Following our story from 26th March, sailor, Darren Ladd, from Midsomer Norton, has been confirmed as Skipper of a South African entry in the next edition of the challenging Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

IchorCoal was revealed as Darren's Team Sponsor last Friday and will be supporting him and his crew of amateur sailors in their 40,000 mile race around the world. The yacht has been named after the South African mining company which is the latest Team Sponsor to be announced for the tenth edition of the world's longest ocean race.

Darren, 49, welcomed the news. He said: "I am really pleased to have IchorCoal as our Team Sponsor. It is particularly nice for the crew, because some of them are from South Africa and I have many family and friends in the country, so they will be happy to see this, too.

"In less than four months, we will be sailing into Cape Town and that is going to be even more special now that we are being supported by a South African sponsor. The whole team is very excited and looking forward to the start of the race at the end of August."

Among the diverse, international crew on board IchorCoal, will be eight young South Africans from challenging backgrounds, who won bursaries to join the Clipper Race crew through the Sapinda Rainbow Foundation. The youths will form a relay with each team member completing one race leg, developing skills that will help them throughout their future, personally and professionally.

There are eight legs of the Clipper Race, of which the second will see the fleet race from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, into Cape Town, South Africa.

People from around the world and from all walks of life compete in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. 690 crew members, representing more than forty nationalities, are set to take part in the Clipper 2015–16 Race, which starts on Sunday, 30th August, from St Katharine Docks, London. The Clipper Race fleet is made up of twelve identical seventy-foot ocean racers, with each one sponsored by a different destination or brand.

Darren is a former engineer seismologist in the oil and gas industry, with his love of the ocean beginning as a child on board his grand-father's converted lifeboat in Weymouth.