Clipper Race returns to its roots to find next batch of ocean adventurers

Clipper Race 14 © Martin Shields

At 58 years old, Plymouth-based Advanced Clinical Practitioner Loveday Fethney is proving that adventure knows no age limit.

Taking the leap from her medical career to the open ocean, she is preparing to embark on the ultimate challenge: circumnavigating the globe as part of the Clipper 2025-26 Round the World Yacht Race.

The Clipper Race is an adventure like no other. Known as one of the biggest challenges of the natural world, and an endurance test like no other, those who take on the Clipper Race need no previous sailing experience before being intensively trained to face the record breaking 40,000 nautical mile race on a 70-foot ocean racing yacht.

The eleven competing teams are led by a professional Skipper and First Mate, as they guide their Race Crew to battle storm-force winds, towering waves, and the relentlessness of racing 24 hours a day for up to 30 days non-stop across some of the world's most unforgiving oceans.

"I love an adventure. I'm determined and competitive!" Loveday admits. "I always thought about the full circumnavigation, but I didn't think it would be possible for someone like me. Then I went through the training, met incredible people, and realized it is possible!"

For Loveday, her adventure will begin in late summer 2025, but for those who want to follow in her footsteps, the first step starts right here in Plymouth - a place of special significance as Plymouth was the departure point of the very first Clipper Race in 1996.

Feeling inspired and like this could be your next bucket list challenge? The Clipper Race Talk and Tour Discovery Event will be heading to the city from 20 to 22 February looking for its next batch of intrepid explorers.

The event, which is led by former crew members, sees the hatches open on one of the Clipper Race yachts set for the ocean this summer. A chance to get access above and below deck, visitors can imagine life at a 40-degree angle, mid-ocean and thousands of miles from land, check out the Nav Station, galley, bunks and stowage, and see where each of the 20 Race Crew live.

Former 2023-24 Race Crew Will Ackerly (Circumnavigator) and Josh Youings-Clarke (Leg 8), will be on hand to share their experiences, alongside Clipper Race Crew Recruitment Coordinator Jilly St John (Race Crew on the 2015-16 edition) and Max Rivers (former Race Skipper and current Deputy Race Director).

"Stepping on board before signing up gives you a clear idea of what the race will be like, and hearing from alumni and asking questions as you tour the boat is really helpful.

"Seeing the boat for the first time gave me the confidence to think, 'I can do this.' It's built for the ocean, and that's obvious when you see it. That was one of my biggest barriers, but seeing the boat made me realize it was designed to cross oceans.

"It also helped my family support me because they could visualize where I'd be living and what I'd be doing," says Ella Nieper who raced on Leg 5 of the Clipper 2023-24 Race on board Our Isles and Oceans.

Come along and tour the boats at Queen Anne's Battery, or join a Discovery Talk, delivered by Clipper Race Crew Recruitment Director, Chris Harris, and Crew Recruitment Executive, Ella Nieper, at the Royal Western Yacht Club. Both Chris and Ella are Clipper Race alumni ready to give an insider's view of what it takes to be part of this unique adventure.

For those ready to take on the world's toughest oceans, applications for the 2025-26 and 2027-28 editions of the Clipper Race are now open.

Reserve your place for the Clipper Race Talk and Tour here

For more information on the talk and tours, contact and for media enquiries, reach out to .