•Sean Sawdon, a 2007 MAHS graduate, joins crew in May to sail around North America

Glenwood native Sean Sawdon, is just weeks away from the adventure of a lifetime.

The 2007 Minnewaska Area High School graduate, is taking part in a 7,200-mile sailing race around North America as a crew member in one-leg of the Clipper Around the World Race.

The sailing race consists of 700-plus crew across 11 teams racing nonstop around the entire globe. 

The fleet set off on Labor Day 2023 from Portsmouth, England where Sean spent four weeks last summer training for the race.  According to an update sent recently from his mother, Vicki Sawdon of Glenwood, the training was “a far cry” from what Sean expected, since it was advertised as “no experience needed.” 

“The weeks of training challenge your resilience, patience and teamwork.  Learning how to handle the 70-foot, 34-ton sailboat becomes secondary to adapting to life at an angle,” Sean said in a newsletter about the experience.

“During the race there will be 20 of us stuffed into this 70×20-foot floating apartment,” he said.  “We will sleep in shifts rotating day and night since half of the beds will be used to store food for the weeks at sea.  We have an on-board kitchen, two toilets, a water maker and a diesel engine and generator…so it’s kind of a floating motorhome.”

He is currently joining “Team Ha Long Bay Viet Nam” for leg 7 of the race, which starts in Seattle on May 2nd.  

“We’ll arrive at the Panama Canal about a month later, he said.  The race will move through the canal and start the next race north to Washington D.C.  Overall, its expected to be 6-7 weeks at sea with only a brief “stop” in Panama to go through the canal, perform repairs, buy more food and “maybe even take a shower,” Sean said in the update home.

Local residents can follow along, by checking the highlights from the Teams social media links: @clipperrace or @teamhalonbayvietnam on Instagram.  More information on the race with some incredible video can be found by going to www.clipperroundtheworld.com

About the Clipper Round the World Race 

The brainchild of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, the first Clipper Race took place in 1996. Since then, almost 6,000 Race Crew from all walks of life and more than 60 nations have trained and raced in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race; the only race in the world where the organizers supply a fleet of identical racing yachts (eleven), each with a fully qualified skipper and first mate to safely guide the crew. Crew complete four levels of intense ocean racer training before they compete.

According to the website, those applying should realize:  “Mother Nature does not distinguish between female and male, professional or novice. There is nowhere to hide – if Mother Nature throws down the gauntlet, you must be ready to face the same challenges as the pro racer. Navigate the Atlantic Tradewinds and Doldrums enroute to South America, endure the epic Roaring Forties, experience Indian Ocean sunsets, face the mountainous seas of the mighty Pacific and bond with an international crew creating lifelong memories before returning victorious.