Club Member Tom Newsom has just started the final leg of the Clipper Round the World Race. He is First Mate ( AQP) on ‘Our Isles and Oceans” one of the eleven Clipper boats taking part in the race.

Tom started sailing in Lymington at WJS and Youth weeks, and more recently in Thursday Evening Keelboat racing. After University he gained his sailing qualifications before taking part in the Clipper/ Skirr sailing expedition from Portsmouth to Greenland in 2022, and then joining the Clipper Race team. They left Portsmouth in September 2023 and have sailed to South America, South Africa, across the Southern Ocean to Australia, then to Vietnam, China, across the North Pacific to Seattle, and via the Panama Canal to Washington DC. So far he has enjoyed surfing the boat down 3m waves in 50kt winds, seen numerous whales, dolphins, a great white shark, and other interesting marine wildlife, crossed the equator twice, and learnt to cook focaccia bread in a galley tilted at 45 degrees.

If any club members are interested in welcoming the fleet home, the race is due to finish around noon just off Portsmouth on Sat 27th July weather permitting. Details available on the Clipper round the world website.

The link to follow the race is https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/race/standings