Francis Joyon heading west
Francis has come to a decision. Between an option on the short route close to the coast of Africa, which would be slow, or a very long detour extending his route, he has decided to go west around the Doldrums…
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.
An introduction to short-handed sailing
With the growth in popularity of short-handed sailing and a schedule of exciting offshore events, a platform to provide specific information has been developed by the French super brand JPK and sail design specialist North Sails. JPK and North Sails…
Yoann Richomme announced as skipper for Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team
The Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team has today announced that Yoann Richomme will skipper the team’s ‘Racing for the Planet’ boat in the 2021 edition of The Ocean Race, the world’s longest and toughest sporting event. Lasting for over nine months…
IDEC Sport tackling St. Helena
The Indian Ocean is behind them and now they face St. Helena. Francis Joyon and his crew of four were clearly pleased and relieved to return to the Atlantic yesterday morning. Christophe Houdet, Bertrand Delesne, Antoine Blouet and Corentin Joyon…
Moonen Yachts is naming rights sponsor for Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race 2021
The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) in Sydney and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) in Auckland take great pleasure in announcing Moonen Yachts as the naming rights sponsor of the inaugural Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race 2021. …
Francis Joyon has rounded the Cape of Good Hope
Crossing the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope today at 1:30 hrs UTC, Francis Joyon and his crew of four completed the first half of their attempt at the Tea Route record, which has been held since 2018 by…
IDEC Sport at Cape of Good Hope tomorrow
Francis Joyon, Christophe Houdet, Antoine Blouet, Bertrand Delesne and Corentin Joyon will reach the halfway point of their Tea Route journey tomorrow morning (UTC) when they round the Cape of Good Hope a few hours after passing Cape Agulhas, the…
New partnership forged between UNESCO’s IOC and IMOCA class
A partnership agreement between UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) was signed today at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. Over the next two years, the two partners will carry out joint projects to…
Team Trophy Racing offered in 2020 Newport to Ensenada Race
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association (NOSA) is pleased to announce a partnership with the Storm Trysail Club (STC) in promoting team-based racing in the 2020 Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race (N2E), the largest international yacht race in North America….
Hong Kong to the Cape of Good Hope in less than 15 days?
With a lead this morning of more than 770 miles over the Tea Route record holder, Francis Joyon can hope to round the symbolic mark of the Cape of Good Hope in four days time, so just under 15 days…
In the violence of the Indian Ocean
Over the past five days or so, the Indian Ocean has offered a series of contrasts to Francis Joyon and his crew of four aboard the IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran. While the boat which has won the Route du Rhum…
Francis Joyon surfing across Indian Ocean
The IDEC Sport maxi trimaran has been showing real efficiency over the past two days, as she passes through the heart of the Indian Ocean, continuing to accelerate since passing through the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra on Wednesday,…
Francis Joyon sets sail on Tea Route
The IDEC SPORT maxi trimaran is back racing, with Francis Joyon and crew leaving Hong Kong this morning at 08:00:47 hours UTC on their way to London in the framework of another record attempt: the Tea Route. The reference time…
The IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran is in China
After her recent record attempt and new reference time set between Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Hong Kong, the crew of the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran took advantage of the festive season to get some well-deserved rest. After arriving back…
RORC Transatlantic Race moves to January from 2021
London 14 January 2020: The Royal Ocean Racing Club have announced a new start date for the 7th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race. Traditionally held in November each year from Lanzarote to Grenada, the next edition will start from…
Australians arriving in the Whitsundays en mass
The global sailing race which empowers anyone from teachers to chiropractors, and from teenagers to septuagenarians, to become ocean racers, has just finished its Coast to Coast stage around Australia. And the team with most Aussie’s onboard took the top…
Clipper Race: Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam first into Whitsundays
After 19 tough days at sea racing around the coast of Australia the Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam team, skippered by Josh Stickland, has secured line honours in the fifth race of the global circumnavigation, crossing the finish line in…
RORC Caribbean 600 – big boat theory
For the 12th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600, 21 teams – racing yachts of 50ft (15.24m) or over – have already signed up for the 600-mile blast around 11 Caribbean Islands. The competition in all the classes will be…
Clipper fleet just 400nm from the Whitsundays
With around 400 nautical miles to go until the first yacht crosses the line of Race 5: The Heart Of The Whitsundays, it's an intense time for the fleet. The strategies to catch the best winds and avoid catching the…
Showtime sinks on delivery from Sydney Hobart
Skipper Rob Buchanan and his crew of six have been rescued after the Ker 40 Showtime sankoff the east coast of Australia during its delivery back from the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. At around 2.30pm on Sunday January 5,…
Gun Runner dismasted during delivery from Sydney Hobart
The Army Sailing Club's Jarkan 30 fooeter Gun Runner was dismasted during her return journey after competing in the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart. The boat was hit by an unexpected gust of more than 50 knots and was dismasted last…
Final boat finishes the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart
The final boat to finish the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, local Tasmanian boat Take Five, has arrived at Constitution Dock. Skipper Ian Gannon said his crew endured storms and almost exhausted supplies but were elated to make it…
Australia Yellow wins Southern Cross Cup in Rolex Sydney Hobart
The return of the Southern Cross Cup in conjunction with the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has seen victory go to the Australian Yellow team made up of Ichi Ban, Gweilo and St Jude. With Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban winning…
Tribal Warrior makes history in Rolex Sydney Hobart
Wayne Jones and his team on Tribal Warrior, the first indigenous team to compete in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, have achieved the dream of a lifetime – to start and finish the race – and they chose the…
Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race fleet finally gets some wind
After limping along in light airs for over two days, there is finally some good news for the yachts contesting the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race via Tasmania’s west coast. However, there is also some…
Ichi Ban confirmed as winner of 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart
The number one racing boat in Australia has been declared the overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart for a second time, as this morning Matt Allen was advised his TP52, Ichi Ban, was to yet again have its name…
Grand veterans show their class in 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
The crew of Kialoa II may lament having seen their understandable hopes of winning the Grand Veterans class in the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race slip through their grasp. But the 73-footer that won Sydney Hobart line honours in…
Ichi Ban in hot seat for another Sydney Hobart victory
When Matt Allen’s TP52 Ichi Ban finished the Rolex Sydney Hobart at 7.18 last night, it immediately became the favourite to win the Tattersall Cup, the prized trophy for overall honours. By this morning, that favouritism was almost absolute. Allen…
Photo essay of Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours finish by Andrea Francolini
Andrea Francolini is our favourite sailing photographer. During the days of Australian Sailing magazine, Andrea shot almost every cover picture. His composition and eye for detail is matched by his passion for a different perspective. Click on the dots above…
First protest lodged in 75th Sydney Hobart
The 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart has been conducted in benign conditions and has been free of the controversy that has often dogged the race in recent years. It has taken until the third day for the protest to be lodged….
Slow night on the Rolex Sydney Hobart racetrack
A slow night on the race track in the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, some of the bulk of the fleet struggling to get five knots from their boats, but good news is on the way, the Bureau of Meteorology…
Tevake II takes the treble in Melbourne to Devonport Race
Despite some innovative tactics by Scott Robinson, skipper of How Bizarre, Angus Fletcher’s Radford 13.7 Tevake II has won the Rudder Cup, the trophy for overall winner of the ORCV Melbourne to Devonport Race. Tevake II also took line honours,…
Slow going in ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race
The ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race continues to be a fascinating affair, with the two leaders in sight of each other off the west coast of Tasmania. But it was another frustrating night for all competitors, with light winds making…
Launceston to Hobart – Vertigo takes the handicap lead
Vertigo, from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, has taken the handicap lead in this year’s Riversdale Estate Wines Launceston to Hobart yacht race. The summit 35, owned by Tim Olding, has taken the lead from the Mumm 36 Heatwave…
A first-timer's view of the Rolex Sydney Hobart
Enigma is a Beneteau First 47.7 owned by Jason Bond, the current Commodore of the Manly Yacht Club. This yacht was one of the last Beneteau 47.7s to leave the factory, making her the youngest and heaviest in the class. Formerly…
It’s not size that matters for Michael Coxon in Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
Australian sailing legend Michael Coxon has long been linked with the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race through his role as the master tactician on many successful super maxi yachts. But his imprint on this year’s 75th running of the Cruising…
Comanche takes line honours in 75th Sydney Hobart
Jim Cooney's 100ft supermaxi Comanche has taken line honours in the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The big red boat crossed the finish line off Battery Point at 7.30.24 am after an agonising drift over the final few miles….
Melbourne to Hobart Race a thriller with two boats locked for line honours
Guillaume Leroux’s Class 40 Lord Jiminy led the ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Race fleet out of Port Phillip Bay yesterday but over night she has been challenged by Douglas Lithgow’s Archambault 40 Soiree Bleu. At 9am, the two boats were…
Heatwave puts the heat on L2H leaders
Hobart yachtsman Matthew Keal’s Mumm 36 Heatwave is heating up this year’s Launceston to Hobart yacht race as she chases down the current line honours front runners Gary Smith in Fork in the Road and Robert Green’s 50-footer Dream. Heatwave…
Melbourne to Devonport leaders expected in port tonight
After stalling in a patch of light winds off the north-west coast of Tasmania, the leaders in the ORCV Melbourne to Devonport Race have picked up speed and are aiming for a cold beer at Mersey Yacht Club this evening….
