Weekly Meeting

11 January 2018Clipper Round the World Race 2017/8 - JulianLowes

 Julian, visited Club to tell us about his imminent adventure aboard the Clipper 70 Qingdao. He has recently retired from teaching, and has sailed for around thirty years. Knowing that it was an ambition of Julian’s and that he wanted a new adventure in retirement, Julian’s wife sent off for the details of the round the world Clipper race. Having gone through a rigorous selection and training process Julian leaves for Australia next week to join the clipper Qingdao. The Clipper is sponsored by the port of Qingdao, this city is bordered on two sides by the Yellow Sea. (and apparently has the largest bathing beach in Asia.) The total round the world race will take approximately 11 month and cover 40,000 nautical miles. The crew mantra is Eat, Sleep, Sail, Repeat and is basically what will be happening during the race. Crew work six hour watches during the day and four hour watches at night. Julian’s presentation gave us information about the size of the clipper and the sails. There was lots of technical information and health and safety points too. The race is not without its dangers and we were told of deaths that had occurred in this race and the previous race. We wished Julian ‘Bon Voyage’ and he agreed to come and talk to us again on his return. The clipper will be at sea generally for over 30 days on each leg and communication is limited. Julian’s wife is going to write a blog for him, and you can follow the progress of Qingdao in the skipper’s reports at https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/team/qingdao/news                           LL