3 round-the-world departures in 15 days
It's an understatement to say that the calendar for late summer 2023 is packed with events in ocean racing. Barely finished with the Ocean Race, the professional round-the-world event raced for the first time in IMOCA boats, and awaiting the first round-the-world voyage in an Ultim trimaran in January 2024, it's the enlightened amateurs who are in the news, with 3 starts in the space of 15 days. The Global Solo Challenge began on August 26, 2023 off La Coruña in Spain, while the Clipper Round the World will set off from Portsmouth in the UK on September 3, followed on September 10 in the neighboring port of Southampton by the Ocean Globe Race. We'll help you find your way around this packed calendar.
Global Solo Challenge: a round-the-world voyage open to all
Launched by Marco Nannini, the Global Solo Challenge is a challenge whose aim is to limit the rules and give as many experienced amateur sailors as possible the chance to race around the world under sail, single-handed and non-stop. The event is open to yachts over 32 feet, not necessarily designed for racing. There are no ratings or classes here, but rather a system of deferred starts, enabling lower-performance yachts to set off earlier to compensate for their speed deficit. The first sailor to return to La Coruña, after rounding the 3 great capes, will be declared the winner.
First to set off on this inaugural edition, Dafydd Hughes took the start on August 26, 2023 aboard a 34-foot Sparkman & Stephens, built in 1971. 19 competitors are due to set off between now and January 6, 2024 on boats as varied as production yachts like the X 37 or the Farr 45, but also a large contingent of Class 40s and even a Volvo 70.
Clipper Round the World: Embark around the world
Created in 1996, the Clipper Race aims to take sailors of all experience around the world. To date, the organizers have taken more than 5,000 people around the world. The organizers provide a skipper and second-in-command, as well as the boat, and recruit paying crew members on the basis of applications, whom they train beforehand. The fleet consists of 70-foot yachts designed by naval architect Tony Castro. Over the course of its 27-year history, the race has seen a number of high-profile accidents, but is now firmly rooted in Anglo-Saxon sailing.
On September 3, 2023, 11 Clippers 70 will set sail from Portsmouth on an 8-stop round-the-world voyage, taking in the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, Asia, North America and the Panama Canal before returning to the UK.
Ocean Globe Race: the resurrection of the Whitbread
The last of the 3 races to get underway, the Ocean Globe Race is by no means the least followed. After the success of the two editions of the Golden Globe Race, in the wake of the first solo round-the-world race, Don Mc Intyre is repeating the experience in 2023 with the Ocean Globe Race. The event is an old-fashioned round-the-world race, using the same sailing equipment as the first Whitbread in 1973.
The race off Southampton will see a fleet of 14 yachts, some of which have already raced in the famous Whitbread, such as Pen Duick VI maiden, Neptune or the Team spirit.
Between images of the open sea and frenetic charting, ocean racing fans will have a busy autumn and winter, with these races, some of which have never been seen before.
