Clipper Race forges new partnerships and renews others

With the joining of Zhuhai as a new host port for the 2019-20 Clipper Round The World Race, the event will now have three Chinese ports of call – the others being Sanya and Qingdao. The city of Zhuhai has signed up for an initial three-year sponsorship deal with Clipper.

The routing for the 2019-20 race will not be announced until next month, so the order of the visits to the three Chinese ports is not yet known. For Qingdao, this will be the city’s eighth year sponsoring the race, and for Sanya it will be the second year in an initial three-year deal.

In terms of Zhuhai, a team of 18 participants – including a professor, engineer and student – will represent the city in the 2019-20 race. The group was chosen from 48 people who took part in a three-day selection process, hosted by the Zhuhai Jiuzhou Holdings Group and a delegation from the Clipper Race.

These 18 will serves as ‘ambassadors’ for Zhuhai, having, in addition to sharing in the race, the role of promoting Zhuhai around the world, and as the voices of this ‘City of Islands’, provide a long-lasting legacy for sailing and tourism. The 18 range in age from 21 to 56 and comprise seven women and 11 men.

Speaking about the Zhuhai involvement, the founder of the Clipper Race, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, said: “A programme such as this is exactly why I created the Clipper Race. To be able to give the opportunity to such a diverse group of people, from different backgrounds and professions, is what this global challenge is all about.”

Zhuhai and the Jiuzhou Holdings Group signed a three-edition deal to be a Host Port and Team Partner for the 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2023-24 editions of the global event. Zhuhai is located on the Pearl River, close to Hong Kong, Guangdong, Shenzhen and Macao. It is home to a number of yacht-builders and is now directly linked to Hong Kong and Macao by a new bridge.

The 2019-20 race stopovers include Punta del Este, Cape Town, Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, The Whitsundays, Sanya, Qingdao, Seattle, Panama, New York and Derry-Londonderry. The 12th edition of the race will begin in summer 2019.

In another new partnership, the Clipper Race has signed up Spinlock as its new official lifejacket supplier for the next two editions in 2019-20 and 2021-22. Spinlock will be kitting out each of the 11 Clipper Race crews with Deckvest VITO lifejackets, the latest performance safety lines and personal AIS devices when they embark on the epic 40,000Nm race this summer and will provide expert training and support for both organisation and crew.

With 85% of Spinlock products currently being exported, the manufacturer is focusing on markets outside of the UK and will utilise the global marketing platform offered by the Clipper Race route to grow opportunities and brand awareness in markets where the sport of sailing must be encouraged, cultivated and developed.

“Spinlock is delighted to be working in partnership with Clipper Round The World Yacht Race in providing the latest products from our ‘Protect Range’ for their race crew,” says Spinlock CEO Chris Hill.

Renewing its partnership with the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is Sta-Lok, which is returning as the official standing rigging supplier for the 2019-20 edition.