As a celebration for a career looking after the wonderful people of Somerset since 1992 and for reaching 60, I have been training for the Clipper Ocean Yacht Race to transition into retirement and working less than full time. I am hoping to support expedition medicine crews and youth training charities perhaps on the tall ships race etc, and developing skills to contribute in other ways.

The clipper race is a circumnavigation race between 10 boats, taking around 11 months over 8 stages. There are 10 teams with around 20 people per boat. Roughly half the crew do the whole 11 month race and the rest do one or more legs.

Life on board details are here https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/the-experience

I am joining the Flagship Unicef team boat sailing leg 7 from Seattle down the west coast of USA via the panama canal then up the east coast to Washington DC

https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/the-race/leg/leg-7

I will be sailing and racing april 29th to june 18th. Usually this is a hot leg with lightish winds calling for lots of technical sail choices and tactical course planning. There should be plenty of wildlife to see with opportunities for shanty singing on board, and you can always turn left for help if needed!

My boat and the event overall is raising funds for Unicef and their specific information is below as requested from many who have enjoyed the updates so far and been excited to experience the dream of ocean yacht racing without having to survive gale force winds, huge seas, terrible sickness, lack of privacy, “no drop of grog and rotten grub”.

The race progress can be tracked here and I can send some updates of my progress by email if you would like to know how it is going.

https://clipperroundtheworld.geovoile.com/2025/tracker/

If anyone is looking for a challenge or some personal development I can definitely recommend this - its hard - I have met wonderful people and learnt more than I ever imagined I could. I thank all my Family, Friends and Colleagues who have supported me in this venture.

UNICEF has been a Charity and Team Partner for the Clipper Race since the 2015-16 edition, during this time has raised £1.6 million for children around the world.

UNICEF has 15,000 people working in more than 190 countries, responding to emergencies and building long-term resilience. We save children's lives with vaccines, clean water, and therapeutic food. We protect children from violence, exploitation, and abuse. We empower children through quality education. And seek to create a safe and sustainable world where children can live, learn and grow.

Every pound you raise will make a difference.

A donation of £165 could buy a wheelchair for a child with limited mobility

A donation of £275 could buy a midwifery kit containing all of the medical supplies and sterilisation equipment for a maternity ward to support the delivery of 50 babies

*(Only sign up on JustGiving to hear from UNICEF UK if you're a UK citizen or 18 years or older).