Yorkshire sailors taking part in 11-month round-the-world race back on dry land

Several sailors from Yorkshire who took part in an 11-month round-the-world race are now back on dry land. Steve Teale reports.

Emotions were running high when an 11-month round-the-world sailing mission came to an end.

Crews competing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, including a number of people from Yorkshire, were overwhelmed as they were reunited with families and friends in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth.

Millie Apperley, a professional sailor from Huddersfield, was First Mate on third-placed Team/Brand Scotland; Sally Beattie, mother of Millie Apperley, signed up for the final leg of the race; and Leeds-born Heather Thomas was the Race Skipper for Team/Brand Scotland.

Heather and Millie are the first all-female Skipper and First Mate pairing to podium in the Clipper Race. Meanwhile Guy Waites, a professional sailor from Leeds, completed his third lap of the globe whilst leading Team UNICEF and Gavin Lee, an accountant from Skipton, completed the full circumnavigation.

Mr Waites said: “The welcome back is amazing! It was always going to be an emotional day – and it's for these guys [his race crew] really, not for me.

"They’ve done a lot to be proud of and they should go home very happy.”

Mr Lee said: “I’m back on home soil, at last. I feel confident, fitter, and more alive. A lot of people say it’s life-changing, but for me it’s definitely more life-affirming. What an adventure we have been on.

"Competing in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race this year was the best thing I’ve done. A tough but rewarding adventure of big waves, stunning sunsets, wildlife and lifelong friendships. It’s been genuinely life-affirming and I’ve come home proper proud of meself.”

Unlike any other round the world sailing races, the Clipper Race is open to everyday people.

Aroun 40 per cent of participants begin with no previous sailing experience before completing intensive training and taking on one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.

During the course of the global race route, teams crossed the Equator twice, completed six ocean crossings and faced everything from storm-force winds and towering waves to intense heat, freezing temperatures, lightning storms and relentless squalls.

Life on board meant racing 24 hours a day in rotating watch systems, often spending up to a month at sea without stepping ashore.

The Clipper Race demands resilience, teamwork and determination from people who are bold enough to step away from everyday life to pursue something extraordinary. Crew members include teachers, doctors, farmers, tattoo artists, engineers, students and retirees.

A fleet of ten identical purpose-built Clipper Race yachts were led by a professional Race Skipper and First Mate, with up to 22 non-professional Race Crew on board, racing around the clock for up to 30 days at a time.

Race Crew could choose to take on one, a combination or all of the eight legs that form the 40,000 nautical mile-route around the world.