Wolverhampton sailor to lead team in Clipper Round the World race
A sailor who has been on the seas professionally for 20 years is to embark on his biggest adventure yet – sailing around the world as a skipper in charge of his own boat and crew.
Mark Burkes, aged 54, a professional sailor, has been announced as one of the 11 skippers chosen to lead teams in the Clipper Round the World 2019-20 sailing race.
Mark, who was born in Wednesfield and lived in Stourbridge for 20 years, says he is excited to be able to lead his own team, after having been part of the crew in the past.
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be chosen to be a skipper. I have been sailing as a crew member for a long time.
“The reason I aspired to be a skipper was that I want to build my own team of people.
“The race is about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I have gotten an awful lot of experience out of the races in the past as a crew member but this will be the pinnacle of my sailing career.”
Around 700 people take part in the biannual race, with between 50 to 60 members in each team. The members will have various responsibilities on and off the boat.
The teams are often made up of non-professionals – 40 per cent have never set foot on a boat before but are put through an intensive four-week training programme to get them up to scratch.
Mark said: “The crew members could be anyone – an engineer, doctor or hairdresser. It could be anybody and everybody. That’s what makes the race so special.
“I would say the race has gotten more and more competitive over the years as the standard of crew has increased.
“We expect a great deal from the people who race with us.”
The race itself takes around 11 months to complete, with only a small number of crew members being lucky enough to stay on the 70 ft ocean sailing boat for the entire journey. The crew can choose how many of the eight legs they stay on for. They will often change at different continents when they stop for around six to 14 days in each port.
He stressed the important job of a skipper in keeping their crew safe during the challenging journey. We are professional skippers so we need to use our skills and judgement to keep our team safe.
“When we are in the middle of the ocean, you become more than just a leader, you need to protect people’s wellbeing and safety at all times. Skippers are there to keep the boat moving and to lend our support to what turns out to be a pretty hardened crew near the end.
“We will be living in fairly basic below deck conditions and racing for many hours of the day – maybe around 35 days at a time until we reach a port.
“By the end of it you are definitely tired. In some legs you are racing through the tropics and in others you are racing through extreme icy and cold climates.
“Everything you see on TV and films about extreme weather – that is what we will face on a regular basis.”
This is the 12th Clipper race. The race itself was founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to complete a non-stop solo sail around the world. The race will begin in August/September time as Mark sets out on his exciting new adventure.
By Charlotte Bentley
