A retired school business manager from Stockport is about to take on the challenge of a lifetime.

Jo Worrall will be sailing 40,000 miles around the world as part of the 2025 Clipper Race.

The Clipper Race runs annually, and is aimed at people who have minimal or little experience in sailing; participants from all walks of life receive training to become seafaring ocean racers, then set out on a race which promises to be 'a true test of human endeavour'.

There are 10 teams in all, each led by a pair of professional sailors.

The racers departed from Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth on Sunday 31 August 2025 - the trip is expected to last around 11 months.

Retired school business manager Jo Worrall said she took part in the Clipper Race because she wanted to 'do something different' (Image - Clipper Race)

Before setting off, Jo explained that she got involved because she wanted to do something different.

"I divorced a few years ago, and I was working so hard and wondered why I was doing it all", she said. "So, I retired and sold the house to go and sail around the world."

Jo is part of the Yacht Club Punta del Este team, led by David Sautret (France) and Lorraine O Hanlon (Ireland).

She and her crewmates will take on six oceans, facing bitter cold, hurricane force winds, blistering heat - all the extremities of weather and sea states.

And throughout, they'll be living on a yacht with stripped back facilities in close quarters, in a true test of mental and physical fortitude.

This year's Clipper Race features people from 40 different countries and all walks of life (Image - Clipper Race)

Jo added: "I sailed a bit in my teens and early twenties. But then family and normal life came along but divorce made me want to do something for myself, and this is it!

"Now I'm down here, I am really excited. I've already said my emotional goodbyes as my family is spread all over, and now this really is all for me."

On the itinerary is Puerto Sherry (Spain), Punta del Este (Uruguay), Cape Town (South Africa), Fremantle and Airlie Beach (Australia), Subic Bay (Philippines), Qingdao (China), Subic Bay (Philippines), Tongyeong City (Korea), Seattle (USA), Panama, Washington, DC (USA) and Oban (UK) before returning to Portsmouth (UK) next summer.

The Clipper Race was founded 30 years ago by legendary sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world. Its designed to 'break down barriers' to sailing, encouraging people of all different ages and backgrounds to take part.

Find more information here.

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