Isle of Wight born-and-raised sailors, Diana Vega and Faith Nordbruch, have been selected to help lead a team of non-professionals around the globe in the upcoming edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.
The duo will each take on the role of First Mate, supporting their Race Skippers in racing 40,000 nautical miles around the world when it gets underway from Portsmouth on 31st August 2025.
Vega: my sailing career represents endurance, commitment and determination
Speaking about the opportunity, Diana, who hails from Cowes, said,
“Breaking into the offshore sailing industry isn’t always easy, and working as a First Mate for the Clipper Race is a symbolic point after a long journey of gaining the experience and confidence needed for this role.
“For me, my sailing career represents endurance, commitment and determination; which resonate with this role.”
The Clipper Race is the only event of its kind which trains people from all walks of life to become ocean racers and take on the endurance challenge of a lifetime. Each of the teams is led by a professional Race Skipper and First Mate.
Lifelong sailing
For Diana, taking on the role of Clipper Race First Mate comes after being bought up in the sailing mecca of Cowes, giving her a lifelong interest in sailing. With offshore sailors for parents, Diana spent her youth on the water, however, it wasn’t until later in life, having moved home from Brighton where she was studying when the pandemic hit, that she found her route into working in the industry.
It was during this time that Diana met a yacht captain who asked her to crew on his classic yacht, which she helped restore from a wreck before Skippering it across the Bay of Biscay. She has since skippered yachts in the Caribbean, worked as a dinghy instructor and crewed various yachts in the Solent.
Started professional sailing career aged just 17
For Faith, who was brought up in Niton before moving to Cowes, becoming a Clipper Race First Mate is an accumulation of hard work after starting her professional sailing career aged just 17.
Freelancing as a Skipper and First Mate for various Solent-based sailing companies, Faith’s experience includes supporting the Rona sailing project as a volunteer First Mate, working as a First Mate for Clipper Race Training and spending five months doing refit work with the Ocean Youth Trust. This has equipped Faith with solid experience as she gears up to take on the biggest job of her career so far as First Mate in the Clipper 2025-26 Race.
Nordbruch: A huge milestone in my sailing career
On appointment to the role, Faith said,
“Being chosen as a First Mate on the Clipper Race is a huge milestone in my sailing career. It’s a challenging job that requires strong skills in leadership and teamwork and then putting those to the test in some of the toughest sailing environments. The opportunity to work alongside one of the talented skippers and being able to support but also learn from them is also very exciting.
“I see this as an opportunity to further my knowledge of both sailing and leadership skills. And long term I view this as my steppingstone to skippering the race in the future.”
A rigorous selection process
All First Mates go through a rigorous selection process led by the Clipper Race Management Team. The team’s Race Director, Deputy Race Director and Race Manager have all competed as Race Skippers on previous editions and therefore understand the unique requirements of this role.
Max Rivers, Deputy Race Director, said,
“Our talented First Mates all hold the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore qualification and have plenty of experience to go with it. From Skippering yachts, carrying out deliveries and teaching RYA accredited courses, they have sailed all over the world and come from diverse maritime backgrounds. We look forward to incorporating their skills and knowledge into the Clipper Race challenge ahead.
“Their primary role throughout the race is to support the team skipper in all aspects of boat management, meaning this bunch are not only great sailors but also teachers, leaders and mentors for the Race Crew.”
Supporting Race Crew to progress through the ranks
The Clipper Race has created a pathway to becoming a sailing professional and on previous editions has supported Race Crew to progress through the ranks including from participant to First Mate to Skipper. And both Diana and Faith are ambitious for the future.
Vega: I hope to gain the experience needed to skipper the next race
Diana said,
“This job comes at a time in my sailing career where I feel confident in my current abilities yet incredibly keen to learn from this experience.
“I hope to gain the experience needed to skipper the next race and eventually use the sea time to gain my master unlimited tonnage license to continue to challenge myself by taking leadership roles on increasingly large vessels.
“I will use the experience gained to be a strong, skilled, confident leader for the rest of my maritime career.”
Founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race was founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, thirty years ago (March 1995) and trains people from all walks of life to learn seamanship and become ocean racers. Each participant must complete four stages of intensive training before signing up for one or multiple legs or can complete the full 40,000 nautical mile circumnavigation.
The ten strong fleet of matched Clipper 70 ocean racing yachts make six ocean crossings – including the North Pacific and the Clipper Race is the only round the world yacht race to cross this ocean.
The Clipper 2025-26 First Mate line up:
- Amy Smith, from Somerset, UK
- Ben Birley, from Cumbria, UK
- Brian Uniacke, from Dublin, Ireland
- Diana Vega, from the Isle of Wight, UK
- Faith Nordbruch, from the Isle of Wight, UK
- Jade Golder, from Surrey, UK
- Lorraine O Hanlon, from Kinsale, Ireland
- Millie Apperley, from West Yorkshire, UK
- Otto Kulow, from Leipzig, Germany (born Harrogate, UK)
- Zoe Longley, from Derbyshire, UK
The race will make 14 ports of call on its global route, with Portsmouth (UK), Cape Town (South Africa), Qingdao (China) and Tongyeong City (Korea), Seattle (USA) and Oban (Scotland) announced so far.
Applications are still open for crew to sign up to participate in the Clipper 2025-26 Race. To find out more visit the website.
News shared by Clipper Ventures in their own words. Ed
