Looking back at John’s Clipper Round The World Race
John Olsen took on the challenge of training and participating in the first two legs of the 2017-18 Clipper Round the World Race – this involved sailing from the UK to Uruguay and then on to Cape Town. John was a close friend of the family and wanted to raise sponsorship alongside his challenge and chose teamArchie as a beneficial charity. With the money raised and through a partnership with Clipper Round the World – the creation of world famous yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson – we have been able to develop a teamArchie Clipper Bursary for the 2019-20 Race to put one individual through the yacht training and the first leg of 30,000 miles from UK to Uruguay – our Bursary winner Callum Leach, from Hull, will set sail on 1st September 2019 for the race of his life!
Some words from John from before his challenge:
In less than two weeks’ time, On 20 August (2017), I’m embarking on two legs of the Clipper Round the World Race, from Liverpool to Punta del Este, Uruguay and then on to Cape Town, flying the flag as part of Team GREAT Britain. So more than 10,000 miles, over two months, in a 70’ racing yacht, working and living cheek-by-jowl with 20 other people who I hardly know yet, with little more than a packet of wet-wipes to keep the odours at a tolerable level. And no beer.
There’ll be times when we’ll be soaking wet, exhausted and cold in a big South Atlantic blow. But, please, don’t weep for me. At other times we’ll be dripping with sweat, exhausted and baking hot in the windless doldrums when it will be an airless 40°+ below deck. There might, I guess, be some pleasant sailing in between. But even then it’s a race, so there’s no let-up. This gives you a bit of a flavour:
The training programme has taught me a few things: these boats are big, powerful and very hard work to keep going at full tilt over a few hours let alone a few weeks; and it’s more of hard-core race than I’d probably anticipated. Above all however, it’s the people stuff that presents the most interesting challenge.
Lucky, then, that I’m (a) a finely-tuned, highly competitive athlete and (b) a bloody good bloke.