At the beginning of this week I posted a picture on my socials of a building named “The Slaughterhouse”.. I added the comment: A tense week ahead..
This building happens to be right in front of the Race office of Clipper Ventures.
I left this office 2 years ago for the last time and to be honest, never really looked back. I bought a house in my home town, a racing boat (Pampus 153) and focused on doing deliveries for Angelasails.com. I was finally getting settled after my big decision in 2018 when I sold everything and sailed across the Atlantic for the first time (exactly 6 years ago). It is hard to believe I did not know anything about the big boat sailing world at all!
I had no qualifications, no miles under my belt and surely did not have a network. Just last September, sitting in my garden, I realized how far I have come..
Then my mailbox pinged: “Dear Angela, we would like to invite you to the Skipper Trials for the 25-26 Clipper Race”
Just one sentence and it turned my life upside down! I have been “off” ever since. Yes, it is a great opportunity. Yes, I have always wanted to race around the world in a one design class. And yes, it would be a great achievement doing this as a Skipper..
BUT: I love the life I have built. Giving 1,5 years of this life to the Clipper Race feels so long… What about my home, my family, my friends, angelasails.com?
So the last 3 months I spoke to a lot of people; I wake up one morning “I am crazy if I don’t do it” and wake up the next morning “I am crazy if I do it”
In October I called the Race Director (Dale) and spoke with him about my doubts. He said “if you don’t do the trials, you will not have a choice to make”. Good point. So off I went last week. Back to Gosport.
First day was all about introducing the Clipper Race and individual interviews. The next 3 days we went out sailing on one of the yachts. There were 5 trial skippers onboard, 3 people from Race Management and 7 crew who did a leg on one of the previous race editions – how I respect them for going out voluntarily in the cold conditions we were having!! We had big winds, 1 day with a bit of sun but mostly rain and even snow on the last day!
In the meantime we had to demonstrate our sailing & leadership skills in mock racing conditions with race management scrutinizing everything you do (even if it was the right thing) while you try to run the boat. At the same time the Comms team would put a camera in your face asking questions like “why are you making this decision, what are we doing right now etc” – A real pressure pot!
Back on shore we had to do a presentation (mine about Yacht Stability) for which we did not get a lot of time to prepare.
.. And then, try leaving the dock and docking these 23m yachts in the confined marina at Gosport with tide, wind and hands so cold I had to literally peel them off the helm..
Yesterday afternoon it was debrief time. I felt ok-ish about the whole week, eventhough I knew there were a few gaps. But you never really know, do you?
So with my heart pounding in my chest I entered the office for my debrief. Did they put the heating up on purpose?!
.. to be continued..
- Mike Brien: ‘Thank You’ for opening up your house to me. It was definately much warmer than staying onboard!
- For the Dutch readers: “Clipper” sounds like the old boats with wooden masts we have in the Netherlands, but in this case they are 23m (LOA) racing yachts similar to the (former) Volvo Ocean Race (see pic)
- More information about the Clipper Race 2025-2026: https://issuu.com/clipperrace/docs/clipper_2023_24_race_brochure
Angelasails.com 