Kingsbridge sailor spent Christmas at sea as he races 2,500 miles around Australia

Non-professional sailors from Devon spent Christmas at sea as they raced 2,500 miles from Western Australia to New South Wales. 

Kingsbridge student Will Ackerly is part of a crew that swapped Christmas dinner and gathering with family to be on board a a 70-foot ocean racing yacht, as they race 2,500 nautical miles from Western Australia to Newcastle NSW on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Will Ackerly 

This particular leg of the adventure is famed for serving up difficult conditions and the wrath of the Roaring Forties as the teams of sailors race around the bottom of Tasmania, notorious for big swells and strong winds.  

Will Ackerly, 22, a student from Kingsbridge, who is circumnavigating on Qingdao reflects on the conditions he is facing and on celebrating the festive season on the ocean: “Short crashing swells that de-swamp the stomachs of the saltiest sea dogs on board, and wind holes of woeful wind-seeking that leave even the tamest of crew members wishing for a 30knot gust, epitomises Christmas in its fullest capacity… maybe not.

“Christmas this year will definitely be different, normality is out the window as we approach the 25 December; our chimney has been traded for a sail locker hatch ready to receive and deposit sacks of a different sort and stuffed stockings are swapped for damp socks struggling to de-sodden themselves before the next watch.

"But we’re not choosing to take part in this trying feat of mental and physical pressure to find normality. The difference from the everyday evolutions of life at home is what is sought through pushing the water capacity limits of our waterproof boots, or figuring out which of the heads is ok to use on the current tack. 

“It will not be the normal gathering of family and friends around a feasted table of turkey and wine, rather, we will be pinned shoulder to shoulder with twenty strangers armed with crocs, waiting eagerly to be asked if they’d like a second pig in blanket by stressed mothers [crew members on cooking duty] who have been working hard all day on a special meal (Mum might not think that’s so different, come to think of it).

"Some Christmas comforts have been hoisted, tinsel lines the galley fluttering to the classic tunes of ‘Little Drummer Boy’ and ‘Dominic the Donkey’, making us feel a part of the distant festivities, but it isn’t normal. 

“This isn’t a Christmas I’m likely to forget, and, though sometimes I wish I was curled up warm by a roaring fire with my family, I am proud to be heading into the Roaring Forties with a boat of randoms that have made this floating dragon [the Qingdao yacht] feel like home for the past three and a half months, and hope that this feeling will continue through the new year.

"There will be plenty of normal Christmases to come.” 

The crew decorated their yachts for Christmas 

The eleven Clipper Race teams set off from Fremantle, Western Australia on 19 December, and with the galley decorated with tinsel, Christmas dinner supplies and Secret Santa presents stowed away, the 200+ Race Crew said goodbye to family, friends and loved ones before setting sail to spend the next fortnight at sea.

The crew from all walks of life will this year shared a Christmas dinner cooked in a tiny galley, with 20 other crew from around the world, living life at a 40-degree angle, sleeping in bunks, battling challenging ocean conditions offshore from Australia. 

The Clipper Race is a global sailing event that trains adventurers from all walks of life to race across the world’s oceans, with no prior sailing experience needed before undertaking the intensive four stages of training required to compete in the event.

Each race edition is split into eight legs spanning 40,000nm, and participants can compete in one or multiple legs, with the entire race around the globe lasting eleven months.    

The conditions on board 

Deputy Race Director Dale Smyth sums up the race conditions facing the fleet on this race: "It's a really challenging but exciting race that the crew are going to have. The fleet will be going to the most southerly point of the circumnavigation, as the teams round the bottom of Tasmania, and then across the infamous Tasman Sea, where they can expect the infamous ‘southerly busters.’

"After this, there will be a very tactical sail up to Newcastle against the East Australia Current. It’s going to be an interesting and very, very tactical race.”  

This edition features over 700 people, aged 18 to 71, representing 55 nationalities and many diverse backgrounds including electricians, orthopaedic surgeons, police sergeants and teachers. Each of the eleven teams are led by a professional Skipper and First Mate, and crew can sign up to one leg, multiple legs or the entire 40,000nm circumnavigation.   

Once the teams race around Australia to both Newcastle and Airlie Beach, they will head to Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, Qingdao and Zhuhai - China, then cross the North Pacific Ocean to Seattle and around the USA to Washington, DC, before returning to Portsmouth at the end of July 2024, via Oban, Scotland.   

The fleet is expected to arrive in Newcastle between 1-4 January 2024. From there, the crews will have time to recharge before Race 6 begins where the teams will race to third Australian stop on the circumnavigation in Airlie Beach, Whitsundays.  

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