Meet The Yorkshire Sailors Racing Across The World
Two Yorkshire-born sailors are about to race each other in a record-breaking circumnavigation on 70-foot yachts
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, one of the biggest challenges of the natural world, is an extreme endurance challenge and offers anyone, no matter their experience, the chance to become an ocean racer and circumnavigate the globe on a 70-foot racing yacht. World class training is provided and each yacht has a skipper and a first mate. Millie and Otto have both been designated first mates for this 40,000 nautical mile race which begins in Portsmouth in August. Leg one will finish in South America, then they will sail to South Africa, the west and east coast of Australia, China and the west and east coast of North America. That’s eight legs, 14 stages and 46 weeks of racing. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
Harrogate-born Otto thanks his grandmother for encouraging him to give sailing a go. ‘She was a sailor in her prime,’ he says. ‘She was an absolute hero of mine. She’s sort of living through me in my craziness now, which is cool. I first started sailing with her when I was about nine, in Northern Ireland, just on dinghies, and that’s really where I fell in love with the water. I owe a lot to her really.’
Otto moved to Sydney, which is where he began pursuing sailing as a career and got his qualifications. ‘For the last couple of years I’ve been sailing professionally,’ he says. ‘I did a lot of sailing in Australia, doing offshore deliveries, and most recently I’ve been working as an instructor in Barcelona which has been great fun!’
Otto was introduced to Clipper through a sailing friend. ‘A friend of mine who I was doing a delivery with, Olly Irvine (who was actually my instructor back then), initially told me that he was going to try out for the skipper position,’ he explains. ‘I thought that was pretty cool so I looked into Clipper and Olly suggested I should try out for first mate, and said “imagine if we get on the same boat, that would be mental”. I went away and did my own research and applied and was lucky enough to have a good exam and interviews, and found out I was successful in February of this year. It’s been a bit of a long process, but it’s here now – and can you guess who my skipper is? My mate Olly! So it’s going to be us two sailing around the world together, which is going to be absolutely amazing.’
Millie is from Marsden, and her introduction to sailing was also a family affair. ‘I’m from West Yorkshire which is quite landlocked,’ she laughs, ‘but there are lots of reservoirs and that’s where I started sailing, initially on little dinghies. I started with my mum and we learned together, then I progressed onto yachts through Scouts and was involved in the Tall Ships races, again through Scouts. I’ve worked a few seasons in Greece, as a flotilla skipper (which is more holiday-type work) and last year, I took part in the Ocean Globe race and did leg four of that, between Uruguay and the UK and that was with celestial navigation – we didn’t have any GPS – so that was really cool. Now I’m working for Clipper, which is amazing.’
Millie was made aware of Clipper a few years ago. ‘Two of my friends were AQPs on the last race, which stands for Additional Qualified Person, but it’s essentially a first mate role,’ she says. ‘I was watching them do their race and they were having the best time ever so I thought I’d apply and see what happened. The application form was quite lengthy and then we did trials. Mine was in December last year, and I was told in February that I had the job!’
The first mates have been based in Gosport, near Portsmouth, since mid-April and have been sailing and training their new crew. ‘We’ve also been partnered with our skippers which is amazing and we’ve got less than two months now until the race starts so it’s getting exciting,’ says Millie. ‘A first mate is basically assisting the skipper with leading the boat. The most important thing is making sure that everyone is safe, and that it runs smoothly. But we also want to go fast. We set off at the end of August from the UK, sailing around the world and stopping in 14 places, then 11 months later we’ll end up back in Portsmouth. We’ll be going non-stop so that involves a watch system. At any time, me or my skipper, Heather Thomas, will be awake and in charge of navigation, making sure sail changes happen at the right time, making sure we’re sailing fast and competing against the other boats.’
Whilst training their crews, the first mates have been indirectly training themselves too. ‘The crew has to go through four levels of training before they are allowed to do their individual legs around the world with us,’ Otto explains. ‘The first one is very introductory to sailing for beginners, level two is more offshore (getting in watch systems and sailing overnight), level three is for racing, and level four (which is what my skipper and myself have been working on for the last couple of months) is about getting onto your boat and doing the syllabus they want to teach you.’
All race crew, regardless of previous sailing experience, must successfully complete all four stages of Clipper Race training before they compete. During stage four, they live 24/7 on board their Clipper 70 racing yacht for the week, sailing and competing as a team. Those taking part can take part in a single leg, multiple or the whole circumnavigation. Throughout the race, the crews will have to battle the Atlantic trade winds, the Roaring Forties (strong westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere) and the freezing temperatures of the North Pacific Ocean.
‘I’m most looking forward to some big ocean sailing. The calmness of the ocean when you’re a little speck in it and just sailing along – that peace. I’m excited to go to Uruguay, China and the Panama Canal too. That’s going to be really fun,’ says Otto. ‘There’s obviously going to be tough weather, big seas and close-quarter living, but I think out of the whole thing the most challenging aspect might be the people management. There’re a lot of people who haven’t had much experience in sailing, it’s not so much about the bad weather because these boats are built like tanks so they’re quite reassuring to be on in heavy weather.’
‘I think as much as it’s a race, it’s also an endurance thing,’ agrees Millie. ‘So it’s about managing the tiredness of the crew and making sure we’re still feeling motivated is the main thing. Good food helps with that!’
Both Otto and Millie would encourage anyone to give sailing a go. ‘I would encourage people to do even just a week of sailing, or a course,’ says Otto. ‘As soon as they get to see what it’s like, and why all of us have fallen in love with this sport, I think they’ll want to pursue it themselves. Try and get out on the water. I’d highly recommend it.’
Millie believes her first offshore sailing adventure changed her as a person. ‘For an around the world race, there’s a high percentage of people who’ve never even stepped on a yacht before. At the end, even if they just do one leg, some of them can say they’ve crossed an ocean,’ she says. ‘We do lots of training levels with them and already people who’ve never sailed before are becoming very good sailors, and racers, and the competitive spirit is really strong on my team. There are sailing clubs dotted around everywhere. I got into it by simply turning up at a sailing club and asking to join, and luckily they said yes. If anyone is thinking about getting into sailing, even just sending an email to a local sailing club is worth it. Just do it.’
