A father and son duo from Shepton Mallet who have raced halfway around the world will be spending Christmas and New Year at sea in a global sailing race – against each other.

“It’s an incredible feeling to have sailed a third of the race distance, but already pretty much half way round the world. I can’t imagine what the emotion of the whole circumnavigation might feel like,” says George Dawson, aged 27, who is competing against his father, John, 70, in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

George and John set off from London on 1st September on two of the eleven identical Clipper Race yachts, and have so far raced over 15,000 miles to Australia. In total, George and John will have each raced 40,000 miles over eleven months when they complete the circumnavigation next summer.

The duo have just embarked on the aptly titled Australian Coast-to-Coast Leg, the fourth of eight individual stages that form the global Clipper Race route. The race is 3,400 miles in length, and will see George, John and nearly 200 other novice sailors race from Fremantle, Western Australia, to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. Taking approximately twenty days, they will be spending Christmas and New Year at sea.

John, a retired Pharmaceutical Executive, who is racing on board the gifted charity team yacht, Unicef, said: “We have sailed from the UK to Australia, so in theory it is half way around – but we’ve got a lot more to go! We have crossed some big oceans, but getting around Australia to the Whitsundays will be tough – and only then we will be properly halfway, distance wise!

“It is very tough, but I think once we get to The Whitsundays, we will start to be counting down the miles, rather than counting up.”

This Australian leg of the epic race will challenge the Race Crew, both mentally and physically, and is expected to be one of the most varied stages of the 2019-20 edition so far. The Bass Strait will be offering up choppy sea states and as the fleet travel up the East Coast, they will need to keep an eye out for Southerly Busters, a weather phenomenon which sees an abrupt and sometimes violent change in weather.

George, who works in real estate, and is racing on board the Chinese sponsored team yacht called Qingdao, speculates: “Hopefully our second jaunt into the Southern Ocean will be downwind, with big following seas that we could surf down.

“Who knows what that might entail round the bottom of Tasmania! It has a reputation for tricky weather. Throw into the mix the Southerly Busters, which we have all been warned about, that come out of nowhere and can hit you like a train – it could be an interesting one. Hopefully, by the time we get round to Airlie Beach, it will be beautiful turquoise seas, a bit of sunshine, sailing in shorts and we can all relax a bit.”

The Clipper Race is the only event of its type that gives everyday people, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to race the world’s oceans. Some 40 per cent have never sailed before signing up to take part.

In total, almost 700 crew will take part in the 41,165 nautical mile circumnavigation which takes eleven months to complete. Crew can choose to race around the world or take part in one or more of the eight individual stages with the global route.

Each team, led by a professional skipper and first mate, is crewed by everyday people, from all walks of life and representing 43 different nationalities. So far, the race has called into Portimao, Portugal, Punta del Este, Uruguay and Cape Town, South Africa and Fremantle, Australia. After reaching the Whitsundays, Australia, the race will head to Sanya, China; Subic Bay, Philippines; Zhuhai and Qingdao, China; Seattle and New York, USA; Hamilton, Bermuda; Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland, before finishing back in London in Summer 2020.