John Clarke prepares for the Liverpool to Isle of Man Midnight Race
by Gaynor Portlock 27 Jun 2019 04:24 NZST
5 July 2019
John Clarke prepares for the 100th Liverpool to Isle of Man race in 'Skyeblue' © Gaynor Portlock
John Clarke, competitor for the Golden Globe race 2022, will be starting his epic journey by competing in the 100th Liverpool to Isle of Man race on Friday 5th July. John has already got a crew ready to join him on the 70nm race on board his Camper Nicholson XI built in 1979, 'Skyeblue'. She is a long keel boat with an overall length of 33ft and a beam of 12ft.
The race will be the first major outing for the yacht, since John bought her in the Isle of Man just over a year ago for £3,000. Since then John has been hard at work preparing his yacht for the race, including fitting a new engine which was constructed from two faulty engines.
Having a date in mind to start his marathon journey, has helped John to focus on the tasks needed to get Skyeblue ready for sea. The 100th Isle of Man race is just the start of John's epic journey. Once the race is over John plans to sail, single-handed over to the Faeroe islands, a journey of over 500nm.
Only then will he consider getting sponsorship and raising money through Patreon, as the race will have tested his competitive spirit and the trip over to the Faeroe islands will test both him and his boat. Of course, the Faeroe islands is not really the end of the test, as John is then considering sailing over to Iceland, followed by the long single-handed sail back to Liverpool, a journey just over 1000nm.
If all goes well, John will also be competing in the OSTAR 2020, so let's all wish him luck on his adventures.