The Ocean Race: One year to go
The first leg of the 14th edition of The Ocean Race will start on 15 January 2023 from Alicante, Spain. With just one year to go to the start gun for leg one, the countdown is on and Ulysse Nardin,…
Offshore
News, race results plus editorial coverage from the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Vendée Globe, The Ocean Race, ARC, Fastnet, Transpac, Ocean Globe Race, Global Solo Challenge and Offshore Yachting from around the world.
Vendée Globe dream builders
Putting together all of the building blocks which form a successful Vendée Globe project is a seemingly endless task. Over the next few weeks we will look at some of the key people who perform vital roles behind the scenes…
Comanche sets Transatlantic Race monohull record
The 30.48m (100ft) VPLP Design/Verdier Maxi Comanche, skippered by Mitch Booth, has taken Monohull Line Honours in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race, winning the magnificent IMA Trophy. Comanche has set a new race record for the 3,000nm race from Lanzarote…
Maserati takes Transatlantic Race multihull line honours
Giovanni Soldini’s Multi70 Maserati (ITA) has taken Multihull line honours in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race, crossing the finish line outside Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada at 05:51:41 UTC on Saturday 15th January (Corrected: 6d 18h 51m…
RORC Transatlantic Race: Multihull mayhem
On the morning of the seventh day of the RORC Transatlantic Race, news in from PowerPlay and Argo confirms they are in sight of each other, 500 miles from the finish, so at dawn in Grenada on Saturday 15 January,…
RORC Transatlantic Race: Never laugh at crocodiles
On the sixth day of the RORC Transatlantic Race a thrilling finish is shaping up for multihull line honours contenders – PowerPlay, Argo and Maserati. The 100ft Maxi Comanche (CAY), skippered by Mitch Booth is estimated to be over two…
RORC Transatlantic Race: A game of chess
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Transatlantic Race enters the fifth day with the potential for a real twist of fate at the front of the RORC fleet. Peter Cunningham’s MOD70 PowerPlay (CAY) still leads the multihulls, but as the…
Round the world upside down record attempt
On Tuesday January 4, Romain Pilliard and Alex Pella set off for the round the world upside down record with the aim of setting a new benchmark time for crewed multihulls. Jean-Luc Van Den Heede’s all-time record to date has been…
Kangaroo Island sailors do battle in Sydney Hobart
Two sailors with Kangaroo Island connections tackled the tough conditions in the 2021 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Ian Roberts last sailed in the epic race back in 1981 as a crewman for the late Jamie Cowell on the 34-foot…
RORC Transatlantic Race: Rolling in the deep
On day four of the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race, Peter Cunningham’s MOD70 PowerPlay (CAY) is over halfway and just two hours outside multihull race record pace. The 100ft Maxi Comanche (CAY), skippered by Mitch Booth, is 1,900 miles from Grenada…
Global Solo Challenge reaches 40 entries
After the quiet Christmas period, 2022 started with good news for the 2023 Global Solo Challenge. First, we received two new entries bringing the total to 40. It is such an incredible milestone for the event. We never imagined the…
Sydney Hobart retirees: ‘Sometimes things just happen’
Close to 40 yachts did not finish the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Months of hard work was thwarted by breakages, injuries and sea sickness, as the fleet battled against an uncomfortable southerly for the first 30 hours of…
ARC departs Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
For the first time Gran Canaria bid farewell to an Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) fleet in the new year as ARC January 2022 set sail from Las Palmas on Sunday 9 January. The new route has brought together an…
Tactics split RORC Transatlantic Race fleet
By sunset on the second day of the RORC Transatlantic Race, the majority of the record fleet had raced into the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, leaving the Canary Islands in their wake. This would normally result in blasting…
RORC Transatlantic Race starts from Lanzarote
Lanzarote: The 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race started on time in glorious conditions outside Marina Lanzarote, while a flotilla of spectator boats witnessed the spectacle and thousands more watched by live stream, with Vendee Globe star Pip Hare providing commentary. After…
Sydney Hobart two-handed sailors make history
For the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the super maxis and racing yachts had to share the media spotlight with a new division of boats. The inaugural Two-Handed Division comprised of a fleet of 17 yachts, each with two…
More wild weather at Sail Paradise
The Gold Coast’s premier offshore yachting event, Qoin Sail Paradise, has come to an end. A solid south-easterly wind swept across the course during the morning and made for spectacular sailing. Wind gusts up to 20 knots and seas up…
Excess 11 Bombarda wins ARC division
The Excess 11 Bombarda, led by Marco and Lizzy’s team, has won the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) 2021 Multihulls Class B category. Being the only Excess catamaran in ARC 2021, Bombarda departed from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on November 21, 2021,…
Winds ease for Sail Paradise
It was a wet and wild first day of racing at Qoin Sail Paradise Regatta at Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast. The first two days of racing were postponed as a consequence of the gale-force winds generated by…
J/99 wins inaugural Sydney Hobart Two-Handed Division
With eyes on the dispute for the overall victory between the two 52 footers in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, you may have missed the victory in the inaugural Two-Handed category by Jules Hall and Jan Scholten on J/99 Disko Trooper-Contender Sailcloth…
Geelong yacht takes double win in Sydney Hobart
Stuart Richardson and his crew aboard the yacht Solera has secured a double victory in the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) based team sailed to victory in both the Fully Crewed PHS and…
RORC Transatlantic Race predictions
The record Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) fleet is in Puerto Calero and Marina Lanzarote and crews are making final preparations for the 3,000-mile race. Race navigators are studying the latest weather models and the data is predicting a fast,…
Ex-Tropical Cyclone keeps Sail Paradise competitors on land
The annual Qoin Sail Paradise Yacht Regatta has been postponed today for the second day as a consequence of the gale-force winds generated by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth. “While the wind decreased in strength by a considerable margin, overnight conditions were…
Day one of Sail Paradise postponed
The gale force winds that blasted the Gold Coast yesterday caused the postponement of day one of the Southport Yacht Club’s Qoin Sail Paradise Offshore Yacht Regatta. Race organisers had no option but to make the move due to safety…
Sydney Hobart: Decision on request to reopen protest
The request to reopen hearings in relation to protests by Ichi Ban versus Celestial (including Request for Redress) and the Race Committee versus Celestial, was considered by the International Jury for the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania…
Solveig brings Sydney Hobart to a close
Solveig, the famous 71-year-old Halvorsen 36, designed, built and raced by the equally famous seafaring Halvorsen brothers in the early years, crossed the finish line of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at 08:42.11am this morning to bring the Cruising…
Melbourne to Hobart: Sydney 38 takes handicap win
One of the smallest yachts in the fleet, a Sydney 38, has won the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria Melbourne to Hobart ‘West Coaster’ Race on handicap. Matt Fahey and his crew of six sailed Faster Forward across the Derwent…
Disko Trooper goes from contender to real deal
In August 2020, Jules Hall started floating the idea of entering the Rolex Sydney Hobart’s inaugural Two-Handed Division with his sailing mate, Jan ‘Clogs’ Scholten. Along with 16 other entries, the pair made history when they started the race on…
Ichi Ban lifts Tattersall Cup for record-equalling third time
The number one racing boat in Australia was declared overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race for a third time, Matt Allen’s TP52, Ichi Ban, this morning announced the 2021 winner, so will yet again have its name…
Sydney Hobart: Felicity Nelson celebrates 25 quietly
Sydney sailor Felicity Nelson sailed across the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race finish line at 07:34:34am this morning but there was no major celebration in recognition of her milestone 25th Sydney Hobart, as she doesn’t like the fuss. Nelson has…
Sydney Hobart: Sidewinder wins first two-handed line honours
Tasmanians John Saul and Rob Gough etched their place in Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race history this evening by winning line honours in the inaugural Two-Handed division. The pair, sailing their Akilaria RC2 designed by Frenchman, Marc Lombard, finished the…
Melbourne to Hobart Line Honours goes to Lord Jiminy
Guillaume Leroux’s Class 40 Lord Jiminy has claimed line honours in a challenging Melbourne to Hobart yacht race that was beset by range of strong and light winds, before ending with a perfect afternoon sea breeze in Hobart’s Derwent River….
Protests by Ichi Ban v Celestial and the Race Committee v Celestial
Friday 31 December 2021 Following protests by Ichi Ban versus Celestial (including Request for Redress) and the Race Committee versus Celestial, held at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania this evening. Date of incident: 27-0130 28 December, 2021 Ichi Ban v Celestial FACTS FOUND: 1. Ichi Ban was beyond…
Sydney Hobart: Kearns keen to produce New Year’s Eve upset
Shane Kearns is still confident that his boat White Bay 6 Azzurro can produce an upset and claim overall victory in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. At 2.20pm, his S&S 34 was 12 nautical miles south of Cape…
Joker on Tourer on song with fully-crewed boats
Grant Chipperfield and Peter Dowdney are among the 10 remaining Two-Handed Division entries still racing in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this morning, all toughing it out in what has not been an easy race by any means….
Sydney Hobart: Linkova embraces tough love of new two-handed challenge
When Jen Linkova recalled her experience almost halfway into the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race yesterday evening, the Sydneysider’s words had the air of an ocean racing rookie. However, her remarks about her highs and lows in the 76th…
Protest against Celestial
Wednesday 29 December 2021 – 2200 hours The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), the organising authority for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, has advised that two protests have been lodged against the yacht Celestial and will be heard before an…
Stefan Racing has the goods to challenge overall Sydney Hobart victory
Stefan Racing skipper Grant Wharington believes the future of his boat that placed fourth on line honours in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race today is as an overall contender. Wharington was speaking after the bright pink and rainbowed…
Sydney Hobart: Focus turns to Tattersall Cup
No sooner had the fight for line honours in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race been won and lost by the three 100-footers in the race early this morning, attention turned towards the main event – that being, the…
Melbourne to Devonport: Female dominated crew takes Rudder Cup
Smallest boat Vertigo wins the Melbourne to Devonport Yacht Race. Royal yacht Club of Victoria will be cheering for one of their own this morning. Tim Olding’s Summit 35 Vertigo floated over the finish line in Devonport at 05:08 this…
