Clipper Round the World Yacht Race sets sail from Portsmouth
Sailor, Jade Golder, is taking part in the 11-month long Clipper Round the World Race
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set off from Portsmouth yesterday (August 31st) which sees 10 teams compete across the circumference of the globe.
The race is divided into eight legs with stop-off points across the planet and will take 11 months to complete.
The first leg sees the teams race from Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays to Uruguay which is expected to take 35 days.
It marks the 25th anniversary of the first Clipper Race departure from Portsmouth.
Founded in 1995 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the Clipper Race is the only event of its kind to train people from all backgrounds to become ocean racers.
Each participant completes a minimum of four stages of intensive training before racing in one or more legs of the global route.
The full circumnavigation involves six ocean crossings, including the North Pacific, with the fleet of Clipper 70 yachts covering 40,000 nautical miles.
Jade Golder, from Cranleigh, will serve as First Mate in one of the ten teams. She will support the professional Skipper in guiding a crew of non-professional sailors.
This will be Golder’s second time circumnavigating the globe with the Clipper Race, having taken part as Race Crew in the last edition. It marks her first appointment in a professional sailing capacity.
Jade described to us what her home for the next 11 months will look like.
"It's a 70 foot racing yacht, it's definitely built like a tank. It can survive any conditions that we might be put through. It's quite a basic yacht because it's kind of stripped out for racing conditions.
But also there is still a level of comfort because we're taking amateur sailors around the world, so there still needs to be some kind of comfort."
It's a gruelling race and Golder's first sailing role in a professional capacity, she told us that each leg of the journey presented its own challenge
"Every leg is so different to each other, every single leg has a different challenge. So for example, leg one is quite a challenge because it's a big learning curve for pretty much everyone on the boat.
But then you've got leg 6, which is a crossing Pacific. So it's a lot of a lot of wind, it's cold, it's wet, so it's physically quite demanding.
But there are other legs that are also mentally exhausting as well, mentally challenging."
Between the legs, the racers will get a chance to rest and explore wherever they are in the world. Jade told us where she was looking forward to the most.
"I'm really excited about going into Cape Town. Last time it was my favourite stop over and as an added bonus, my skipper is from Cape Town, and he hasn't been there for a while, so it's nice to be able to sail him home and kind of have a a home port."