First Scottish stopover for Clipper Race a success

After almost a year circumnavigating the globe, the Clipper Round the World Race has now concluded for 2023-2024.

Full of exhilarating action, the race has had plenty glued to the live tracker as the competition heated up - you can check out the final results on the Clipper Race site.

And, the action didn’t come to a halt during race stopovers either.

This year, the Clipper Race became of even greater interest to Scottish audiences and boaters than ever before, descending on Oban for the first ever Scottish stopover in Clipper Race history, before the yachts began their home stretch to Portsmouth.

With a friendly Scottish reception proving emotional for many sailors, plenty were proud to celebrate their Scots connections.

Max Rivers and Lachlan Duncan from ‘Our Isles and Oceans’ were amongst those doing just that. Both proud of their strong Scottish links, the pair donned kilts as they sailed into Oban, with Lachlan’s Dad piping them in.

You can watch our video with Max and Lachlan to find out more now. 

The stopover got locals and visitors out in numbers to immerse themselves in the action, learn more about the race, and even get afloat themselves.

With a clear sailing buzz around the place – we were sure to get out and about into the community to soak up all the Clipper energy while highlighting some important messages around protecting the coastline we all love and use.

And so, we kicked off our Oban stopover with a Coastal Beach Clean Up around Dunstaffnage headland, hosted in partnership with the GRAB Trust.

Despite the area looking somewhat clean at a first glance – 46 eager litter pickers helped collect a solid 35kg of rubbish.

Kerry Mackay from the GRAB Trust said:

“When places look quite clean, it is important to look closely, and look for little things. Looking for the high tide mark, and looking into the bushes – you can be amazed at what you might find.”

Finlo Cottier, CEO of RYA Scotland was present and helped out with the litter picking throughout the day. He said:

“Scotland has such a beautiful coastline. The sailing and boating community take a lot of pleasure in spending time around the coast, and so we feel it’s important to take care of it, take responsibility, and do our bit for maintaining it.

“RYA Scotland is eager to work with communities and groups such as the GRAB Trust to help educate and support people in looking after the environment.”

With a busy weeklong calendar, it was then off to Oban Sailing Club to assist with their weekly Monday Mayhem dinghy session.

Bringing the expertise of our very own Pathway Team, experienced and novice sailors were given plenty of useful tips and tricks.

Amongst participants were lots of new faces to Oban Sailing Club who had some fantastic first time experiences, with aims to return to the club and get involved in weeks to come.

Oban Sailing Club Commodore Derek Grier said:

“As a result of our collaboration with RYA Scotland, we welcomed 25 new faces to Oban Sailing Club and managed to get them all on the water and sailing. 

“The coaching team were enthusiastic, patient and welcoming to these potential new sailors and also offered our own members support in ‘honing’ some sailing skills on the water. 

“You know you have done well when you meet one of your members ‘skipping’ up the dinghy park having learned a new skill after a coaching session!”

Monday Mayhem also provided a great opportunity to run some youth engagement activities, in line with our ongoing ‘Youth Voices’ effort.

Amongst all the litter picks, fun afloat, and youth engagement – we were pleased to have lots of conversations at the North Pier Pontoons, speaking to sailors and non-sailors alike.

Getting out and about in the community offered a fantastic chance to show people how to start their sailing journey, shout about our two inspirational sailors (Anna Burnet and Fynn Sterritt) out competing at Paris 2024, and listen to the valued opinions of the boating community.

Want to share your opinion? We’re currently conducting some strategic engagement as we look ahead to the future. Let us know your thoughts today.

Want to get into sailing? Use the RYA activity finder to locate clubs, courses, and centres near you.