Airline Pilot from Kiel wins Clipper Race Stage 9 across the North Pacific Ocean
by Clipper Ventures 24 Apr 21:16 BST
Julia on board her Team Power of Seattle Sports yacht © Clipper Ventures
Julia Heitmann, a 36-year-old airline pilot from Kiel, Germany, has arrived in Seattle, USA, after spending 26 days sailing 5,500nm (10,186 km) across the North Pacific Ocean in one of the most challenging legs of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
Her team, Power of Seattle Sports, arrived in port as the winner of Stage 9: The Big One to Seattle.
On arrival in Seattle, Julia said: "Surfing down the huge waves is an amazing experience - it's like a melody - you feel the wind, feel the waves and feel the boat moving. And you're trying to be part of the melody. It's amazing!"
"I am so excited to be here. It was lovely coming in with the Space Needle in the background and now being back on the dock."
Stage 9: The Big One to Seattle, set sail sailing from Tongyeong, South Korea and is a race that will have been on most Race Crew's minds since this edition started in August 2025. Renowned for its remote and demanding waters, it was summed up by Clipper Race Manager Hannah Brewis, who said: "The only way to describe it is relentless. You can't stop and it won't stop. The only way is to keep going."
Julia adds: "It was a big start, big waves and big wind beating upwind against the current. It was quite something! It was bitterly cold near the ice limit too."
Although Seattle might be a long way from home, it's a special place and a full circle moment for Julia. She explains: "In aviation, the first flight I did was into Seattle and after my first ocean crossing I've come into Seattle, so it is kind of like coming home!"
The Clipper Race is unique in that it takes ordinary people and trains them to become ocean racers, with no previous sailing experience required. Ten identical purpose-built Clipper Race yachts are 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.
Speaking about why she signed up to do the Clipper Race, Julia said: "I always wanted to do an ocean crossing and I didn't want to do it the easy way. If you're going to do an ocean crossing, do a hard one and do a race - that's why we chose the Clipper Race."
And her favourite part of the race? The power and beauty of nature. Julia said: "We didn't see many stars as it was usually cloudy but we saw so much bioluminescence in the waves on the stern, it was gorgeous."
The brainchild of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world, the Clipper Race enables people from all walks of life to experience ocean racing. Race Crew can sign up to take on one, a combination or all eight legs of the route that totals 40,000 nautical miles (74,080km).
The ten Clipper Race fleet has arrived in Seattle, WA, and will have some time to recover, see the sights of the Pacific Northwest and prepare for the next race to Panama, which starts on April 28. From Panama, the race heads to Washington, D.C, before crossing the North Atlantic to Oban, Scotland, before returning to Portsmouth, UK, where the race set off last August.