Sir Robin Knox Johnston Blog

Looking back on another 35,000 miles

2008-07-02T08:15:00+00:00

As the sixth Clipper Round the World Yacht Race comes to a close, we can reflect on the last ten months and the effect that 35,000 miles of racing has had on the 400 people’s lives who participated as crew in the race. Firstly they will have become…

Sailing through contrasts

2008-06-11T21:25:00+00:00

Just over two weeks ago the Clipper crews were enjoying the heat and sun of the Caribbean, now they have moved to the rain and fog of the north east Coast of America and the Grand Banks off Nova Scotia. It’s the sort of contrast that sailors take in their…

Getting through the Panama Canal

2008-05-07T10:22:01+00:00

To avoid people wondering why we have shortened the course on the leg from Santa Cruz to Panama the reason is the Panama Canal and the effect on movements there due to a pilots’ go slow. There are currently some 150 yachts waiting to go through from east to west,…

Back on track

2008-04-04T10:18:00+00:00

Despite the additional delays in delivering the equipment to the boats in Hawaii, which meant that we had to wait until Wednesday for all the parts to arrive, if work progresses as it has done on Thursday, when we managed to get six boats re-rigged, the last two of the…

Putting things into perspective

2008-03-29T19:47:00+00:00

Parts for the repairs and replacements to the rigging of the Clipper 68 fleet that we feel are necessary have arrived in Los Angeles now but the freight forwarders were unable to get the masts from the aircraft from Luxembourg to the flight to Hawaii in the six hours available…

Meeting deadlines

2008-03-26T15:01:00+00:00

The mast sections are now ready to fly to Los Angeles as planned, as are some of the rigging replacements. The replacement fittings for the eight boats are still due to leave direct from Germany on the 28 March. Some other items that have been requested will be included in…

Weighing up timeframes

2008-03-19T21:07:01+00:00

Well, some parts of the rigging problem are being resolved. We discovered that there were no spare parts available in stock anywhere in the world so have ordered new ones from Germany, which gave the speediest delivery date. Currently the supplier expects to complete the order on the 28 March.…

Putting safety first

2008-03-13T17:19:00+00:00

The failure of another rigging fitting, this time on Durban 2010 and Beyond and again fortunately without any injuries, confirms the decision we took after westernaustralia2011.com lost her mast to replace all these fittings once the boats reach Hawaii. However, with a second failure we decided we could not risk…

westernaustralia2011.com mast update

2008-03-11T10:22:00+00:00

Sometimes life is never meant to be easy, but the old saying stands, “When the going gets tough the tough get going!” The factory in South Africa where the masts for the 68s were manufactured has had an explosion; a carbon oven exploded and has burned down the…

Waking up to a dismasting

2008-03-05T15:21:00+00:00

It looked like being a nice day as I stared out across a frost-covered lawn, waiting for the kettle to boil for morning tea and the computer to wind up. The computer won and I checked inward emails as a matter of habit. And that’s when the day turned sour.…