Clipper Race coming to Korea

No round the world race in the history of sailing has ever stopped in Korea… until now. The complete course for the 2025-26 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is not yet confirmed, but the 14th edition will include Tongyeong in South-East Korea as a host port on its global route.

The fleet of eleven Clipper 70 ocean racing yachts will arrive Tongyeong in spring 2026, just after the midway point of its 40,000 nautical mile circumnavigation. By hosting a global event of this scale, the Tongyeong stopover is expected to draw the largest ever number of international visitors to a singular sports event held in what is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Gyeongnam.

Na Kyung Lee and Jihyun Mun, who competed on the Clipper 2023-24 Race were from Korea. By completing the circumnavigation, Na Kyung became the youngest Korean and first ever Korean woman to sail around the world. By bringing this ocean racing event to Korea for the first time, the Clipper Race and partner Gyeongnam Province hope to inspire more people from the nation to participate in sailing and maybe take up the challenge of making an ocean crossing.

The stopover in Tongyeong will be especially important as it takes place ahead of the North Pacific Ocean crossing, a stage that is known as the ‘big one’. It is named as such due to the extreme nature of the conditions faced in one of the most remote stretches of ocean on the planet.

The 2023-24 course extended from Australia to Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, and then to Zhuhai, China, before the fleet crossed the Pacific Ocean to Seattle, WA. The Clipper Race will celebrate its thirty-year anniversary in 2026.

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 eleven 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. The 2025-26 race will be the 14th edition.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race