Welcome to this Home page of my Clipper 2019-2020 Adventure Blog. It was first published in May 2018, updated on 22 March 2020 following the impact of COVID, further updated on New Year’s Eve 2021 as the Race “threatened” to restart in the early spring of 2022, and given a 3rd update – the “Beyond” extension – in September 2023. Right now I don’t really know when it will end.
“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” – Izaak Walton
“”Jobs fill your pockets, but adventure fills your soul.” – Jaime Lyn
Towards the end of 2017 I signed up to complete Leg 2 (across the South Atlantic from South America to South Africa), Leg 3 (across the Southern Ocean from South Africa to Australia), Leg 6 (across the North Pacific from China to the USA), and Leg 8 (across the North Atlantic from the USA to the UK), a total of some 17,395 miles and about 96 days at sea of the 2019-2020 Clipper Round The World Yacht Race. I started writing this blog in May 2018.
What follows are my thoughts, preparations, trials, tribulations, plans, doubts, training and finally MY RACE itself. In fact everything “Clipper” from May 2018 in my own words with pictures and videos.
I funded the adventure and all associated costs myself but throughout I raised money for two charities close to my heart – The National Autistic Society and Diabetes UK and along with my crewmates and every other yacht in the Clipper Race, I raised money for the Race Official Charity – UNICEF UK. . I continue to raise money, largely through speaking engagements and continue to have JustGiving pages set up for The National Autistic Society and Diabetes UK at
https://www.justgiving.com/teams/keithsclipperadventure
and for UNICEF UK at
https://www.justgiving.com/KeithWinstanley-TeamUNICEF
– please take a look.
I was part of the team UNICEF crew. By the time of the mid March 2020 update to this Home page I had already completed Leg 2 from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Cape Town, South Africa; 4050 nautical miles across the South Atlantic (we finished 2nd) and Leg 3 from Cape Town to Fremantle. Western Australia (via, in our case, Durban), a race that should have been 4750 nautical miles but, due to our medical emergency, ended up being 6547 nautical miles. Thanks to our medical diversion we finished 9th. That was a total (at that time) of 10,597 nautical miles in every condition from flat calm wind holes to Violent Storm Force 11.
By 22 March this website comprised 113 separate blogs. Blogs 01 to 08 written between 13 May 2018 and 1 July 2018 cover the build up; Blogs 09 to 61 cover the period up to Crew Allocation including my first three training events afloat; Blogs 62 to 84 cover the period from Crew Allocation to Race Start and up to my departure to South America; Blogs 85 to 105 written between 7 October 2019 and 20 January 2020 cover my experiences during Legs 2 and 3. Blogs 106 onwards take the story forward.
By March 2020 The Clipper 2019-2020 Race has reached Subic Bay in the Philippines (never on the original Race route) where the yachts ended up moth-balled and the Race postponed due to the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. I returned early from the Philippines having suffered a haemorrhage and lost the sight in my left eye! You can learn probably more than you would ever want to know about the subsequent Vitrectomy in these pages! The fleet was to remain in the Philippines for 2 years!
2022 started with Blog 134. I completed Leg 6 across the mighty North Pacific from Subic Bay, Philippines to Seattle USA in March and April 2022; 7278 nauticalmiles in up to Storm Force 10 conditions over 37 days. It is the longest leg in Clipper history and not only did we play our Joker, but we also finished 2nd.
Between June and July 2022 I completed the 3 races of the final leg, Leg 8; 944 nautical miles from Bermuda to New York, 3483 nautical miles across the North Atlantic from New York to Derry-Londonderry, and finally the last race of the entire thing; 1035 nautical miles from Derry-Londonderry around the North of Scotland down to London. Our crossing of the North Atlantic was the fastest North Atlantic Crossing in Clipper history, despite encountering storm force winds rounding Rockall, and we finished 3rd in that race and WON the final race. In bald statistics my Clipper adventure involved 23,337 nautical miles sailing over 112 days at sea in every possible wind and sea state up to and including Force 11. But it was so much more than just bald statistics.
In bald statistics my Clipper adventure covered 23,337 nautical miles sailing and 112 days at sea in every possible wind and sea state from absolutely flat calm to violent storm. I picked up one First place pennant, two 2nd place pennants and a 3rd place pennant but it was much more than bald statistics.
What lies “beyond” Clipper? Blog 150 introduces “Stormbird” and my part in her 3.5 year west-about (the other way round from Clipper) circumnavigation of the globe.
Want to learn more????? Want to learn what it was like????? What to learn more about what “lies beyond Clipper”?????
Then hit the follow button for regular updates or just dip in and out as the fancy takes you. Read on…….
Keith
Pretty Much All At Sea 