gruelling, remote, relentless — novice windsor sailor wins daring race across pacific ocean
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windsor's sarah jane robinson is shown aboard the team power of seattle sports yacht in the middle of the pacific ocean during the clipper round the world yacht race.
james chapman
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clipper round the world yacht race
the north pacific waves soared higher than buildings. punishing squalls hammered the boat. and at the helm stood windsor’s sarah jane robinson — with zero sailing experience.
this was her introduction to the clipper round the world yacht race, which takes uninitiated landlubbers and forges them into seasoned ocean racers.
early in her leg of the race last month from south korea to seattle, wash., robinson had the wheel for one of the first times. the ocean was fierce that day.
an experienced “round-the-worlder” was there to help keep her on track.
“we went up this giant wave,” robinson, 33, told the star after returning home friday. “we got to the top and looked down, and he just says, ‘oh sh**.’ and i feel him grab my shoulder to hold me to the back of the helm cage around the steering wheel, so you don’t fall over. he said he’d never seen a trough that big. our boat is 70 feet, and even with our boat in there, it looked huge. and then we just went down.”
sarah jane robinson is shown at her windsor home on monday, april 27, 2026. she recently spent 26 days sailing the north pacific sea in a thrilling yacht race.
dan janisse
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the windsor star
the clipper race, which first launched in 1996, exposes paying amateur crews to the world’s most extreme and remote ocean conditions. professional skippers and first mates lead 10 identical purpose-built clipper race yachts with non-professional crews. they live on board the yachts, racing around the clock, for up to 30 days at a time.
the 2025-2026 edition started from portsmouth, uk, in august 2025.
“the only way to describe it is relentless,” said clipper race manager hannah brewis. “you can’t stop and it won’t stop. the only way is to keep going.”
people can sign up for one leg, a combination, or all eight legs of the race that totals 40,000 nautical miles (74,080 km). those who run the entire race, eventually circling back to portsmouth, are on a boat for about 11 months.
robinson spent 26 days on the rolling seas for stage 9: the big one to seattle.
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“key features: long ocean crossing, extreme weather systems,” according to the online description.
the team power of seattle sports yacht, on which windsor’s sarah jane robinson was a crew member, is shown in the middle of the pacific ocean during the clipper round the world yacht race.
photo provided by the clipper round the world yacht race
she sailed more than 11,000 kilometres across the vast pacific ocean, from china to south korea to seattle.
it’s one of the longest stages of the race, pulling racers from the shelter of the south korean coastline into “one of the most remote and demanding stretches of the circumnavigation.”
highlights include “constantly evolving weather patterns” with powerful low-pressure systems, heavy seas, and cold conditions. exactly what robinson was looking for.
whether on blacktop or blue waves, she has always been an explorer.
“there’s just so many things i want to do and so many interests that it’s hard trying to fit it all in,” said robinson, who works remotely as a toronto court reporter. “it’s a little easier when you’re travelling full time.”
on this continent, she has essentially run out of land to explore.
in 2022, she spent 10 months crisscrossing the main streets and back roads of north america. she set out alone in a van, and came home with two dogs.
robinson adopted finn, a five-year-old bully mix, at a detroit dog pound. she found benny, a three-and-a-half-year-old supermutt, on a reservation in arizona.
robinson and her canine companions rolled through michigan, indiana, illinois, iowa, south dakota, wyoming, montana, and up through alberta. she spent a few months in the yukon, then ventured through the northwest territories to the arctic ocean.
“we did that before heading back through b.c. down to the mexican border,” she said.
after all the asphalt, she set her sights on the seas. the one slight hitch was that she didn’t have a boat or any sailing experience. while researching the dream, she heard about the clipper on a podcast.
“i could learn how to sail and see if i liked crossing oceans,” said robinson.
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before the big voyage, she flew to england twice, for two weeks of training in summer 2024 and two weeks in summer 2025.
then just for good measure, before flying to china to start the yacht race, she camped out of her truck for four weeks in the rugged terrain of baja, mexico.
the ocean adventure began march 12, two years after she signed up.
windsor’s sarah jane robinson works aboard the team power of seattle sports yacht in the pacific ocean during the clipper round the world yacht race.
photo provided by the clipper round the world yacht race
robinson and the rest of her crew, team power of seattle sports, set out from qingdao, china, on a four-day sail to tongyeong, south korea. that stretch of race was 617 nautical miles, or about 1,142 kilometres.
“it was kind of nice having the shorter sail from china to south korea, because there wasn’t as much pressure for me to remember everything right off the bat,” said robinson.
on march 22, they launched from south korea headed for seattle, splashing over 5,502 nautical miles (10,189 kilometres) of wild waves and rough weather.
“it’s known as one of the longer, colder legs of the entire race,” said robinson.
clipper officials call it “gruelling.” it didn’t disappoint.
a big rule, besides wearing life jackets, was always being tethered when the wind was above 15 knots. they were tied on about 85 per cent of the time.
“we had three straight days of 30 to 40 knots,” said robinson. “so you’re trying to go into the wind, which is already going to be uncomfortable. and it was when we were near japan, which has this huge current, which was going the other way.”
that meant monster waves that made the 70-foot yacht look like a speck, heaving it up and down on towering walls of water.
“down below — the boat is literally crashing down waves — so it’s really uncomfortable,” said robinson. “we’re on an angle, so it’s hard to walk or do anything. and when you’re up top, you’re just going towards these huge waves that are towering over you, and you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
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are we going through it? is it going to crash down on us?
“but the boat is made for these kinds of conditions,” she said. “it just sails right up them. but then you get to the top.”
sometimes at the wave’s summit, it’s just flat. sometimes there is a little dip.
“other times you get to the top and you look down into this huge trough and the boat just crashes down into it,” said robinson.
windsor’s sarah jane robinson relaxes aboard the team power of seattle sports yacht in the middle of the pacific ocean during the clipper round the world yacht race.
james chapman
the calm days were just as memorable.
“you just sit there and watch the waves,” said robinson. “you lose track of time. you never know what day it is. and it really doesn’t matter. you’re just living hour by hour.”
they made landfall in seattle on april 17 after 26 days at sea, winning that leg of the competition by four-and-a-half hours.
after so many days on the water, she answered that burning question. yes, she does like crossing oceans. she plans to buy a boat and work remotely from the high seas with her dogs.
she’s now back in windsor, plotting new exploits.
“it’s something that i will remember forever,” she said. “i definitely want to do more sailing. and i did come out of it with this huge group of friends that i will be doing future adventures with.”
windsor’s sarah jane robinson, one member of a crew of novice sailors, celebrates in seattle, wash., on april 17, 2026, after sailing across the pacific ocean to win stage 9: the big one to seattle in the clipper round the world yacht race.
photo provided by the clipper round the world yacht race
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