Chef from Cheltenham racing from US coast-to-coast in global yacht race
by Kathryn Pridie 4 May 14:30 BST
Lucy Stocks, 22, a chef from Cheltenham, is taking part in the penultimate leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. It's the last leg of the race that she will complete before her parents join her to race her 'home' this summer.
The Clipper Race is unique in that it takes ordinary people and trains them to become ocean racers, with no sailing background or experience necessary. Founded over 30 years ago by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world, and now in its fourteenth edition, Race Crew can sign up to one, multiple or all eight legs of the 40,000 nautical mile global route.
Speaking about her previous sailing experience, she said: "I had done some family sailing holidays, but they were more about sunbathing than sailing - it wasn't until I was about 15 until that I realised this was something I was interested in."
Lucy, racing on Team London Business School has most recently completed a 5,500 nautical mile race across the North Pacific Ocean, from Tonyeong, South Korea, to Seattle, USA and has just embarked on the next stage from the US West Coast to Washington, D.C via the Panama canal. Departing Seattle, she said: "It's been an incredible stopover but we are also excited to race to Panama and onto Washington, D.C. We should get there in the next 55 days!"
In total, Lucy will be completing five legs of the race. Having already completed Leg 3, 5 and 6. After this current leg (7), Lucy will take on the final leg which will be a remarkable one for her; she will be joined by her parents as they all race from Washington, D.C back across the Atlantic to Portsmouth, via Oban in Scotland.
It's no cruise; Race Crew undertake all aspects of ocean racing from sailing around the clock in shift patterns called watches, to cooking, cleaning and maintaining the team yacht. It's a test of team effort, resilience and grit as teams race around the clock for up to 30 days at a time on ten identical, purpose-built Clipper Race yachts. Looking ahead, Lucy said: "I am hoping there will be a lot of everything - downwind sailing now, then heat as we head towards the equator. It should be a good race.
We have some new crew members on board and we are going to try and race as fast as we can!"
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. A true test of physical and mental endurance, the Clipper Race sees ten teams, led by a professional Race Skipper and First Mate, make six ocean crossings, facing everything Mother Nature throws at them from sub-zero temperatures in the North Pacific Ocean to blistering heat at the Equator.