The world is their oyster

Published on Sunday 20 September 2009 20:36

SARA SPENCE admits she has "always had a bit of a fear of boats" – but in two months' time she will fly to Cape Town to take part in one of the most demanding legs of the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race.

As one of 17 crew members on board the 68-foot racing yacht Edinburgh Inspiring Capital, the 19-year-old from Wester Hailes will leave South Africa on 22 or 23 November and should arrive in Fremantle, just south of Perth, in Western Australia between 14 and 18 December. During her time at sea she will work a gruelling four hours on, four hours off shift system, never sleeping for more than three-and-a-half-hours at a time as the boat crashes through gigantic waves at speeds of 25 knots and more.

Up until a few weeks ago, Spence had never even heard of the Clipper race, let alone crewed a yacht. But then a mysterious advertisement caught her eye.

"I'd finished college and, well, it's quite hard to get a job at the moment," she says. "Anyway, one day I went to the Job Centre and there it was: an advert for 'Clipper Round the World'. At first I thought it was talking about a lighter – you know, Clipper lighters – and I was thinking, 'Eh, what's this?' But I went for an interview with the council and then to an application process. A few people were lucky enough to get through that and in the end seven of us were chosen."

The other successful applicants were: Cassie Milligan, 20, from Bingham; Craig Anderson, 19, from Leith; Angus MacPhail, 18, from Marchmont; Craig Dunbar Anderson, 22, from Muirhouse (yep, two Craig Andersons); Will Barbour, 24, from Bruntsfield; and Conan Henderson-Dott, 23, from Leith. The Capital Crew, as the group are known, come from a variety of backgrounds but they are all currently unemployed and actively seeking work.

Following a set of challenges at Benmore – a centre for outdoor education in Argyll run by Edinburgh council – including climbing, sea kayaking, a mountain hike and a night exercise, they were selected to take part in the Clipper race by the City of Edinburgh's Access to Employment team in partnership with the Joined up for Jobs network. Their adventure will be funded by the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Established by Sir Robin Knox-Johnstone, the first man to sail solo, non-stop around the world, the Clipper event is unique: the only round-the-world race for non-professional sailors. Each boat – there are ten this year – is led by an experienced skipper, but crew members come from all walks of life. Among the 44-strong Edinburgh Inspiring Capital squad (17 are on board at any one time, but not everyone sails every leg) are a plumber, a nurse, a retired teacher, a property developer, an accountant and a naval architect.

Over the next ten months, each member of the Capital Crew will join Edinburgh Inspiring Capital – the only Scottish boat in the competition – for one leg of the 35,000-mile race. Like most of the people taking part, they have little or no prior sailing experience – just three weeks of intensive training plus a week-long course in navigation and meteorology. But every member of each crew will be expected to do everything from helming and sail-trimming to cooking and cleaning.

Taking part in the race is expensive. Costs vary from leg to leg, but to remain on the boat from start to finish costs in excess of 30,000. The seven young members of the Capital Crew don't have to worry about funding their trip, however, and much of the gear they will need has been supplied by Edinburgh outdoor equipment retailer, Tiso.

The chain's chief executive, Chris Tiso, has sailed through some of the world's most inhospitable waters, so he has a good idea of what they're in for.

"I know it sounds like a terrible clich," he says, "but I think this will be a genuinely life-changing experience for them. They're going to have the most extraordinary time of their lives."

History suggests that the experience could indeed be life-changing. The Capital Crew concept is based on a similar scheme trialled by local authorities in Hull last year, which saw ten young people from the area selected to take up berths on board the city's entry for the Clipper 08-09 race, the Hull and Humber.

Julia Taylor, 33, who runs her own Edinburgh-based business, is among the crew of the Edinburgh Inspiring Capital boat this year. When she heard about the success of the Hull and Humber scheme she set about trying to start something similar for young people from Edinburgh.

"I'd heard about the project they'd done on the last race," she says, "and the outcomes of that were so amazing I thought why not do the same, but on a Scottish boat?"

"One of the kids on the Hull and Humber last year, a former youth offender, is now a policeman. Two or three have gone back to college; one has gone off to Australia, and one is in New Zealand. The whole experience broadened their horizons; it opened their eyes to what they could possibly do."

Life at sea, Taylor believes, can be empowering: "All the people on that boat, it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done or where you've come from, you all have to do the same jobs, you all have to get up at the same time, all cook for each other, all do everything.

"It also means these kids will be around people who are very ambitious – people who have paid to be there – and that will seep through into them, I think, and start them thinking about how they can achieve too."

Already, it seems, the members of the Capital Crew are making big plans for the future.

"After this race we'll have clocked up so many thousand miles that we'll be able to get a lot of qualifications out of it," says MacPhail. "It could really help if we want a career in sailing. This is a good stepping stone."

So a career in sailing might be on the cards?

"Yeah, I'd love to do it," he says. "I'm not sure what else I'm going to do at the moment. I've tried to get apprenticeships a few times but they fell through so I thought maybe I should try something else. I'll see what happens when I get back."

Spence also has plans to continue sailing after her leg of the race is over: "When I get to Australia I'm going to see if I can get a 12-month working visa," she says. "Apparently they're always looking for crew members over there so, well, here I am!

"Me and a few girls from the boat have decided we're going to go from Fremantle to Sydney and then take it from there. Christmas and New Year in Australia's going to be something else. I've never ever spent Christmas away from home, or New Year for that matter."

The Clipper race started in Hull last weekend. Cassie Milligan, the Capital Crew member assigned to the first leg, has already sailed to La Rochelle in southwest France, and tomorrow she is scheduled to leave for Rio de Janeiro. When she spotted a Job Centre advert for young people with a "love of adventure," she was broke, unemployed, and homeless.

"I was sleeping on floors and I couldn't eat properly because I didn't have enough money," she told me before she left the UK. "Now I'm about to sail across the Atlantic to Brazil in a yacht. How amazing is that?"

For more information on the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race visit the website at: www.clipperroundtheworld.com