Sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has launched his latest search for ten exceptional skippers to lead the internationally sponsored teams in the next edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Clipper 11-12 will start form the UK in August next year and on board the matched fleet of stripped down 68-foot ocean racing yachts will be teams of novice crews representing all walks of life. The only professional sailor on board, the skipper has the challenge of turning such a diverse mix of people into a finely-honed racing team and it's one that professionals understand can deliver valuable benefits to their CV.

Sir Robin says, "Tackling this unique challenge, with its roaring gales and towering seas, as well as the frustrations of tricky calm spells, is no mean feat. The skippers we are looking for need to be up to the challenge of competitively racing our 68-foot yachts around the world with a non-professional crew onboard.

"The successful individuals must have the ability to draw the line between competitiveness and safety, whilst also motivating a sometimes exhausted crew into an enthusiastic and committed team.

"Leading a team of novice sailors in a race around the world is one of the hardest and most challenging jobs that any skipper could ever undertake and not everybody is up to this challenge."

Successful candidates will skipper one of the Dubois designed Clipper 68s and must also have an understanding of the commercial and media demands of this high-profile global event which can help launch a skipper's career.

The youngest skipper to win the Clipper Race was Alex Thomson who was just 25 when he led a team in the 1998 edition of the race. Twelve years later and Alex is getting his brand new IMOCA Open 60, Hugo Boss, ready for the double-handed Barcelona World Race which starts in December. The Gosport based sailor is widely considered to be one of the UK's top solo ocean racers and once he has returned for the Barcelona World Race he will be hoping to fulfil his dream by becoming the first non-Frenchman to win the Vendee Globe.

Other Clipper skippers who have gone on to secure sponsorship for solo ocean racing include Hannah Jenner who skippered in both the Clipper 07-08 and 09-10 Races. Hannah will be taking part in the Global Ocean Race next year, a 30,000-mile double-handed race around the world. Similarly Clipper 09-10 skipper, Chris Stanmore-Major is about to set off on his 2,500-mile qualifying passage for the VELUX 5 OCEANS race onboard his Open 60 Spartan having secured sponsorship to take part in what is deemed to be 'The Ultimate Solo Challenge'.

Interested skippers need to have the correct level of qualifications, including an MCA approved Ocean Yachtmaster. They need to be excellent sailors who put seamanship and safety first, have a proven track record in sail training and can demonstrate that they are strong team leaders.

Clipper Race Director Joff Bailey, skipper of New York in the Clipper 05-06 Race, says, "Being a race skipper in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was one of the hardest jobs I have ever done. However, the reward and satisfaction when you see the crew that you have trained react to situations as though they were full-time professionals and the look of achievement on their faces when they have crossed an ocean and finished a race, is the best high in the world."

If you think you are up for the challenge and have the right characteristics and experience contact Sir Robin by email on [email protected] to request an application form.

They have spent the last few months hidden away in boatsheds undergoing major transformations – but now two Eco 60 yachts have emerged from their makeovers and have been lifted into the water for the VELUX 5 OCEANS.

Both Brad Van Liew's Eco 60 Le Pingouin and Garry Golding's Oz have made it to the water after months of refitting. Le Pingouin, formerly Pro Form, has been given a stunning golden paint job and proudly sports a penguin logo on its hull. Australian sailor Golding's yacht meanwhile has been transformed from Dee Caffari's yellow and blue Aviva 1 into Oz, with white hull and patriotic gold and green topsides.

Le Pingouin and Oz are the first boats to emerge from the shed as the VELUX 5 OCEANS racers make their final preparations for the 30,000-mile singlehanded race around the world, which starts in La Rochelle, France, on October 17.

"We've redesigned the deck and cabin to suit my sailing style, repainted her with some
awesome and eye-catching graphics, and brought every facet, no matter how minute, up to the highest standards possible for an ocean-going racer," said Van Liew. "This will not only be my home for nine months, but she's my survival pod, my life raft, and will need to keep me safe for 30,000 miles of wild ocean sailing. Our equipment is the best, our shore team is the best, and we're ready."

Golding added: "Getting the boat back in the water is a real milestone for us. It's been really hard work but she looks amazing. We are really proud of Oz and are very grateful to everyone who has helped get her this far."

Golding will step the mast on Oz at the end of the week. Both Van Liew and Golding will then make last minute tweaks to their yachts before setting sail on their qualification passages later this month.

The VELUX 5 OCEANS, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, is the longest running solo round the world race, and has 28 years of rich heritage as the BOC Challenge and then the Around Alone. This edition features five ocean sprints over nine months. After setting off on October 17 from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.

Not since Sir Robin-Knox Johnston sailed into the record books as the victor of the Golden Globe back in 1969 has a British skipper won a singlehanded round the world race. But that could all be about to change as Sir Robin himself today announced not one but two British sailors who will compete in The Ultimate Solo Challenge: the VELUX 5 OCEANS.

Chris Stanmore-Major, 32, and Simon Chalk, 37, will both go head to head with an international fleet of skippers in the gruelling 30,000-mile solo yacht race, which starts from La Rochelle in France on October 17. Stanmore-Major – known as CSM – and Chalk are experienced and talented yachtsmen and are each capable of becoming the first British skipper to win a solo round the world yacht race in 41 years.

CSM, from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, has only just got back from ten months at sea skippering the Qingdao entry in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race but already has his sights firmly set on his next adventure. The VELUX 5 OCEANS will be CSM's first major singlehanded race and he is keenly aware of the challenge ahead.

"It's a big step up for me and a quick turnaround from the Clipper Round the World Race," he said, "but it's what I have wanted to be involved in for a long time and I am still in race mode. The crazy sleep patterns and relentless work now seem normal. Solo sailing is certainly new territory but that is the challenge. Everything comes down to the individual and if something goes wrong there is nowhere to hide – it's just me, the boat and the ocean. Sir Robin is still the only Briton to have won a solo round the world yacht race - surely 41 years is long enough for any record to stand!"

Chalk, from Leicester, got his first taste of sailing in 1996, when, aged 24, he took part in the BT Global Challenge. His first ever trip on a yacht saw him sail from Brazil to New Zealand via the Southern Ocean, rounding the infamous Cape Horn in the process. A keen adventurer, Chalk hit the headlines in 2003 when he became the first Briton to row solo across the Indian Ocean, and holds nine Guinness World Records in ocean rowing.

He said: "I am delighted to be taking part in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. This is a great opportunity to extend my ocean experience, take on a new challenge and compete against some of the world's best sailors. Safety and reliability will underpin my campaign. Ocean Planet is a proven boat – let's see what she can do."

CSM and Chalk have their backgrounds rooted firmly in amateur round the world yacht races like the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the BT Global Challenge. These races have given rise to some of the biggest British names in ocean sailing. Sailors such as Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Alex Thompson all started out in such races and are now considered among the best solo sailors in the world.

Both will be racing in the Eco 60 class, introduced by the VELUX 5 OCEANS as a sustainable, affordable alternative to the latest generation Open 60 yachts. The class utilises Open 60s launched before 2003 which have already had successful racing careers, effectively recycling them and reducing the sport's carbon footprint. CSM will race Sir Robin's boat Saga Insurance, the yacht had originally been chartered by 19-year-old Brit Oscar Mead for the race but Mead has now officially withdrawn his entry so that he can concentrate on his studies and aim for the 2014/15 edition of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. Chalk will race the Eco 60 Ocean Planet, built by American yachtsman Bruce Schwab and raced in the VELUX 5 OCEANS in 2002/3 as well as the 2004/5 Vendée Globe.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, chairman of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, unveiled the skippers at a special event at Cowes Week. He said: "Chris and Simon are fantastic yachtsmen who have more than proven their sailing capabilities. It is great to have two British skippers in the race and maybe one of them can be the first Briton to win a solo round the world race since I did in 1969."

The VELUX 5 OCEANS, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, is the longest running solo round the world race, and has 28 years of rich heritage as the BOC Challenge and then the Around Alone. This edition features five ocean sprints over nine months. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.