The 2025-26 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race officially concluded in Portsmouth, UK, on July 25 local time. In the final homecoming leg of the race, the Chinese “Qingdao” team secured first place, claiming victory in the final race of this global sailing challenge.
The 14th edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set sail from Portsmouth, UK, on August 31, 2025. Lasting 11 months, the race took the teams through 13 ports across 11 countries, covering more than 40,000 nautical miles in total. As the only Chinese team competing in this season, the “Qingdao” team successfully completed its 10th circumnavigation under the leadership of skippers Philip Quinn and Dan Boddy. The entire crew demonstrated outstanding teamwork, determination and perseverance throughout the journey.
Qingdao is the longest-standing city partner of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, with a partnership spanning two decades. Over the years, Qingdao has leveraged the race as an international platform to promote the city’s image, organizing dedicated stopover activities and establishing a race home port. The partnership has also helped cultivate nearly 100 ocean sailing professionals and contributed to the development of the local yacht manufacturing industry.
During this season, the Qingdao organizing committee continued to launch the Ambassador Crew Program, selecting and training more than 10 Chinese sailors from various industries to participate in the race. Chinese round-the-world ambassador crew member Lan Jun and round-the-world media crew member Sun Kaidi, two female sailors from Qingdao, joined hands with international teammates throughout the voyage. At ports around the world, they actively promoted Qingdao’s city identity as “China’s Sailing City.”
According to reports, the 2027-28 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will set sail in summer 2027, with information on some participating teams and partner ports already released. The newly introduced CLIPPER RX ocean racing yachts for the new season are currently being manufactured in Qingdao. Expected to be completed between the end of this year and early next year, the yachts will then be transported to the UK for commissioning and deployment, continuing to write a new chapter in the long-standing partnership between Qingdao and the Clipper Race.
Editor: Xu Nuo/ Wang Yulin
