World race skipper

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A RAYLEIGH skipper is gearing up to join a team of sailors on a 13-month race around the globe.

Dan Bodie, 32, from Rayleigh, has passed an intensive selection process to become one of the team of 11 skippers from the UK, South Africa, Uruguay, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

This team of amateur sailors as will race 40,000 nautical miles around the globe on the upcoming Clipper 2023-24 Race in August.

The global race sees adventurers from all walks of life take on the exceptional challenge of navigating the world’s oceans on board a 70ft yacht.

Many of the crew have no prior sailing experience before undertaking the intensive compulsory four-week training programme, and go on to tackle some of the most challenging conditions that the seas can serve up.

Mr Bodey, sailed dinghies and cruisers from a young age around the East Coast of the UK.

He joined the Clipper 2019-20 Race on Unicef as a circumnavigator and quickly progressed to watch leader, then additional qualified person (AQP) for the second half of the edition, whilst logging over 50,000 nautical miles in the process.

Mr Bodey is hoping this previous experience will put him in good stead to compete the challenge, but knows it’s all about team work.

He said: “in my experience it is the crew that make the Clipper Race.

“All the incredible individuals coming together with the same goal of completing their adventure.”

All eleven skippers have now started at Clipper Ventures HQ, with months of intensive training ahead of them, before the 2023-24 edition gets under way this summer.

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A RAYLEIGH skipper is gearing up to join a team of sailors on a 13-month race around the globe.

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