Women of the Transat
Only three women have ever won the Transat Jacques Vabre. Incredibly, for a race so embedded in the French sporting psyche, only one of those women is from France, the other two are British. You have to go back 22…
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.
Mini Transat fleet splits
Whilst making headway offshore off the coast fringing the Western Sahara, the fleet competing in the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef has scattered every which way. Indeed, it now spans over 180 miles in latitude and 130 miles in longitude, evidence…
Mini Transat: Canaries astern
After setting sail mid-afternoon yesterday local time from Santa Cruz de La Palma, bound for Saint-François, those competing in the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef have endured some tricky opening miles and each has had to deal with the wind shadows…
Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race postponed to 2023
Montego Bay, Jamaica: It is with great regret that the Montego Bay Yacht Club announces the unavoidable postponement of the 2022 Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race, which was scheduled to take place January, but has been moved to January…
McIntyre Adventure Globe 5.80 Transat start delayed
Lagos, Portugal: The Race Director of the G580T, Lutz Kohne, has delayed the start of the McIntyre Adventure Globe 5.80 Transat by 24 hours to Monday 1 November at 1200hrs UTC. While the weather was acceptable for this Sunday, the…
Mini Transat: Bound for the West Indies
As planned, the second leg of the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef kicked off this Friday at 14:00 UTC, and propelled along by a light north-easterly breeze, the remaining 86 participants left Santa Cruz de La Palma bound for Saint-François with…
Comanche takes triple win in Middle Sea Race
Super maxi Comanche (CAY), skippered by Australian Mitch Booth, has been confirmed as the overall winner of the 42nd Rolex Middle Sea Race after taking line honours and breaking the race record. An exceptional crew of 23 included in its…
Rolex Sydney Hobart entries close with 112 yachts
The stage is set for the return of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with a fleet of 112 boats confirmed for the 2021 running of the prestigious race. Among them is Matt Allen’s Botin 52 Ichi Ban, the 2017…
Rolex Middle Sea Race: Double-handed warriors
This year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race was tough, especially for the smaller boats, and at times during the 606 nautical mile expedition, gale force winds and tumultuous seas battered the fleet. Eleven teams were racing in the Double-Handed class, adding…
Sailors raring to go for second Mini Transat leg
On Friday 29 October at 14:00 UTC, the 87 participants still competing in the 23rd edition of the Mini Transat EuroChef will take to the start line for the second leg of the event. After casting off from Santa Cruz…
Countdown to McIntyre 5.80 Transat
The McIntyre Adventure Globe 580 Transat is the first event for the new amateur build: the plywood one design 5.80 Mini Ocean Racer. It is attracting strong interest with 165 builders in 27 countries. The first six launched from five…
Lisa Blair’s world record attempt has a sponsor on board
Specialist marine underwriting agency RedSky Insurance have announced they will support solo sailor Lisa Blair with a generous sponsorship package and in-kind support to achieve her dream of circumnavigating Antarctica in world record time. Lisa and her yacht Climate Action…
New 2022 Baltic Sea Race
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) together with the Ocean Racing Alliance (ORA) are delighted to announce a new offshore race to start on July 21 2022. The RORC Baltic Sea Race is open to boats racing under IRC, MOCRA,…
Middle Sea Race: JPK 118 Sunrise in contention for another race win
The 42nd Rolex Middle Sea Race continues to live up to its billing as a blockbuster thriller. Over Monday night the list of finishers had lifted from seven to 18 by 0900 CEST and is now up to 31 as more…
Transat partners with 11th Hour Racing to highlight ocean health
Building on 10 years of sponsorships focused on the power of sport to create change, 11th Hour Racing announced today its support of the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre as an official partner of the race. 11th Hour Racing will…
Middle Sea Race: More records broken
With seven yachts in harbour, and no more expected until much later tonight (Monday) or the early hours of Tuesday, one might be excused for thinking the Rolex Middle Sea Race is over. Far from it. Close to 100 yachts…
Alex Thomson will not compete in 2024 Vendée Globe
British sailor Alex Thomson has announced he won’t compete as a skipper in the 2024 Vendée Globe, the solo, non-stop race around-the-world, but doesn’t rule out returning to the race in 2028. Thomson has competed in the IMOCA circuit for 19 years including five successive Vendée Globe’s with two podium…
Argo smashes Middle Sea Race record
Jason Carroll’s MOD70 Argo (USA) crossed the finish line of the 2021 Rolex Middle Sea Race at 20:39:28 CEST on Sunday October 24 to take Multihull Line Honours in an elapsed time of 33 hours 29 minutes 28 seconds. Argo has smashed both the existing multihull record of…
Middle Sea Race starts Saturday in Malta
With 114 boats scheduled to cross the start line of the 42nd Rolex Middle Sea Race, tomorrow, Saturday 23 October, offshore yacht racing fans are in for a real treat, as the Royal Malta Yacht Club has once again attracted…
2024 Vendee Globe Notice of Race published
The SAEM Vendee, the organising entity behind the Vendee Globe, has published the Notice of Race, detailing the rules for competing in the 10th edition of the Vendee Globe. Applications for the Vendee Globe 2024 will open on Monday February…
Transat countdown begins
On November 7 2021, 81 boats will take to the start line of the 15th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. Created back in 1993 and run biennially, this legendary two-handed race enables some of the big…
Yachting Malta Coastal Race: Competitors warm up for Middle Sea Race
The Yachting Malta Coastal Race started at 10:00 CEST on Wednesday October 20. Forty two teams entered the race representing 17 countries. Royal Malta Yacht Club Principal Race Officer, Peter Dimech, sent the competitors on a course of approximately 30 nautical miles northwest to Comino. The…
Mini Transat: 80 skippers given redress
On Wednesday October 20, the international jury responsible for examining the protests from 19 racers competing in the 23rd edition of the Mini Transat EuroChef, which were filed at the end of the first leg, has returned its verdict. The…
International fleet ready for Yachting Malta Coastal Race
The Yachting Malta Coastal Race starts on Wednesday October 20. The race follows one of four courses around Malta, Gozo, Comino or Fifla, and is a perfect race for boats preparing for the 42nd edition of the Rolex Middle Sea…
Sails of Change in Jules Verne Trophy attempt
Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard are once more set to take on the Jules Verne Trophy, held since 2017 by Francis Joyon and his crew in a time of 40 days 23 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds. Re-modelled for improved…
Third time lucky for Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race
After two false starts, the first an early casualty COVID-19 in 2020 and the second due to flooding on an incredible scale throughout New South Wales in 2021, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is looking forward to getting the…
King Billy to compete in sixth Sydney Hobart
Phil Bennett’s King Billy is returning for her sixth Rolex Sydney Hobart campaign in 2021. The 38-footer – built from King Billy Pine and designed by John King – turns 30 this year. This year’s crew aboard King Billy will look very…
ORCV scoops Australian Sailing Victoria Awards
The Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) has scooped the 2021 Australian Sailing Victoria Awards, being named Victoria Club of Year, receiving the Sport Promotion award, while ORCV Life member Robin Hewitt received the Lifetime Achievement award. These awards followed…
Mini Transat: Can Production boat gaps be bridged?
Though the top three prototypes finished within one hour and 10 minutes of one another at the end of the 1,350 nautical mile first leg in the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef, between Les Sables d’Olonne and Santa Cruz de La…
Mini Transat: Nineteen-year-old reflects on race win
This Thursday at 15:05 UTC, Melwin Fink crossed the finish line of the first leg of the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef, completing the 1,350-mile course from Les Sables d’Olonne to Santa Cruz de La Palma in first place among the…
Major Events Gold Coast backs Sail Paradise Regatta
Southport Yacht Club is pleased to announce that South-East Queensland’s largest Sailing Regatta, Qoin Sail Paradise, is partnering with Major Events Gold Coast. Since its inception at Southport Yacht Club 13 years ago, Sail Paradise has become south-east Queensland’s premier…
Mat Belcher tries hand at ocean racing
Australia’s dual Olympic sailing Gold medallist, Mat Belcher, has decided to make his ocean racing debut in next month’s South-East Queensland Ocean Racing Qualifier, a 220-nautical-mile passage race from Brisbane’s Moreton Bay to Main Beach on the Gold Coast. He…
Mini Transat: Melwin Fink continues great escape
The fleet competing in the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef is making headway with a very fluky NE’ly breeze both in terms of strength and direction. As a result, the 84 competitors still out on the racetrack must not only optimise…
Peter Davison named Victorian Offshore Sailor of the Year
Victorian yachtsman Peter Davison, the owner/skipper of the Archambault 40 Arcadia, was named Victorian Offshore Sailor of the Year by Australian Sailing last evening. An ORCV and Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (RMYS) member, Davison has successfully competed in several of…
Impressive entry list for Rolex Middle Sea Race
With three weeks to go to the start of the 2021 Rolex Middle Sea Race, the entry list augurs the possibility of a fabulous and fascinating race. 124 yachts are currently entered, just shy of the 130-boat record set in…
Mini Transat: All about positioning
Whilst the first four competitors in the prototype category of the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef have now arrived in Santa Cruz de La Palma, there is still an intense battle underway throughout the remainder of the fleet still out on…
RORC Caribbean 600 back in action
The hiatus is over – the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Caribbean 600 is back and set to start in Antigua on February 21, 2022. Early entries include teams representing a dozen different countries from around the world. The RORC Caribbean 600…
Sydney Hobart Yacht Race entrants raise money for charity
Port Stephens based offshore sailor Kevin Le Poidevin and his Adelaide based co-skipper Darrell ‘Daz’ Greig, are two long serving Air Force aviators preparing themselves and their 1983 Sigma 36 Rogue Wave, to race in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart…
Tanguy Bouroullec reflects on first Mini Transat leg win
On Monday at 3pm UTC, Tanguy Bouroullec was the first skipper across the finish line in the first leg of the 23rd Mini Transat EuroChef taking competitors from Les Sables d’Olonne to Santa Cruz de La Palma. Bouroullec is now…
French skipper Olivier Jehl enters Global Solo Challenge
The latest Global Solo Challenge (GSC) entrant Olivier Jehl lives in Brest, Brittany – the centre of the French offshore sailing scene. Jehl worked his way up the sailing world first by becoming an instructor for the famous Glénans sailing…
