Cumbrian woman sailing from South Africa to Australia

Cumbrian Megan Allpress is sailing almost 5,000 nautical miles alongside her mother Amanda Shehab to Australia from Cape Town on the third leg of their circumnavigation.  

The materials engineer is currently sailing around the world on the Clipper Race, an event that trains people from all walks of life to race across the world’s oceans on board a 70ft racing yacht.

Amanda and Megan are taking on this huge adventure together to fulfil a dream that Amanda had with her late-husband to sail around the world- the pair are the first mother-daughter duo to participate in the global sailing event together.

So far, the pair have sailed over 10,000nm miles on their team yacht, Dare To Lead, and are now racing on the Leg 3 of the adventure: a 4,750nm voyage from Cape Town to Fremantle, Western Australia. 

The Dare to Lead crew (Image: Clipper Race)

Megan and Amanda will face the notorious Roaring Forties famed for huge swells and fierce winds and be immersed in one of the most remote areas of the world.

Megan said: "I don’t know why but I think I am more nervous for this one than I was on the previous one. I think because on the last one I was expecting the weather, but we didn’t end up getting the big weather, so I don’t know what to expect - it’s a bit of an unknown. Racing in the Roaring Forties is something not many people get to do, so it’s something new and exciting."

Megan and her mum Amanda (Image: Clipper Race)

Megan, Amanda and their teammates are expected to arrive in Fremantle in early December, where they can enjoy some downtime and Aussie hospitality before embarking on the fourth leg of the adventure.

Leg four involves two races and nearly 3,500nm of sailing from Fremantle to Newcastle, NSW and then up to the tropical Airlie Beach in Queensland. 

The Clipper Race started in Portsmouth in September, and so far its fleet has sailed over 10,000 nautical miles.