Thanks to Benjamin and Lionel from STB for the invite to go on board the Uniquely Singapore Clipper! We were out in the sea for almost 3 hours and I steered a boat for the first time in my life. It was somewhat similar to driving a car without power steering. This year is starting to get interesting. In January 2010 itself, I rode on a Segway and steered a boat!

The Uniquely Singapore Clipper is currently stop over at Singapore’s Keppel Bay’s Marina and will depart to Qingdao, China on the 2nd February 2010.

Singapore is currently at the 6th place in the overall race out of 10 teams.

A Flickr gallery by Lester Chan (@lesterchan)

What is a Clipper?
To be honest, I have no idea what a Clipper is.

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had multiple masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area.

The term clipper originally applied to a fast horse and most likely derives from the term “clip” meaning “speed”, as in “going at a good clip”.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper

Race Schedule
Leg 1
Race start from the Humber, UK: 13th September 2009
La Rochelle, France: ETA 18-20 September, depart 22nd September
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: ETA 18-20 October

Leg 2
Rio de Janeiro: depart 27th October
Cape Town, South Africa: ETA 14-16 November

Leg 3
Cape Town: depart 22nd or 23rd November
Geraldton-Greenough, Western Australia: ETA 14-18 December

Leg 4
Geraldton-Greenough: depart 3rd January 2010
Singapore: arrive 23rd January, depart 2nd February
Qingdao, China: ETA 19-22 February

Leg 5
Qingdao: depart 2nd March
California: ETA 1-5 April

Leg 6
California: depart 11th April
Panama: ETA 4-7 May, ETD 12th May
Port Antonio, Jamaica: ETA 16-18 May

Leg 7
Jamaica: depart 22nd May
New York: ETA 3rd June, depart 6th June
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada: ETA 11-13 June, depart 19th June
Cork/Kinsale, Ireland: ETA 1-4 July, depart 9th July
Ijmuiden, Netherlands: ETA 13-14 July, depart 15th or 16th July
The Humber: Race finish 17th July 2010