Two non-professional sailors from Devon complete race across world’s largest ocean

A non-professional sailor from Thurlestone is taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. 

William Ackerley, 22, from Thurlestone, and Pippa Jephcott, 45, from Yelverton have raced 5,500nm across the world’s largest ocean, the North Pacific, from Qingdao, China, to Seattle, USA, in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

William Ackerley

Known to be one of the most inhospitable environments on earth, the North Pacific leg of the global race is known as ‘The Big One’. It earns this title due to the extreme weather, which includes freezing temperatures and waves almost as high as the Hollywood Sign, but also because it is the most remote ocean crossing on the Clipper Race circuit.

It is devoid of land mass and at certain points, the closest other humans are astronauts on the International Space Station. 

For William, who is completing the entire circumnavigation with the team Qingdao, the arrival in Seattle was made extra special as the team battled to clinch second place. As a circumnavigator, Will is now three quarters of the way around the world.

He said “It feels pretty nice, and like we are on the downhill stretch home, but it has been an insane journey. Now that we have crossed the North Pacific it feels like we have faced the big conditions and now we are making our way back home. 

“I signed up for the race because I wanted an adventure and to explore the world, as well as raising some money for charity. I’ve definitely grown. As a sailor, I have definitely grown as I have only really sailed dinghies before this, and now I am a Watch Leader. This has really helped me grow in terms of confidence.”

Pippa Jephcott

For Pippa, who’s day job is Head of Learning and Organisational Development, the arrival in Seattle marks the end of her Clipper Race, having joined in Fremantle, Australia, and competed in Legs four, five and six of the global circuit, she said: “I joined the Clipper Race with an ambition to cross an ocean, so the Pacific leg was really the culmination of my journey… 

“While we didn’t have the toughest winds or the biggest seas we still had some pretty challenging times, and I realised THIS is the moment we get to decide who we are, and this is when the things we want to believe about ourselves become true.

"My team were the people I needed them to be and when we finally came into Seattle in fourth place, I was proud of my crew, and of myself. It makes it so hard to say goodbye, but so special to finally be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.”

Whilst Pippa departs her team Perseverance and the Clipper Race in Seattle, William and his team will slip lines from the Bell Harbour Marina, today, 3 May 2024, and will race onto Panama, Washington, DC, then Oban before finishing back in Portsmouth in July 2024.

This next race is a 4,200nm course south from Seattle where he will face tricky wind conditions and intense heat. On the race ahead, he said: “The next race will have calmer conditions, but will be a challenge too as we have a lot of new joiners and some light wind sailing.”

Founded by Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, round the world, the Clipper Race is a global sailing event. Taking eleven months to complete, over 700 crew aged from 18 to 75 from all walks of life and 45 nationalities embark on the Race of their Lives, signing up to one or more of eight legs, or taking on the full 40,000nm circumnavigation of the planet.

Doctors race alongside farmers, tattoo artists and teachers, living on board a racing yacht with up to 20 others for weeks at a time. Many participants have never sailed before taking on the intensive, mandatory four-stage training programme required to take part in the race.