Brandsma’s baptism of fire in Clipper Round the World Race

Portsmouth saw the start of the biennial Clipper Round the World race. A race for trained amateurs rather than professionals. Frisian Angela Brandsma is one of the four female skippers.

Founded 30 years ago (March 1995) by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race trains people from all walks of life to learn seamanship and become ocean sailors. Each participant must complete four stages of intensive training before signing up for one or more laps or the full 40,000 nautical mile round trip. The 11-strong fleet of matched Clipper 70 sea racing yachts will make six ocean crossings – including the North Pacific.

Each of the 11 teams is led by a professional skipper and first mate, who are responsible for training, leadership and ensuring that their crew of non-professional sailors navigate safely through the challenges of the race. The race calls at 14 ports on its global route.

No stranger

Angela Brandsma is no stranger to the Clipper Race. She joined the Clipper Race Training team in 2019 and worked two training seasons as a professional sailor before sailing the final three stages of the Clipper 2019-20 Race as first mate. Now she is eager to return as skipper, ready to take on the ultimate challenge of a full circumnavigation.
Still, she says she lives towards the start “with mixed feelings”. “You have been working on this for a long time and it is a big adventure. Quite a responsibility in my case. Then, of course, the first stage is super exciting. We are about to be on the road for 11 months. Now it will be real. So yes, that does give an itch. In a good way.”

Her permanent core crew consists of nine people, while her total team includes 53 crewmembers, who change per stage. “Sunday I will start with 19 crew members on board. The maximum is twenty. That’s full load and a big responsibility.”

First stage

About the opening stage, Brandsma says: “First of all, we race to Puerto Sherry in Spain, where we have a stopover.” The fleet is expected there between 6 and 8 September, after which the starting gun will sound on 12 September for the second leg to Punta del Este in Uruguay. “As it looks now, the wind is going to be really good on Sunday, around 25 and 30 knots. The English Channel and the Bay of Biscay are known not to be very pleasant then. So I expect that fifty per cent of the crew will be seasick. That is why we are now trying to keep extra bunks empty so that the seasick can go on them. So I do think that will be intense for a lot of people. And on the other hand, it is what it is. It’s going to be a baptism of fire.”

Preparation

On the preparation of such a large team, Brandsma says the following: “The crew has to train four times a week here in Gosport. In which they do the first three training weeks – level one to three – just with a random skipper. We skippers all did level two and three. That way we could get to know the boats and the system of the Clipper Race, because everything goes by certain rules. Especially in terms of safety.”

The big event followed in May, where the sailors heard who their skipper is. Brandsma: “Then they did the level four training. That was with their own skipper, first mate and on their own boat. So that’s when you then get to know your crew. Of those level four training weeks, we did five. Those are super important because that gives me an idea of what kind of crew I have on board.”

Seasickness

“I have mapped out the people who get seasick. That way I can distribute them among the watches. In addition, I can also classify everyone by strength. So it is very valuable to have at least sailed with most of them already. I think I have now sailed with 75 per cent. The rest signed up later. They have not yet finished their first three levels and are doing their level four when we have already started. I only see those at the start of their lap.” Asked how she will deal with that, Brandsma replies, “By then, I hope my core crew will have been reasonably swung in. With the experience they have gained by then, they can help guide the new people.”

Brandsma herself has been staying in Portsmouth since March this year, where she received leadership training, among other things. “We had a leadership day with the first skippers at one point. There they looked at which first mate you had a match with and everyone underwent psychological tests. Based on that, they matched you with a first mate.” That became England’s Amy Smith, much to Brandsma’s satisfaction.

Skipper role

The Friesian sees her skipper role as “running a business”. “In doing so, I have different departments within my team, such as for the media and I have someone who is my right-hand for crew management. If crew members have questions, they come to her first. Furthermore, I have a department that deals with sail making, for which they have undergone training.” According to Brandsma, ninety per cent of her own role consists of leadership: “Ten per cent then is about the sailing, but my first goal is to get everyone around the world safely. That means I’m really, really on top of that. My first mate is super good with people and with coaching. That allows me to stay in my role. We form a nice balance in that.”

Challenge

Sea sickness poses a challenge on several levels for the upcoming stage. Brandsma: “All jobs on board have to go on. So once an hour the logbook has to be filled in. The bilges have to be checked. There is, of course, cooking to be done. If you then miss 50 per cent of your crew, the other 50 per cent are substantially burdened. Meanwhile, we are also sailing and racing. So seasickness has quite an impact, but my tactic is mainly to get through that first week unscathed and then look on from Spain. Puerto Sherry is a stopover, where there will be no change of crew. The people coming on board in Portsmouth now will stay until Uruguay. So after that first week, I expect everyone to be a bit more balanced and just know what it’s all about.”

Goals

“In the end, it all depends on the team,” Brandsma responds when asked about what she wants to get out of this Clipper Race. “As a team, we have set three objectives. The first is to sail safely around the world. The second is to finish in the top five every stage. And the third is to be the cleanest and the most organised boat.” According to Brandsma, the competition is difficult to assess: “I have never seen these skippers race. On most of the waters we will sail, I have never been there myself and neither have most of the other skippers. Still, it’s really about how hard will your crew work and do you make good decisions tactically.” Brandsma will do the tactics and navigation herself in consultation with the first skipper.

Finally, what Angela Brandsma is most looking forward to? “Just being outside, sailing, having everything under control. That when I am lying in my bunk, I know that the crew is safe and knows what to do. And that at the end of it, everyone says, ‘Wow, this was indeed the experience of a lifetime.'”

Source: an article by Diane Bogaards on the Watersport TV site.
Image: Clipper Round the World Race.

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