Client: Clipper Ventures

Project: Clipper Round The World Yacht Race — Leg 3, Cape Town

Year: 2023

The Brief

The Clipper Round The World Yacht Race Is One Of The Most Ambitious Endurance Sailing Events On The Planet — A 40,000-Nautical-Mile Ocean Race Crewed By Everyday People, Not Professional Sailors. Eleven Identical Yachts Racing Across Six Oceans And Five Continents.

Clipper Ventures Needed A Photographer On The Ground In Cape Town For The Full Leg 3 Stopover — Seven Days Covering Yacht Arrivals, Crew Reunions, Partner Activations, Sustainability Events, Media Sailing, Public Tours, Team Portraits, And The Race Start Itself. The Images Needed To Work Across Print, Web, Social, And Press, Processed And Delivered In Real Time So The Communications Team Could Deploy Them Immediately.

The Approach

I Approached This As Editorial Documentary Photography — Not Staged Event Coverage. The Brief Called For Atmosphere, Emotion, And Scale, So I Built The Shoot Around Three Layers: The Intimate Human Moments (Reunions, Embraces, The Faces Of People Who’d Just Crossed An Ocean), The Operational Detail (Preparations, Team Logistics, The Working Harbour), And The Cinematic Spectacle (The Fleet Under Sail, The Parade Of Sail, The Race Start From A Media Rib On The Water).

The Yacht Arrivals Operated On A 24-Hour Window — Boats Could Come In At Any Time, Day Or Night. The Race Start Was A Full-Day Operation With On-Board Team Portraits For All Eleven Crews, Followed By The Departure, Parade Of Sail, And The Start Of Leg 4, All Shot From The Water. Every Day Had A Different Rhythm And A Different Requirement.

I Worked Solo Across The Full Seven Days, Processing And Delivering Images In Real Time From The Clipper Race Office So The Comms Team Could Publish While The Moments Were Still Fresh.

Deliverables

• 987 Images Across 7 Days

• Official Team Portraits For All 11 Yacht Crews

• On-Water Race Photography From Media Rib

• Event And Activation Coverage

• Atmosphere And Editorial Documentary Imagery

• Real-Time Processing And Same-Day Delivery

Outcome

Clipper Ventures Deployed The Images Across Their Website, Social Media Channels, And Press. The Photography Became The Primary Visual Record Of The Cape Town Stopover And Race Start For The 2023–24 Edition Of The Race.

The Published Work Is Visible On The Clipper Race Website:

Clipperroundtheworld.com/Port/Cape-Town-South-Africa/2023-24