Sails down
Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race postponed amidst the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19.
17 March 2020
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The Clipper Race Organising Committee has made the decision to postpone the round the world race, citing the enormous impact it has created on world travel.
The Clipper Race fleet and crew have been held at the Subic Bay Yacht Club awaiting quarantine clearance after arriving into Subic Bay yesterday.
This follows the Philippines Government’s decision to establish an enhanced community quarantine for the island of Luzon, where Subic Bay is located. Currently crews are being held at the Subic Bay Yacht Club.
The Clipper Race Organising Committee released a statement explaining:
“Our first priority, as soon as the local quarantine has been lifted, will be to assist our crew in Subic Bay in travelling home from the Philippines as swiftly as possible.
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The Clipper 2019-20 Race has three legs remaining. These race stages will now be postponed for approximately ten months, when the remaining circumnavigation will be completed. This length of postponement allows for us to avoid adverse weather patterns on the remainder of our global route.
All Leg 6, 7 and 8 crew, along with our circumnavigators, will be able to rejoin the race when it resumes next year.
This postponement will have an impact on the timing of future races.
The next full edition of the Clipper Race will start in the summer of 2022. More details on this will be confirmed at a later date.“
The fleet were quarantined after the conclusion of the WTC Logistics Tri-Race, a 750 nautical-mile race which saw the fleet sail the triangular course out of Subic Bay in the Philippines into the South China sea.
The Clipper Race Organising Committee has also stated that Race 10, which extends across the Pacific Ocean to Seattle in the USA, will no longer go ahead, with the city currently in a state of emergency and travel and medical insurance restrictions in the United States.
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