21-year-old sailor Angus Whitehead, who lives in Monmouth, has just returned to the UK after leading a team of non-professional sailors through the ultimate endurance test, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.  

 Angus has successfully circumnavigated the world taking the role of First Mate, leading his team Yacht Club Punta del Este, around the world on board one of eleven identical 70ft race yachts competing in the epic 40,000 nautical mile (nm) race.  

 Speaking at the end of the race, Angus said: “It feels great to have completed the Clipper Race. It’s brilliant to be back with my family, my friends and all those who I haven’t seen while I’ve been on this great adventure.  

 “To actually do this, and to show myself that I can do it, I think I have made myself, my family and my friends very proud.” 

 The Clipper Race is unique in that it trains everyday people to sail around the world. Regardless of previous experience, Race Crew can sign up to take one, all, or any number of the eight legs that form the global race route, and are led by a professional Skipper and First Mate, like Angus.  

By completing all stages of the race, Angus has joined a small group of people who can call themselves circumnavigators, crossing all meridians of longitude and passing the equator twice. More people have climbed Mount Everest than have sailed around the world.  

 Over the last eleven months, Angus and Skipper Nano Antia Bernardez, have coached, trained and led their team made up of 65 Race Crew, five of which also became circumnavigators.  

 Talking about his race highlights, Angus added: “I think it was the back-to-back helming sessions with fellow round the worlder, Stephane, high fiving each other and just going for it, especially on those really tricky days when we were just getting through it.”  

 The Yacht Club Punta del Este team members represent 18 nations and are aged from 18 to 70. Together they have faced everything Mother Nature can throw at them from storm force winds and waves the size of houses, freezing temperatures and searing heat, to water spouts and wind holes. 

 Founded by Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, round the world, the Clipper Race is a global sailing event which is open to anyone over 18 regardless of previous sailing experience. Many Race Crew have no previous sailing experience before the four weeks of mandatory training and now they will have more miles in their sailing log books then many professional sailors.  

 Having set sail from Portsmouth on 3 September 2023, the eleven teams have sailed to Puerto Sherry, Spain, Punta del Este, Uruguay, Cape Town, South Africa, Fremantle, Newcastle and Airlie Beach, Australia, Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, Zhuhai and Qingdao, China, Seattle, USA, Panama, Washington DC, USA, Oban, Scotland before arriving back in Portsmouth after crossing all lines of longitude to complete the Clipper 2023-24 Race circumnavigation. 

Angus was one of eight 16-year-old pupils from Monmouth School who took part in a ‘Monster the Loch’ in 2018 to raise funds for a new boat in memory of Tom Walker , who died at the age of 13, after a short illness.

“Tom loved his experience of rowing at Monmouth School for Boys and he could not wait to get into the cox seat,” explained Angus in 2018, who spearheaded the rowing challenge.

Angus then organised the full length of Loch Ness on a Pedalo with his dad , his uncle Nick and Tim Walker again for the Tom Walker fund.

His mum, Angela said: “He hasn’t stopped working since he left school and did his OffShore Yacht Master.”