Bedfordshire father and son going head-to-head in epic ocean race

Niel, an IT consultant, and Ben, an emergency doctor living in Fremantle, Australia, are taking part in the penultimate leg of the eight stage global race which set off from Portsmouth, UK, last summer.

Reporting from on board in the race’s early stages Ben said: “It’s not entirely accurate to say that a lot of my motivation for this race is just to beat him, but there’s definitely an element of truth to it!”

Founded by Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, round the world, the Clipper Race is a global sailing event. Taking eleven months to complete, over 700 crew aged from 18 to 75 from all walks of life and 45 nationalities embark on the Race of their Lives, signing up to one or more of eight legs, or taking on the full 40,000nm circumnavigation of the planet. Doctors race alongside farmers, tattoo artists and teachers, living on board a racing yacht with up to 20 others for weeks at a time. Many participants have never sailed before taking on the intensive, mandatory four-stage training programme required to take part in the race and go on to face some of the harshest weather conditions imaginable, from huge waves, through to searing heat and humidity.

On deciding to take on the adventure together, but racing against each other, Ben said: “We signed up a few years ago after deciding that we wanted to do something adventurous together. I live on the other side of the world in Australia, and this was a big motivating factor because it gave us something exciting to plan. Doubly so, considering we'd been unable to see each other for so long due to the pandemic.”

This is the first time that the duo have taken on such a challenge together. Ben continues:

“Our shared love of sailing and water sports led us to the race (after briefly considering Kilimanjaro) and we haven't looked back since. We initially signed up for Leg 7 because we both desperately wanted to do the Panama Canal. After my training, I heard there were spaces on Leg 4 as well, and seeing as I live in Fremantle, it was a perfect opportunity to jump on the boat earlier and get even more out of the experience.”

His dad, Niel, who came to the race with some yachting experience, said he was looking for “an amazing experience shared with a group of equally crazy like minded people before I get too old. Proper ocean sailing has always been on my bucket list and Ben wanted us to do something adventurous together.”

The father/son duo will be competing in two separate races that form Leg 7. They are currently heading towards the closing stages of Race 11 and are due to arrive in Panama between 27 May - 1 June. This race brings with it some tricky conditions, in terms of rough weather at the start, flicking to increasingly high temperatures and light winds to navigate, as well as the many other challenging aspects of taking part in the Clipper Race. Niel reports:

"I mean I expected the cold but not the rough sea conditions! I didn’t believe it when people said we’d be on the same tack for days at a time but we’ve been here for about a week now. Ross said: “this is probably the longest period we’ve had on the race so far without a sail change. I also had a real concern about being thrown into the mix amongst a tight knit group of eight round-the-worlders, but actually most of us had known each other from training and by now it feels like one big happy boat. I’m really enjoying the international flavour on board too, and the banter that comes along with that”.

“Personally, it’s just dealing with the reality that I’m not as fit as I was 10 or 15 years ago. I mean it’s not easy just standing here in the saloon, heeled at about 30 degrees and holding on. It gets frustrating living in a tumble dryer sometimes!”

When asked what the pair’s friends and family thought, Ben said: “I think most of them thought we were pretty crazy. The Clipper Race is fairly on brand for me, so people weren't too surprised, but they were more shocked at finding out I'd persuaded dad to do it too. We've had lots of interest and even some inter-family rivalries because we're on different boats. Discussions of tactics and obsessive refreshing of the Race Viewerhas become commonplace in the friends and family group chats. We've already got a list of friends who want to come on a sailing holiday once the race is over!”

Race 11, whilst bringing challenges in the form of hot weather and light winds, has some highlights, as Ben describes: “One night, we were cruising along in shorts and t-shirts with the Milky Way putting on a show above us. It helped that we were getting 10 knots fairly consistently too! Also seeing orcas on the way out of Puget Sound [outside of Seattle]. It almost felt like they were seeing us off.”

After transiting the Panama Canal, Niel and Ben will line up on the start line for Race 12 from Panama to Washington, D.C. When they arrive in the USA’s capital city, they will have raced some 7,200 miles and spent around 38 days at sea.

Ben said: “Sharing this with Dad has been so fantastic. It's the entire reason we signed up to do the race in the first place and it's been such a feature of our lives now for a few years. It's been really interesting seeing how different his overall experience has been with the training and his team. I think we've both taken so much from the experience already and it's absolutely strengthened our relationship. I can't wait to see how he's been going when we get to Panama and Washington DC.”