00:00So my name's Harry Taylor-Leperk. I've been working at sea and on race boats pretty much all my life now, so a long, long time, but it certainly feels like it.
00:11We are coming up to the end of race prep for the 25-26 Clipper race, so it's all busy, a lot of things, a lot of final jobs to do, but we're getting there, and it's looking like it's going to be a really exciting weekend.
00:23So the beauty of the Clipper race, and it's really one of Sir Robin Knox Johnson, who is the founder of the Clipper race, is shining achievements, is opening up the oceans to anybody, and that's what we seem to get here, literally people from all walks of life, and it's amazing to see.
00:43We get everything from people who have owned businesses and doctors to carpenters and plumbers, and the whole spectrum all the way, and every single person brings a really unique skill, which is very, very useful on the boat when you're there, and then you have your professional crew.
01:01So you'll have your skipper and your AQP, your first mate, and they'll be guiding and looking at those skill sets and trying to create a team.
01:10Right from the beginning, even if you've done no sailing before, you can come and join Clipper, and we take you through a four-week training process.
01:20So you have level one, two, three, and four. Each one lasts a week, and they cover different aspects, but in broad terms, level one is kind of about safety and learning the boat.
01:30Level two is about how to live at sea. Level three is kind of some of the more advanced sails and more sailing and racing tactics.
01:40And then level four, we bring it all together, and we do like a mock race.
01:45We'll do a 48-hour race at the end of your level four with the other boats, and that's the point at which you suddenly feel your race ready and ready to go around the world.
01:54So we've got, again, that whole spectrum of people. I've been very fortunate, probably half the crew on every boat I've trained or come across at some point in this build-up period.
02:07So we've got people from all around the world, from America, Australia, South Africa, all over Europe, and really, really, they all come together, those mix of cultures to create a team, which is something fun.
02:23Like I said, they all bring something unique. The skippers all come from the various backgrounds as well.
02:30You know, they're out there to win. It is a race, and I've heard the competition's already started.
02:38You know, they're all giving each other trouble and trying to get ahead before the race has begun.
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