USD Magazine Fall 2026

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

CHARTING A COURSE Eric James, PhD, has traveled around the world. Over the years, his work had taken him to Albania, Iraq and Zimbabwe, among other places. For him, though, this was a new frontier. He was aboard a vessel in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In between exhausting shifts, he got a moment to take in the night sky and saw the stars unlike ever before. He was thousands of miles, in any direction, from civilization. And it was here, one of the most remote places on Earth, that he grew a new appreciation for what can be done when humanity works together. The Clipper Round the World race is equal parts thrilling and grueling. It bills itself as “the ultimate challenge,” an endurance race unlike any other. The race has teams of around 18 people sailing 10 ocean-racing yachts through eight legs around the world. James, a lecturer at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, took part in perhaps the most challenging stretch of the entire race — the crossing of the Pacific Ocean. He and his teammates would be at sea for more than a month, taking on round-the-clock shifts to travel 6,000 miles from Qingdao, China, to Seattle. The race was a longtime dream for James, who grew up sailing with his father. “Four or five years ago, I got a small little boat — what they call a day sailor. You know, you go out for a couple of hours. But I always wanted to do more,” James said, describing an ocean crossing as a milestone for sailors akin to climbers summiting Everest. And just as demanding. It takes months of physical conditioning, and even longer to get your mind right for all you’ll have to endure. “It’s a combination of factors. You’re wet and cold, and not getting enough sleep,” he said. “You’re sailing 24/7. There’s a watch system where you only have chunks of time to catch up on sleep.” The race is only run every two years, and for James, the stars had finally aligned. Not only was he getting an opportunity to put his sailing skill — and will — to the test, he was doing it to support a cause he believed in. James would be sailing for the yacht sponsored by UNICEF, which was using the event to raise funds to help vulnerable children around the globe. James teaches humanitarian logistics at USD and spent decades of his career doing international aid work and peacebuilding. The chance to test his mettle while helping others — at a time when funding for international aid had been under attack — was something he jumped at. “There’s this growing idea that humanitarian assistance is some sort of wasteful thing, when, in fact, there’s a huge return on investment. And people’s lives depend on it,” James said. The UNICEF yacht directly raises hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the event helps the organization raise awareness and boost fundraising throughout the year. Ultimately, James said the voyage displays how coming together can help take on seemingly insurmountable challenges. “People from all different walks of life were able to get together and do something that’s extraordinarily hard. To achieve something that was very tangible,” he said. “If you turn on the news, you get this daily message of problems and people not getting along. But that’s an aberration — tension and violence. The normal thing is for people to live in peace and work together in constructive ways.” As James’s yacht approached the Alaskan coast one night, he saw a glow over the horizon. City lights, he thought, as they made their approach. What he later learned, though, was that he was looking at the Northern Lights. Another reminder of the beauty of all he and his crewmates, exhausted but inspired, had accomplished together. — Steven Covella

Clockwise: James sailed for UNICEF, which used

its platform to raise nearly $500,000 for charity. James and an experienced crew were in second place at one point along Leg 6: The Mighty Pacific. The Clipper Round the World Race is made up of eight legs. The Pacific crossing lasts 37 days and is often referred to as “The Big One.”

Photos: Clipper Race

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Team UNICEF Leg 6: The Mighty Pacific

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