Abramczyk aims to sail around the world in 250 days

PALMER — A man who grew up in the Valley is about to embark on the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, a sailing competition for amateur racers that circumnavigates the world.

The son of Bill and Mary Sears of Wasilla, Nick Abramczyk, 41, went to Wasilla High School, attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and even worked at the Frontiersman in 1992. Abramczyk will depart from London Aug. 30 on a 70-foot sailing yacht. He and team ClipperTelemed+, a group of 55 other sailors, will face off against 11 other teams on identical boats in an eight-leg race.

Though the Clipper Round the World Race is open to anyone willing to embark on the trip, even if they have no boating experience whatsoever, Abramczyk has already logged more than 40,000 miles on the water and 335 days at sea. He first picked up sailing after he moved to Washington, D.C.

“I fell in love with sailing on the Chesapeake Bay,” Abramczyk said. “I started sailing there and over the years just kind of bounced around on my own boat.”

Since then he has been an avid follower of the sport, and that’s how he first became interested in the Clipper Round the World Race.

“I was at home the day after Christmas just watching (the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race) on TV and I saw one of these boats that said ‘no experience necessary we’re looking for you’,” Abramczyk said. “And it kind of hooked me right there.”

After that fateful day Abramczyk applied to be in the race, had a phone interview with the race organizers, and has since participated in compulsory preparations for the event.

On top of his own experience, the Clipper organization that manages the race also requires every competitor to complete a four-part training program before they embark on the journey. The training teaches the participants everything from the basics of sailing to advanced racing tactics. Racers may complete the training within two years, but Abramczyk has already made three week-long trips to the United Kingdom and will complete the fourth stage in early August, just before the race. Abramczyk said that there is almost no comparison between the type of sailing he has done and the race ahead of him.

“If you sail 1 knot slower than the whole fleet throughout the course of the whole year on the race, you’ll be at sea almost six days longer,” he said, noting the importance of the Clipper instruction.

Despite it being a race across the globe, Abramczyk is one of the few competitors who will complete the entire circumnavigation. Each boat is lead by an expert skipper, but only around 15 percent of the racers actually sail all eight legs. The other 85 percent have elected to complete one or more legs instead of the entire race. Out of the 55 members on his team, only Abramczyk and six other teammates will circumnavigate the globe, the others will switch every port.

“Some people won’t step foot on the boat until you’re halfway through the race,” Abramczyk said. “The cohesion of how you work together will be the key to racing.”

Abramczyk faces a rugged campaign, including rain showers and sleeping at obtuse angles for extended periods of time. The race will take the 12 teams almost 250 days and across 40,000 miles. From London the race will stop in Brazil, South Africa, Australia, China and the United States before a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and a return to England’s capital.

“I think they’re all pretty amazing places,” Abramczyk said. “I’ll be seeing a lot of places that I have never seen before.”

To learn more about the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, visit clipperroundtheworld.com.

To follow Abramczyk’s journey, visit knoticalnic.wordpress.com.

Contact Kaden Weaver at 352-2270 or kaden.weaver@frontiersman.com.