The sailing world seems to exist only in the gloss of magazines, whether it is hard-core adventure sailing, Mediterranean regattas or celebrity owned super yachts.
So when my father excitedly told me about a race of ten yachts manned by taxi drivers and accountants I gave it one look and dismissed it as one of those mythically elusive events. Irrelevant to my own life as the latest celebrity legal battle or the invention of soy underwear.
Meanwhile my life was filled with a flurry of revision and stress while becoming accustomed to our new home in Singapore, having moved out here into the cultural and ethnically varied urban jungle half a year before.
In January 08 the ten clipper yachts arrived in Singapore. Ten gleaming boats, each named after and sponsored by a city, packed together swarming with their weather-weary crews, cleaning, packing and sunbathing. I took in the scene and compared it to another future, one lived in gloomy university halls and cheap student accommodation.
Finally I saw this as an opportunity that I could not turn down.
My excitement grew as I received the contract and read the insurance details. I pretended to fume at the measly sum of $54,000 compensation in case of death while my mum paled at the list of possible injuries. Accidental bodily injury which results in loss of limbs/ eyes. Permanent total disablement. Hijack.
The ocean seemed a more dangerous place back in the days before GPS and weather radar systems. Back before thriller blockbusters filled with impossible danger but somehow the heroine always makes it back home safely, perchance with a handsome deckhand in tow.
I wasn’t worried despite the talk given to me and the rest of an anxious audience, while on a tour of the clipper yachts that described the speedy death of anyone swept overboard into a cold sea in a matter of minutes. Such an accident occurred on the 07/08 race, though I am relived to say they survived with injuries that could be slept off on board their yacht ‘Scotland with style’. The crewmember got off at the next port stop and willingly rejoined the race later on, even finding love with a crew member from another boat.
On the same oceanic journey, the ‘Uniquely Singapore’ yacht carried Hizam Haiyon, the only Singaporean to circumnavigate on the race. He was lucky enough to be sponsored by Keppel corp., whom he has worked twelve years for and who have also sponsored five other employees in an effort to ‘unleash their potential’.
It is true, according to Jenne Liu, that people grow and change during the race. ‘One can see the true character of a person when the going gets tough. There's no way to hide a selfish or lazy or skiving nature! Everyone has to confront his/her own demons!’
Jenne saved for three years to complete the first leg of the race. On first reading about it in a newspaper she thought she wasn’t good enough to compete but later found out that the selection process for the crew was not based on lengthy endurance tests or past experience, but for anyone who wanted to have a go.
Nineteen of the Singapore crew were sponsored by their companies. It seems to be an effective way onto the yachts as sailing is on the pricey side, each leg going for about ten thousand dollars plus training, and the round the world at $87,000 which means that this race designed for ‘anyone’ will have few takers from those with a mortgage and a family to take care of. It is no wonder that half of all people who apply for the race don’t get past the first stages and, as the contracts bring the weight of commitment to those who like the idea of sailing only as a passing fancy.
The ending of the race may have been satisfying for the triumphant ‘New York’ yacht, but could anyone who has taken part in such an adventure be content with a nine to five job consuming their days once more?
Upon finishing the race Jenne had no problem returning to her old job as a freelance tour guide, but she continues to battle with the elements by trying out skydiving. She may rejoin some of the friends she made on the race, sailing from Singapore in August and next year she heads down to Antarctica.
‘After the race, all the discomforts, fears and hardships are very quickly forgotten. I only remember the good bits!’
It is commonly known that yachtsmen/women have a very selective memory, only recalling the choice bits out of the swirl of stormy sea and damp sock filled days, otherwise a bad days sailing would put off even Robin Knox Johnston himself. However, the rest of us are given hope that their experience hasn’t put them off sailing forever.
find more about it at www.clipperroundtheworld.com/
