Mother and daughter from Wrexham complete race around the world together

Mother and daughter Amanda Shehab and Megan Allpress from Wrexham have made a triumphant return to Portsmouth after completing the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race.

Amanda, 57, and Megan, 27, joined the Dare To Lead team in September 2023 where they took on the epic challenge of sailing around the world together. They finished the final race of this edition, sailing from Oban to Portsmouth, on Saturday 27 July for the event’s Grand Finale.

The Clipper Race is unique in that it trains everyday people to sail around the world. By completing the 40,000 nautical mile-long race, Amanda and Megan have joined a small group of people who can call themselves circumnavigators, crossing all meridians of longitude and passing the Equator twice.

Amanda competed with her daughter after her husband, who planned to sail around the world with her, died of cancer aged 51.

They are the first mother-daughter duo to sail together on the same boat in the race’s history.

On arrival for the Grand Finale in Portsmouth, Amanda, filled with emotion, said “Sharing these experiences with Megan was very special and there was an unspoken bond between us because of the things we have experienced together. I always wanted to sail around the world, but I never imagined I would be able to do it with my daughter. Now I can’t imagine it any other way.

“It’s been amazing. There’s been some really tough bits, but I’ve forgotten about them already. It’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done. Absolutely fantastic.”

Megan added: “It’s been incredible. Looking back on this experience, there have been so many highlights. It’s hard to put into words and even the tough bits, you look back on them and think, ‘we did that’. We got through it and we’re now back where we started eleven months and 46,000 miles later. It’s incredible.”

Over the past eleven months the duo have made six ocean crossings, faced storm force winds, tackled waves higher than a two storey house, worked through searing hot and freezing cold temperatures, electrical storms, water spouts and squalls all whilst racing alongside 20 teammates, 24 hours a day, for up to 27 days at a time.

Racing on one of eleven identical racing teams, it has taken Amanda and Megan eleven months to complete the challenge on board a stripped back 70 ft long racing yacht. They are two of just 75 Clipper Race crew who have taken on all eight stages of the Clipper Race. Some 700 Race Crew have taken part in one or multiple numbers of the eight-stage circuit.

Endurance

In addition to a sailing challenge, it has been a test of endurance, resilience and courage. Clipper Race Crew, who are aged between 18 and 75, and represent 45 nations, have stepped out of their regular lives as farmers, tattoo artists, doctors, students, teachers and retirees and have put everything on pause to take on the race of their lives.

Founded by Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, round the world, the Clipper Race is a global sailing event which is open to anyone over 18 regardless of previous sailing experience. Many Race Crew have no previous sailing experience before the four weeks of mandatory training and now they will have more miles in their sailing log books then many professional sailors.

Having set sail from Portsmouth, UK, on 3 September 2023, the route saw the teams sail to Puerto Sherry, Spain, Punta del Este, Uruguay, Cape Town, South Africa, Fremantle, Newcastle and Airlie Beach, Australia, Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, Zhuhai and Qingdao, China, Seattle, USA, Panama, Washington DC, USA, and Oban, Scotland before coming full circle back to Portsmouth.