A sailor from Dorchester is chasing top spot in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Joss Creswell, 24, is the first mate on board the vessel Perseverance in this year's round the world race.

Currently the young sailor and his crew are in second place as they approach the race's Grand Finale tomorrow (Saturday, July 27).

Perseverance is one of eleven teams competing in the global sailing event that is the brainchild of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world.

The competition is fierce between Creswell's team and third-placed and Zhuhai, led by fellow south coast skipper James Finney, as both teams jostle to knock current leaders Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam out of first place.  

The current stage is an 850 nautical mile race from Oban, Scotland to Portsmouth, Hampshire, which got underway on Sunday, July 21.

The matched fleet of 70ft racing yachts are sailing down the west coast of the UK and Ireland, before crossing the ultimate finish line.

The crew will be returning to Gunwharf Quay where the 40,000nm journey began 11 months ago.

Creswell and his team have consistently put in strong performances throughout the race which is split into fourteen races between ports worldwide.

Over the eleven months Creswell and his Skipper Ineke van der Weijden, have coached, trained and led their team of 66 Race Crew, 7 of which are about to become circumnavigators, representing a range of nations, aged from 19 to 75. 

Commenting on the final stage of the race, he said: “It doesn’t seem real. The last race was wonderful, and now it’s just the time to spend with this crew, this team that we have built.

"I think it’s going to be a lot more emotional than any other race. More and more through the race the team has taken ownership of the boat, and have become a lot bigger component than Ineke and I. They’re rabid for success, they’re so competitive, and they are a great team.”    

The 2023-24 edition of the global yacht race has seen over 700 race crews from 55 nations complete a once in a lifetime adventure.

This, the thirteenth edition of the Clipper Race, started in Portsmouth on September 3 and has so far visited, Puerto Sherry, Punta del Este, Cape Town, Fremantle, Newcastle, Whitsundays, Ha Long Bay, Zhuhai, Qingdao, Seattle, transited the Panama Canal, Washington, DC and enjoyed the penultimate stopover in Oban ahead of the Grand Finale in Portsmouth today    

  More information about the Clipper Race can be found here: https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/about/about-the-race