Scotland through the eyes of the 25/26 Clipper Race crew

Ten bright masts reach towards a rare blue sky on Oban’s North Pier. Flags and fairy lights frame the bustle of the 25/26 Clipper Round The World Race crews as they recover from their 3,300 nautical mile haul from Washington DC to Scotland’s west coast.

There was a festive atmosphere in Oban as the town welcomed the 25/26 Clipper Race on their last stopover before the final sprint to Portsmouth this weekend. Crew both past and present, family members, and visitors alike have come together to celebrate the incredible adventure undertaken by the crew; the Clippers have been sailing for 11 months, crossing six oceans and covering over 40,000nm.

This is the second time the Clipper Race has made landfall in Oban, having welcomed the Clippers for the first time in July 2024. The town has typically been famous for fantastic sailing grounds, ferries to the Outer Hebrides, and fabulous seafood. Now, however, events, awareness activities, and join-up information fill the pier as the Clipper Race hubbub connects communities to the sea.

We had a chance to touch base with some of the crew members to find out how Oban and Scotland compares to the high seas they have contended with to arrive.

Sue Smith joined leg eight on the Team Scotland boat. This is her second season - last year, she completed legs one, two, and seven.

“My reason for coming back this time was because of brand Scotland, and I just felt I needed to be on that boat.

“There were in fact only a couple of Scots on board, but everybody else, I have to say, was fully supportive of Scotland. Like amazingly, they were up for getting their nails painted with saltires everywhere and learning Ceilidh moves. Everybody is fully supportive and enjoying being on the Scottish team,” she told us, showing us her saltire-blue fingernails.

Sue hails from Helensburgh, and has a background in sea kayaking. Sailing with the Clipper Race last year was her first taste of the sailing world, and she couldn’t resist the opportunity to rejoin with Team Scotland - although the conditions were less than ideal.

“This last leg that we've just done was probably the wettest one I've ever done,” Sue explained.

“We seem to have about a week of torrential rain day and night, then about another week of fog day and night. So there weren't a lot of sunsets and sunrises or stars.”

“Coming into Oban was just great, because obviously Scotland has the most amazing (although I’m probably biased) scenery in the world, and we were greeted by our huge dolphins that we have in Scotland. The reception in Oban's been great,” Sue smiled, clearly at home on the pontoon. Behind her, the Team Scotland boat rocked in a gentle swell glistening in the brilliant sunlight. She continued;

“In Scotland we have absolutely world-class sailing conditions, and you don't have to go miles to get good sailing. In fact, in many ways, coastal sailing around Scotland is just awesome.

“You can go in sheltered waters, you can go in the wild seas. There's loads of tides, and so really, as a starting point, in many ways, you don't have to look very far if you're in Scotland because it's just great.”

Joanne Currie lives near Falkirk now, however is originally from Campbelltown, Argyll. She has been sailing for 15 years, racing the 707s regularly at Port Edgar Yacht Club. Joanne joined the Clipper Race for leg eight.

“I signed up for Clipper because I wanted to experience ocean sailing and just broaden my horizons a bit.

“I broke a tendon in my finger about ten days before the training. All the way along, I thought, can I do this? Am I able to actually complete this training, and even just the thought of crossing an ocean… I was scared.”

“It was really nice coming to Oban… it's an area of Scotland I really love. So that was really special.”

Sally Beattie has been racing legs seven and eight with Team UNICEF, however her story has a twist - her daughter Millie is first-mate for Team Scotland.

Hailing from west Yorkshire, Sally’s background is in dinghy sailing on her local reservoirs, beginning with her club’s Mirrors.

“I have never sailed an ocean. I've just done a little bit of kind of bobbing around the coasts in terms of bigger boats, but I do love it,” Sally told us, her matching Clipper hat and t-shirt illustrating her contagious enthusiasm.

“I love the idea of adventure sailing up here around the coast of Scotland, where you can see the islands and you can see how beautiful it is. You can crawl into the ports, whereas what you're doing with the Clipper, and this is a big part of the adventure, is you go to sea and you see nothing. There's the sea and the sky, and if you're really lucky, all the dolphins come round. It's quite a different kind of sailing, and it's something you really do have to get your head around once you set off at sea.”

“It feels really, really special to me to come into Oban, and as we were coming up the sound the mists were clearing, and we had all these other people on my boat who weren't Scottish.

Most of them hadn't been here before, and they live in really exciting places, really exciting, beautiful places, and they're all just saying, "Oh my goodness, this is so beautiful”.

“It made me quite emotional and very proud. I loved it.”

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