This time it really is coming home! Round the world ocean racers almost back after 11 months
by Clipper Ventures 21 Jul 13:33 UTC
Just one last race separates almost 200 adventurers from home comforts after sailing over 40,000 nautical miles, over eleven months.
In a Clipper Race first, the overall winners, Team GOSH, were decided on arrival in Washington, D.C, USA, when they secured enough points to clear their win at the end of the seventh, penultimate leg. The race to the remaining two podium spots is now on, with six teams potentially able to claim them in this 13th and final race of the circumnavigation; Power of Seattle Sports, London Business School, Tongyeong, Scotland, Yacht Club Punta del Este and UNICEF.
The ten-strong fleet of Clipper 70 racing yachts departed Oban (1500 on 19 July) for the race back to Portsmouth where the crew left from in August 2025. What makes this feat all the more remarkable is that other than the two-professional sailors on board - the rest of the crew is made up of everyday people who signed up to be trained as ocean racers.
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only race of its kind that trains people from all walks of life to take on six ocean crossings and battle everything Mother Nature decides to throw their way. The crew, which includes professions such as doctor, student, ski instructor, teacher and massage therapist, put aside their day to day lives to face freezing temperatures and blistering heat, towering waves and intense wind speeds in some of the most remote stretches of ocean on the planet.
Circumnavigator, Thomas Roy, from Hamble in Hampshire, was just 18 when he left Portsmouth last year - choosing to do the race over a place at Oxford University. Thomas is racing home to the South Coast and said: "I can't really believe it. It's a bit surreal to be here on the last Race Start day.
"There's lots of reasons why I signed up to the Clipper Race. I was looking for a challenge and to grow in confidence, and I think I've achieved that and more. Way more than I could ever have expected or hoped for."
This is the fourteenth edition of the Clipper Race, which got under way from Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth on 31 August 2025, and along the global route, called in at; Puerto Sherry in Spain, Punta del Este in Uruguay, Cape Town in South Africa, Fremantle and Airlie Beach in Australia, Subic Bay in the Philippines, Qingdao in China, Tongyeong in South Korea, Seattle in the USA, Panama, and Washington, DC in the USA before arriving in Oban, Scotland last week.
There is one last week of racing down the West Coast of the UK with the teams arriving in Portsmouth on Saturday 25 July to celebrate their achievements.
This is only the second time that the Clipper Race has stopped in Scotland, with the event calling into Oban for the past week, after a successful visit in the summer of 2024.
Kay MacDonald at Bid4Oban, said: "It's been incredible to see The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race return to Oban this year. This is testament to the exceptional West Coast welcome that our businesses offer across town from our pontoons, independent shops, restaurants, cáfes and attractions. Many of our members have reported a record week in terms of business and we've heard many of the Clipper Race crew describe this as a highlight of the whole race. We wish them a safe and successful onward journey."
About the Clipper Race
The Clipper Race is unique in that it takes ordinary people and trains them to become ocean racers, with no previous sailing experience required. A fleet of ten identical purpose-built Clipper Race yachts are led by a professional Race Skipper and First Mate, with up to 22 non-professional Race Crew on board, racing around the clock for up to 30 days at a time. Race Crew can choose to take on one, a combination or all of the eight legs that form the 40,000nm global route.
The Clipper Race is the brainchild of sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who wanted to break down barriers to ocean racing. Founded over 30 years ago and now in its fourteenth edition, the first ever Clipper Race set off in 1996, with over 7,000 people now introduced to ocean.
Find out more on the Clipper Race website here.