The Social Experiment that is Clipper Round the World

This is the hardest thing I have ever done!!! 

Even my PhD, which took me 7 years to complete and was probably the loneliest and most intellectually challenging project to complete, was not even a smidgeon on this bloody race! 

Apart from the sailing, which is actually probably the best part, the freezing cold of this Southern Ocean, the extreme physical challenges, difficult personal basics, militaristic watch system, wet-wet-wet and dampness of absolutely everything, and the people........!!!!!! The type of people on a race such as this are all very strong characters who have achieved a lot in their lives, and they are all very opinionated and assertive. But with this comes some weirdness as well - for loss of a better word. The amount of aggression and anger that sometimes comes out, the impatience, the irritation, the nastiness, the gossip, the pettiness, all at times really hard to handle.

This is good for me though because I need to develop a thick skin to survive this for a year! In a way this race is such a cruel social experiment to put people through. But of course there is also the other side that comes out: the kindness, the little acts of generosity, the fighting spirit, the giving, the friendship, and the humour. At times they burst out in song, tell naughty jokes, give a pat on the back, or a nice smile, and this gives you confidence in the human race!