(photo: acb.net.au)

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has been held every other year for more than 20 years and has become a bi-annual event involving 11 yachts. The race around the world takes 11 months to cover 35,000 nautical miles connecting many famous port cities.

Vietnam’s northeastern province of Quang Ninh has signed a cooperation agreement with Clipper Ventures to participate in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2019-2020 and to host the 2021-2022 race.

11 teams of amateur sailors in identical yachts will sail across six oceans. The Ha Long Bay-Vietnam yacht will have amateur sailors from 14 countries led by British captain Joshua Haydn Stickland. They will wear uniforms with logos of Ha Long Bay and Quang Ninh province.  

The Clipper Round the World Race started in London on Monday. The race will comprise 8 legs connecting Portimao, Portugal; Cape Town, South Africa; Seattle; New York; Panama; and Northern Ireland. The race will stop in Ha Long Bay and several places in Quang Ninh province for 10 days. The organizing board will organize cultural and sports events for the crews.

This is the second time a Vietnamese locality has participated in the world’s biggest race. A previous Da Nang yacht joined in the 2015 race.