The Ocean Race, often described as the longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world, is at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, to call for the ocean to be a key consideration in the vital climate negotiations and to highlight how sport and business can help to make a positive difference for the […]
The Ocean Race
About The Ocean Race
Since 1973, The Ocean Race has provided the ultimate test of a team and a human adventure like no other. For nearly 50 years, it has kept an almost mythical hold over some of the greatest sailors and been the proving ground for the legends of our sport.
The 14th edition of The Ocean Race will start from Alicante, Spain on 15 January 2023, and will finish in Genova, Italy early in the summer of 2023. The race will visit nine iconic cities around the globe over a six-month period (Alicante, Spain - Cabo Verde - Cape Town, South Africa - Itajaí, Brazil - Newport, RI, USA - Aarhus, Denmark - Kiel Fly-By, Germany - The Hague, the Netherlands - Genova, Italy) and will feature a leg with the longest racing distance in the 50-year history of the event - a 12,750 nautical mile, one-month marathon from Cape Town, South Africa to Itajaí, Brazil. The fleet of mixed crews will pass all three great southern Capes - Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn - non-stop, for the first time.
Along with five confirmed foiling IMOCA teams racing around the world, six one-design VO65 boats will race on three legs with an option to compete for a new trophy within The Ocean Race called The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup.
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11th Hour Racing Team is World Sailing’s Team of the Year with race documentary set to stream in USA on Max
Skipper Charlie Enright was on hand to pick up the Team of the Year prize at the World Sailing annual awards night held in Málaga, Spain on Tuesday evening. From January to July of this year, Enright led his 11th Hour Racing Team to a come from behind victory in The Ocean Race, demonstrating remarkable […]
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The Grand Finale in Genova brings The Ocean Race to a conclusion in style
The last day of racing in this 14th edition of The Ocean Race took place at the Grand Finale in Genova on Saturday afternoon. Sunny skies, very light and shifty winds and enthusiastic crowds on shore and on the water were the order of the day as this six month, around the world odyssey came to a […]
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Record number of female sailors took part in The Ocean Race 2022-23
The Ocean Race 2022-23 featured more female sailors than in any of the previous events in the Race’s 50 year history. Overall, across the five IMOCAs taking part in the round-the-world Race and the six VO65s taking part in the The Ocean Race Sprint, there were 39 female sailors, making up 28% of the competitors […]
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11th Hour Racing Team wins The Ocean Race
11th Hour Racing Team has won The Ocean Race 2022-23, the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event – the first time a US team has won in the 50-year history of the Race. The team was leading the overall race with just one leg to go, when, on June 25 in The Hague, just […]
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The Ocean Race: Protest and Redress hearings scheduled for Thursday
Team Holcim-PRB files protest against 11th Hour Racing Team Jury receives protest about start line incident from The Hague On Wednesday 28 June, Team Holcim-PRB filed a protest against 11th Hour Racing Team, relating to the collision at the start of Leg 7 involving GUYOT environnement – Team Europe. The protest is about Racing Rules of […]
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Team Malizia saves the best for last with a win in Leg 7 of The Ocean Race
The live finishes on Tuesday are available on the Eurosport YouTube Channel Team Malizia found a way to grab a last-minute win in leg 7 of The Ocean Race, saving the best for last. On the waters off the finish port of Genova, skipper Boris Herrmann and his crew boldly grabbed the leg lead in extremely light and variable conditions […]
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WindWhisper Racing Team wins Stage 3 into Genova to take The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup
WindWhisper Racing Team won the final leg of The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint into Genova, beating the rest of the fleet by a massive margin. The Polish boat crossed the finish line in just six knots of breeze at 10:27:52 UTC with a leg time of 10 days 23 hours 17 minutes and 52 seconds. With […]
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The Ocean Race: Genova is getting closer but there are still some challenging race miles ahead
If there wasn’t already enough urgency to get to Genova quickly, Ambrogio Beccaria is more desperate than ever. Not only is the Italian crewman on Team Holcim-PRB keen to reach his home country as soon as possible, vital provisions on the IMOCA are running very low. “Dude, there is no more Nutella,” he complains to […]
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The Ocean Race: Bold call pays small dividends for Team Holcim-PRB en route to Genova
Team Holcim-PRB made a break for the Algerian coast overnight on Friday, leaving the close-quarters match racing they’d been having with Biotherm and Team Malizia since before Gibraltar. At one point, they had gained nearly 100 miles of separation to the south – risky business in the light, shifting winds. But surprisingly, when the boats reconverged on Saturday morning off the Spanish coast, […]
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The Ocean Race: Close racing and close encounters
Following a frightening but ultimately harmless encounter with Orca killer whales off Gibraltar on Thursday afternoon – the MUST SEE video is here – attention is shifting back to racing on Friday. And with all the race boats now in the Mediterranean Sea, the action is spread across the width of the Med, from Europe to Africa. […]
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The Ocean Race – Orca encounter: “This was a scary moment”
Two of the VO65 boats racing in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint have had direct encounters with orcas – killer whales – in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Gibraltar on Thursday afternoon. Watch the video here (swearing alert!!) Team JAJO and Mirpuri Trifork Racing have both reported being approached by orcas around 1450 UTC. […]
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The Ocean Race: Team Holcim-PRB leading IMOCAs into Med, while WindWhisper is roaring towards Genova
It’s been a profitable 24 hours for Poland’s WindWhisper Racing Team who have escaped from the rest of the boats racing towards the Grand Finale in Genova and stretched out to a lead of over 150 nautical miles over their nearest pursuers in the VO65 fleet. In the short term, however, the forecast isn’t in their […]
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11th Hour Racing Team Redress hearing will be on June 29 in Genova
On Wednesday, Phil Lawrence, the Regatta Director for The Ocean Race, announced the World Sailing International Jury has provisionally scheduled the hearing for 11th Hour Racing Team’s Request for Redress on 29 June at 1000. It will be an in-person hearing, in Genova. Since the outcome of 11th Hour Racing redress hearing may affect all […]
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WindWhisper Racing Team leads both fleets toward the Med and grabs Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation Prize
As skipper Daryl Wislang pushed his WindWhisper Racing Team across the line of 37-degress north latitude at 10:04 UTC on Wednesday morning, his team prepared to turn east towards the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. By crossing this 37-degree latitude at the head of both fleets, Wislang’s team wins the Vasco da Gama Mirpuri Foundation […]
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The Ocean Race fleets are easing their way south
Nobody will be breaking any records on Tuesday in The Ocean Race. Light winds mean speeds are still modest for both IMOCA and VO65 fleets as they slide down to the south along the west coast of the Iberian peninsula. See all the latest content from the boats here “It would be nice to be going […]
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The Ocean Race: Roadblocks on the way to the Med
The VO65s are still leading the charge south, towards Cape Finisterre and the coast of Portugal. But at the moment, ‘charge’ should be considered a generous description. Boat speeds are often under 10 knots and the choice for the decision-makers on board is bleak – push south into lighter winds, or further west, away from the target. […]
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The Ocean Race – opening up
Both the IMOCA and VO65 fleets are finally free of the English Channel and into the more open waters of the Bay of Biscay / Celtic Sea / North Atlantic. The mission now is to leave the Bay of Biscay to port and run down the west coasts of Spain and Portugal before turning into the […]
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The Ocean Race: Teams battle light, challenging conditions
The five VO65s and three IMOCA boats racing to the Grand Finale in Genova are battling light and challenging conditions as they work to exit the English Channel and begin the next phase of the race, in more open waters. At 1000 UTC on Saturday morning, the VO65 fleet was tight and compressed togther, approximately […]
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The Ocean Race: 11th Hour Racing Team is focused on sailing to Genova
Following yesterday’s dramatic collision, skipper Charlie Enright and his 11th Hour Racing Team are working 24/7 to get their damaged boat in a position to sail to Genova. In a team statement, Enright said, “We are working around the clock to repair the boat as quickly as possible, and our intent is to sail to Genova […]
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The Ocean Race: Racing to the Grand Finale in Genova continues despite drama and shock of collision
All five VO65s left The Hague in full racing trim on Thursday afternoon, heading into Stage 3 of the VO65 Sprint… and there is an update on their positions further down. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the IMOCA fleet, where a dramatic collision has left three boats still on the course and racing towards Genova. […]
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The Ocean Race: Race leader 11th Hour Racing Team forced to suspend racing after hit from GUYOT environnement-Team Europe
The leader of The Ocean Race, 11th Hour Racing Team, has been forced to suspend racing approximately 15 minutes after the start of the final leg, after suffering extensive damage when they were hit by GUYOT envrionnement – Team Europe. The collision damaged both boats, which have returned to port in The Hague. No injuries were reported. […]
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The Ocean Race: Team JAJO wins the VO65 In Port Race The Hague – both fleets ready for The Grand Finale in Genova
The local heroes on the Dutch-flagged Team JAJO made a statement of intent right from the start of the VO65 In Port Race in The Hague on Wednesday afternoon by crossing ahead of the entire fleet on port tack, a high-risk, high-reward manoeuvre that allowed them to build a solid lead at the first turning gate. Behind them, the overall […]
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The Mirpuri Foundation celebrates the heritage of The Ocean Race
From its beginnings as the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973, to the current edition of The Ocean Race, this is an event that motivates people to achieve the extraordinary and drives change towards a healthier and more sustainable planet. “To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this race across the oceans, we have created […]
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The Ocean Race: GUYOT environnement – Team Europe lead the way in fast and furious foiling conditions
The Hague served up some of the best racing conditions the IMOCA fleet has seen in this edition of The Ocean Race on Tuesday afternoon. Bright sunshine and strong winds approaching 20 knots made for fast and furious foiling for the In-Port Race.Benjamin Dutreux’s GUYOT environnement – Team Europe hit the starting line at top […]