Clipper Race
A WA welcome for Australians racing back home after taking one of the world’s toughest sailing challenges
This week, the Clipper Race fleet arrived in to Fremantle, WA – with 15 Aussie nationals amongst its crew including a doctor from Perth and a firefighter from Victoria.
The fleet of ten ocean racing yachts arrived following its 4,800nm race across the notorious Roaring Forties from Cape Town, South Africa. The teams battled wind speeds of up to 50 knots, sea-states so immense they are technically classified as ‘phenomenal’, and freezing temperatures whilst living on board a yacht stripped of life’s luxuries – with twenty other adventurers. Leg 3 is one of the most testing sections of the Clipper Race circumnavigation with the Roaring Forties one of the most remote places on the planet, where few sailors venture.
One Aussie sailing home was Craig Head, a project manager from South Bunbury, Western Australia. Sailing into his home state and nation, as part of the winning team, GOSH, Craig said: “What an exciting race! I’m lost for words. Racing the Roaring Forties is something a lot of people haven’t experienced and to some people those conditions can be very daunting. There were a couple of times we experienced big winds that took us by surprise, but it was all part of the journey.
“It’s been really satisfying to cross that ocean – it’s been one I’ve wanted to cross for a long time. It’s really good to finally be here, and it’s good to be home and in familiar territory.”
Fellow Aussie, Tony Gill, a Public Servant, originally from WA but now living in the Northern Territory added: “If you really want challenge yourself and achieve something epic in your life, go and have a look at the Clipper Race. It is so much fun!”
Race Crew living in Australia who have taken on this challenge and arrived in to Perth, WA this week are:
- Brian De Swardt | Quinns Rocks, Perth | Engineer | Circumnavigator
- Craig Head | South Bunbury, Western Australia | Project Manager | Leg 2 and 3
- Anna Kirk | Perth, Western Australia | St Johns Ambulance | Leg 3
- Caryl Smith | Busselton, Western Australia | Paramedic | Leg 3, 7 and 8
- Aoife Mcsorley | Perth, Western Australia | Doctor | Circumnavigator
- Colin Thomson | Perth, Western Australia | Engineer | Leg 1, 2, 3 and 4
- Tony Archibald | South Yarra, Victoria | Business Analyst | Circumnavigator
- Anthony Gill | Bakewell, Northern Territory | Public Servant | Leg 3
- Chris Heath | Agnes Water, Queensland | Director | Circumnavigator
- Matthew Kennedy | Invermay, Victoria | Sales | Leg 3
- Peter Simon Lustig | Horden Vale, Victoria | Law | Circumnavigator
- Brooke Mackenzie | London Lakes, Tasmania | Paramedic | Leg 1 and 4
- Astley John Hunter Milne | Jan Juc, Victoria | CEO | Leg 3
- Voula Skinner | Sandy Bay, Tasmania | Executive Support Officer | Leg 3 and 4
- Stuart Walker | Mccrae, Victoria | Firefighter | Leg 3
Australian Race Crew living overseas:
- Joss Pettitt | Hessen, Germany | Construction manager | Leg 3
- Nathaporn Eiamvittayakorn | London, UK | Senior Manager | Leg 3 and 4
- Patricia Caswell | Umm Al Quwaim, UAE | Yacht Captain | Leg 2, 3 and 4
- Naomi Mitchell | Arizona, USA | Workplace Threat Manager | Leg 3
VISIT THE CLIPPER RACE FLEET
The Clipper Race is open to anyone, even those with no sailing experience as full training is provided. To give Western Australians an insight into what it takes to participate in this event, the Clipper Race is opening its hatches for free public tours of the yachts Race Crew call home as they sail around the world.
ON THE BOATS // 16-17 December // 1000 – 1800?
One of the ten stripped-down yachts that is currently on its eleven-month voyage around the world will be open to the public. Visit below deck and imagine yourself at a 40-degree angle, mid-ocean and thousands of miles from land, check out the Nav Station, galley, bunks and stowage, and see where each of the 20 Race Crew live when not on deck. Above deck, take the helm or try your hand on one of the eleven winches capable of lifting the sails up the 29m [95 foot] mast.?The tours are family friendly and a great option to entertain children in the summer break.
Those who attend could soon be telling their own ocean-going tales, just like Anna Kirk, a Paramedic from Perth who took on the most recent leg (Leg 3) of the Clipper 2025-26 Race. She said “We’ve seen whales, we’ve seen dolphins, it’s been simply spectacular. And the people that you are sailing with are just incredible.”
DISCOVERY TALK // 18 December // 1930 – 2030
Are you ready to face the ultimate ocean challenge? Head to Fremantle Sailing Club to discover what it’s really like to race around the globe as Race Crew in the Clipper Race.
RACE START // 21 December // 1200 ONWARDS?
From 1200 on 21 December, watch the fleet depart Fremantle Sailing Club as it departs for its next destination: Airlie Beach, Whitsundays.
About the Clipper Race
The Clipper Race is one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet. This unique event sees ten teams battle extreme conditions as they race more than 40,000 nautical miles around the globe in a true test of fortitude and determination.
Many of the Race Crew taking part in this epic adventure have no prior sailing experience. They take on an intensive compulsory four-stage training programme before going on to tackle some of the most challenging conditions that Mother Nature can serve up, from freezing temperatures and 40-foot waves to the blistering heat and flat calms of the tropics.
The 2025-26 edition is broken down into eight legs and Race Crew can take on any combination of one, through to all eight legs – making them circumnavigators. On this edition, the race has so far stopped in Puerto Sherry (Spain), Punta del Este (Uruguay and Cape Town (South Africa). After Fremantle, the fleet heads to Airlie Beach (Australia), Subic Bay (Philippines), Qingdao (China), Tongyeong City (Korea), Seattle (USA), Panama, Washington, DC (USA) and Oban (UK) before returning to Portsmouth (UK) next summer.
Find out more at www.clipperroundtheworld.com
