Hertfordshire sailor leads team to podium

Professional sailor Gav Rees, from Northchurch, Hertfordshire, has led a non-professional team to second place overall on a 40,000 nautical mile, eleven-month sailing race around the world.

The Clipper Race is the only event of its kind that trains everyday people to sail around the world on ten identical racing yachts The race is split into eight legs, with Race Crew choosing to take on one, multiple or all eight of the legs.

For Gav, completing the Clipper Race has been a full-circle moment. While he was a pupil at Berkhamsted School, alumni and sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston visited to share the story of his historic solo circumnavigation of the globe. Inspired by Sir Robin’s achievements – and by the race he would later go on to found – Gav left that talk determined that one day he would take on a circumnavigation himself.

That ambition became reality when Gav was selected as one of the Clipper Race Skippers last year, fulfilling a dream that had begun in a school assembly many years before. Now, having led his team to an impressive second-place finish, he has completed the journey he only dreamed of as a student.

Speaking on arrival back to Portsmouth, he said: ‘It was pretty emotional coming back into the English Channel and seeing the Isle of Wight. This is absolutely spectacular!’

For Gav, the return to Portsmouth was as nerve-wracking as it was exciting; the final podium positions came down to the very last race, and there were six teams in contention for second and third place. After a tightly-fought battle down the UK from Oban, Scotland, Gav led Team LBS (London Business School) to gain second place overall.

Speaking on the team’s performance, says Gav: ‘It’s been incredible, before we left I said we just need to keep doing what we do, nothing different. They’ve worked their socks off and they really deserve to have done so well.

‘The team is very selfless in what they do – this result is what they deserve, so really well done to all of them.’

Unlike any other round the world sailing races, the Clipper Race is open to everyday people. Around 40 percent of participants begin with no previous sailing experience before completing intensive training and taking on one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.

During the course of the global race route, teams crossed the Equator twice, completed six ocean crossings and faced everything from storm-force winds and towering waves to intense heat, freezing temperatures, lightning storms and relentless squalls. Life on board meant racing 24 hours a day in rotating watch systems, often spending up to a month at sea without stepping ashore.

The Clipper Race demands resilience, teamwork and determination from people who are bold enough to step away from everyday life to pursue something extraordinary. Crew members include teachers, doctors, farmers, tattoo artists, engineers, students and retirees.

Founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world, the Clipper Race is the only event of its kind that trains people from all walks of life to become ocean racers. Following four weeks of mandatory training, many participants leave with more offshore sailing miles than most professional sailors accumulate in a lifetime.

The next edition of the Clipper Race, the 2027-28 edition, will get underway from the UK in summer 2027, with applications now open for future race crew to take part.

Image: Gav Rees, alongside First Mate Zoe Longley, led Team LBS in the Clipper 2025-26 Race