8 comprised 4 shorter sections: