Mark Light will lead the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race - the planet’s biggest ocean adventure!
The sailor is well use to the seas, knocking up over 120,000 nautical miles to his name.
The event takes almost a year to complete, and consists of twelve teams competing against each other.
It will start next summer and it's expected to be the largest scale race to date.
He said: “I am honoured to be named Race Director of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. As a former Skipper, I know both the challenges and the rewards it offers, and having worked as Deputy Race Director for the previous two race editions I feel prepared and ready to lead the race into the 2017-18 edition and beyond.
“The Clipper Race is unlike any other ocean race. We train around 700 international crew, find and develop twelve professional Skippers, and then work and travel round the clock applying the timelines and logistics of getting the world’s largest matched fleet of ocean racing yachts round the 40,000 nautical mile course, including fourteen or fifteen stopover ports.
“It is an incredible operation but with the experience of ten previous editions of this race, our staff, along with the support and vision of our founders Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and William Ward, are experts and I’m very proud to be taking the helm with them.”