About Me

My name is Rachel. I am 23 years old and I am hoping to become a round-the-world  yachtswomen with help from  Clipper Ventures Plc. 

Believe it or not, my yachting experience only dates back to August 2006.  Whilst I was at school, a friend would invite me every year to accompany her and her family on a week’s sailing off the Isle of Wight during Cowes Week.  And every year my parents would thwart my ambition by insisting that I accompany them on the annual family holiday!  Since I left school and started work in agriculture, other events have conspired to keep me away from Cowes Week - mostly harvest time, but also a boyfriend with no interest in sailing.  Last August, however, I was able to visit Cowes to watch the final weekend’s racing and, whilst visiting a related website, enrolled for an hour’s free sailing lesson with the United Kingdom Sailing Academy. 

That hour’s lesson changed my outlook on life and, from that point onwards, I was determined to make sailing my hobby.  Within three weeks, I was back on the Solent, courtesy of Bluebox Sailing, aboard their Whitebread 60 racing yacht, “Blueprint” for a seven-hour “sailing experience day”.  “Blueprint” was built for the 1994 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.  During her racing career she set a world speed record which she held for four years.  As may be imagined, this further wetted my appetite for offshore sailing and started me thinking about sailing for a career.

The next step was to find an experienced sailor, preferably a yacht owner, who would allow me to crew for them and just two days later I was lucky enough to be introduced to no lesser personage than the Commodore of Conyer Cruising Club in Kent.  A couple of weeks later I was on board his yacht accumulating miles for my log book, sailing on the Medway for the weekend. 

Sadly, extreme weather, moving house and other commitments and, ultimately, the end of the sailing season have prevented me from logging any more sea miles since then.  This hasn’t stopped me from studying my sailing manuals and constantly looking for ways to pursue my ambition. 

Enter Clipper Ventures Plc.  One evening in November a friend showed me a cutting from the Scunthorpe Telegraph headed “Could you take on the world?”.  The accompanying article introduced the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and contained information on a crew recruitment presentation evening at Grimsby Town Hall, near my home.  Within minutes of the presentation starting, my mind was made up - this was something I was going to be a part of.  The appeal of sailing around the world, rising to the challenges that this would offer, being part of a crew of like-minded amateur sailors, being fêted at every port of call and undergoing the experience of a lifetime was irresistible. 

With my application completed and sent off to Clipper Ventures I could only sit back and wait to be called for an interview and that invitation came in mid-December.  Off I went to Leeds as an aspiring young sailor and I returned home having been selected for crew training.