My Passion With Leonie Sutherland

I’ll give you a ‘clew’ as to my passion. It involves the high seas of the world (and the reservoirs of West Yorkshire), racing against the clock and battling with those big flappy things.

Ok, you got me, my passion is sailing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 68-foot racing yacht or a one man laser (or a flotilla in the Balearics), I love being out on the water.

Now, if you’d have told me ten years ago that by the age of 26 I’d have raced halfway around the world in a sailing race or even raced around the Isle of Wight in the Round the Island Race, my answer? Yeah right!

Now, I can’t imagine the thought of not being out on the water, whether it be freezing and wet and having to crack the ice off the yacht before setting sail, or sailing in the crystal blue waters around Menorca. Indeed, the way I write makes it sound as though I sail for a living. I wish I did. By day I work at a well-known law firm in Leeds, by weekend, whenever possible I am sailing.

In 2011, I took part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. A race founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, I gave it my all and after weeks of professional training I was challenged more so than I probably ever will be.

The locals at home at the time called me an adrenaline junkie and some even called me crazy. I loved every single minute of it. After setting sail from Southampton in 2011 there was no looking back. The race takes the full circumnavigation of the world by way of eight legs.

We had it all, no wind, flat mirror-like waters and even had to drop anchor at one point as the tide just off France was drawing us back to Southampton. After this we faced the oceans of Mother Earth.

The weather in these areas was a force not to be reckoned with. It tricked and it teased you. One minute you were sailing in easy winds cruising along at good speeds, the next, you were heeling over at 45 degrees and hanging on and being soaked. Try changing the sail trim, even by an inch, when you’re heeling over like this and being soaked. Brilliant! I love it!

What’s crazy is, if you saw the size of me, I am a mere five-foot one-inch tall, yet my weight to power ratio is equal to that of a six-foot tall muscle man (so I hear).

Adequately named ‘the Angry Sparrow’ on this race, you can imagine the determination, grit and energy required for such a race. Yes, there were days of wonderful downwind sails, with the spinnaker flying well driving you forward.

Since the Clipper Race I have competed in various smaller series such as the Frostbite Series on the River Hamble in the south and the Round the Island Race. My passion for sailing will never desist and now I seek further challenges, perhaps a little closer to home!