New 72-footer for 2027 Clipper Race

When the 15th edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race gets underway in 2027, the crews will be competing on a newly launched fleet of 72-footers. Over 7000 crew have participated since the first biennial event was staged in 1996, with ten teams now racing the Clipper 70s in the 14th edition.

Twelve Clipper 70s were introduced for the 2013-14 race, with this now the sixth circumnavigation for the Tony Castro designed yacht. The fleet was reduced to 11 when a grounding near Cape Town in 2017 destroyed a boat.

The new yacht by British naval architect Nigel Irens, called the Clipper RX, incorporates a distinctive bow shape for a fast and seaworthy vessel with superior safety features, offering a high-performance ocean racing yacht designed for the extreme conditions on the course.

“It is a major investment in our future and will provide a safe yet exhilarating experience for the crews who take on this unrivaled adventure,” said race founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. “The new design is well equipped to cross the most challenging oceans on the planet, between six continents, on a journey that takes nearly 11 months to complete the full circumnavigation of around 45,000 nautical miles.”

The hulls are now being built at a shipyard in Qingdao, China, and will start to be shipped to the UK later in 2026 for final fitting out.

The 14th edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is currently on stopover in Airlie Beach in The Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia, before starting again to Qingdao in China.

Event Details: www.clipperroundtheworld.com

About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race:
The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors.

Held biennially, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has a fleet of identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s that compete on a multi-leg course around the world. The team having the best cumulative score over the entire course wins the Clipper Race Trophy. Ten teams are competing in the 2025-26 race, with the 14th edition beginning August 31 from Portsmouth, UK.

The course has eight legs which includes stops in Puerto Sherry (Spain), Punta del Este (Uruguay), Cape Town (South Africa), Fremantle and Arlie Beach (Australia), Subic Bay (Philippines), Qingdao (China), Tongyeong City (Korea), Seattle (USA), Panama, Washington, DC (USA) and Oban (UK) before returning to Portsmouth (UK) in summer 2026.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race