round world yacht race history

• Skip to Navigation
• Skip to Main Content
• Skip to Related Content
• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Newsletters
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Balance transfer cards
• Cash back cards
• Rewards cards
• Travel cards
• Online checking
• High-yield savings
• Money market
• Home equity loan
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Options pit
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard
• 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
• Draft Strategy
• Fantasy University
• $1MM Sweepstakes
• Fantasy Sports Home
• Scores/Schedule
• Fantasy Football
• Training Camp 2024
• $1MM Fantasy Sweepstakes
• How To Watch
• Playoff and Bowl Games
• Scores/Schedules
• Power Rankings
• Fantasy Baseball
• Liga MX Apertura
• Liga MX Clausura

• Fantasy Basketball
• In-Season Tournament
• All-Star Game
• Summer League
• How To Watch the 2024 Season
• Tournament Schedule
• Australian Open
• French Open
• UFC Schedule
• Leaderboard
• Masters Tournament
• PGA Championship
• British Open
• Fantasy Hockey
• Yahoo Sports AM
• College Sports
• March Madness
• Sports Betting 101
• Bet Calculator
• Legalization Tracker
• Casino Games
• Kentucky Derby
• Preakness Stakes
• Belmont Stakes
• Fantasy Football Rankings 2024
• Yahoo Fantasy Forecast
• McCoy & Van Noy
• Football 301
• College Football Enquirer
• Inside Coverage
• Baseball Bar-B-Cast
• Ball Don't Lie
• What & How To Watch
• 16 AFC QB questions
• NFL Power Rankings
• Fantasy Football 2024 Draft Kit
• No. 1 Sinner reaches quarterfinals
• BC stuns No. 10 FSU

Saddling up on the high seas - the cyclists powering 50-mph yachts

Sitting on a bike and pedalling is something Simon van Velthooven has done for countless kilometres and hours during his cycling career. He has done it well, winning Olympic, World and Commonwealth medals on the track.

He still pedals a bike for a living, but the New Zealander's life as a 'cyclor' on a sailing boat in the America's Cup is now very different.

"You're just getting shaken around, holding on while you're turning some cranks that are veering a lot," Van Velthooven tells BBC Sport.

"It's RPM [revolutions per minute], power, watts, cadence, shaking, high turbulence, getting punch-drunk by whacking your head on the walls and trying to look at your numbers on your screen, and listening to all the comms of the sailors and what they're doing and trying to anticipate your energy levels coming up to the next manoeuvre."

Van Velthooven is among the wave of cycling experts that have crossed over to the world of sailing before the 37th edition of the America's Cup - the oldest international sailing competition in the world - this autumn in Barcelona.

Traditionally everything above the waterline on the 75ft-long boats - the sails, mast and winches - was powered by grinders, sailors who used their arms to turn cranks.

Yet technological rule changes for this year's competition have reduced crew sizes from 11 people to eight, but with the proviso that any body part can now be used to create power.

As legs can typically produce more power than arms, cyclors have been brought in and static pedalling systems installed on the boats. Teams estimate they have since seen a 25-30% gain in watts produced per athlete by using the lower part of their body rather than upper.

Cyclors are not entirely new. They were also used during in the 2017 staging of the America's Cup in Bermuda by Emirates Team New Zealand, which is how 35-year-old Van Velthooven was initially recruited to sailing from cycling.

The Kiwis were outliers during that competition as the only crew to try the technology, although it was to great effect as they won the Cup. They retained the title in 2021 when rules required a return to grinders.

This time around the cyclor technology is being used by all six competing teams.

This year's America's Cup boats - known as AC75s - are "designed to fly" across the water on a foiling monohull, racing at speeds of up to 50 knots (58mph).

For athletes with no experience of sailing, seasickness is an obvious first hurdle they need to overcome before they can become a cyclor.

Two athletes were unwell during trials with New York Yacht Club American Magic and were dropped.

"They've got to be able to perform in somewhat high-G [force] situations when the boat's getting spun around," says Terry Hutchinson, president of sailing operations at American Magic.

"Then they've got to be able to perform day in, day out in the sun and heat of Barcelona. It takes quite a unique athlete to achieve that."

Cyclors are not built the same as the professional cyclists at the Tour de France or Olympics. For cyclists, body weight and watts per kilogram are key to how they perform.

However, cyclors do not need to pull themselves up a mountain or around a track. They simply need to produce as big a wattage as possible when the boat needs it.

"There are some unique things we are looking for in this particular sport," says Ben Day, head performance coach of the American Magic team.

"When we're talking about Tour de France cyclists, we're maybe looking at someone who is 60kg up to 75-80kg. All of our guys are running 90kg and above.

"It's a bit of a unique skillset. We have guys who are super strong and we're just looking for absolute power."

Former cyclist Ashton Lambie, like Van Veltooven, has swapped over to sailing purely for his credentials on a bike.

Lambie is a former individual pursuit world champion. In 2021, he became the first rider in history to break the four-minute barrier for a 4km-long effort round the track.

He joined the American Magic team after a trial and his body shape has changed considerably over the last two years since.

"Even by cycling standards I was a fairly big guy, I am moderately well known for having big legs and they've gotten bigger since I've come here," Lambie says.

"During my racing career I was probably between 70 and 74kg, and now I've gained over 10kg. Most of it is muscle, and I've also gained watts. It's been a really big change."

Lambie, 33, says the only similarity to cycling is that the cyclors are pedalling in the same motion as on a regular bike.

"The pedalling feels very different and the overall sensations of moving on the water, either laterally or vertically, is wildly different from any kind of cycling," Lambie says.

"When you go through a corner on the track the banking pulls you in and the G-force pushes down on you - that's a very natural feeling when you lean into the corner.

"But on a boat it's like you're upright and somebody just whips the boat around so you're getting slammed, it's a purely lateral load.

"It looks quite static and stable when you're watching it on TV but the boat really moves a lot.

"We do a lot of stability work and mobility work in the gym and that definitely translates over to the boat when you're getting jostled around a lot and you still need to be able to pedal.

"The times when the boat's a little unstable, you're getting thrown around the most, that's when it's most important to pedal. Being able to put out power even when you're not in an optimal pedalling position is huge."

The races take place across head-to-head events that are split into two parts.

The first part - the Louis Vuitton Cup - determines which of five challengers will face this year's defending champion Emirates Team New Zealand in the second, the America's Cup itself.

Races take approximately 25 minutes and this year start in August and end in October.

Endurance is the key metric for cyclors, who need to be able to consistently produce a high wattage during the races themselves and maintain their form across 10 weeks.

"We just want a huge reliable engine for the three months that we're going to be racing," Van Velthooven says.

"Big days are big days and easy days are still big days because they still need heaps of power. It's relentless."

The UK's Ineos Britannia team, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, might not have recruited professional cyclists to their crew like some of their rivals but they have the next best thing - an affiliation with the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team, formerly Team Sky and winner of seven Tours de France.

Matt Gotrel is part of Ineos Britannia's crew. This year will be his second America's Cup, but his first as a cyclor rather than grinder. A former Olympic gold medal-winning rower, having been part of Great Britain's eight at Rio 2016, Gotrel has found it a "big challenge" to train a different muscle group, even if recreationally he considered himself a cyclist already.

"As rowers, we had an upside-down pyramid [body shape] before, but it's flipped around now," Gotrel says.

As grinders, his crew would aim to produce 400 watts of power over 20 minutes. As cyclors they are now "well north of that".

Training for the past two years has predominantly taken place on the road or in the gym, rather than on water. Volume blocks can consist of four to six-hour-long rides, three times a week, interspersed with high-intensity intervals on a static bike and weight training.

Gotrel, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, compares powering the boats in a race to a cycling time trial, but with repeated sprint efforts throughout.

"You want to have a really good aerobic base where you can sit at as high a power as possible without producing too much lactate, and then you have your big spikes and need to be able to recover from those," he says.

The connection to Ineos' cycling team has been a "massive" resource for Gotrel and his fellow cyclors, enabling them to share training and nutritional insight on a training camp in Spain together.

"I had a chat with [sprinter Elia] Viviani about some sprinting technique, and then there are Filippo Ganna and Dan Bigham who have been really good on some of the strategy and fuelling things and what they did to push on the hour record," says Gotrel

Hutchinson says the America's Cup is a "design competition as much as a sailing competition" and development of the boats has been a process lasting more than two and a half years.

Part of the challenge has been incorporating the concept of a bike into a boat.

Most teams have chosen to position the cyclors upright, as they would be on a regular bike - even if the 'bike' consists of just a seat, seatpost and crank.

"We started it by scanning a standard bike and putting that in a boat and seeing what position you'd need to put the cyclors in," says David Adcock, Ineos Britannia’s lead mechanic.

"Some of the ideas we came up with at the start looked really strange from a cycling perspective - head down pretty much touching your feet - but we kind of went away from that and have gone back to a standard bike position that was best for getting power out."

In order to maximise the aerodynamics, the cyclors are below deck. They don't have much to look at beyond a screen showing their data.

"Trying to get someone who's 6ft 3in to fit has been quite challenging," says Adcock. "We've got handlebars that we can move up and down to get them packaged in properly."

By contrast, the American Magic team have chosen to put the cyclors in the recumbent position, lying almost flat on their backs.

"It's the America's Cup and so it takes clever thinking to be successful. I would look to Team New Zealand's success in 2017 - they were the outlier then and they won the regatta," Hutchinson says.

"We're not afraid to be different, we understand the power requirements of the boat."

Adcock describes the AC75 as like an "F1 car on water" and the links between the America's Cup and Formula 1 are easy to find.

Ineos Britannia share their UK base with the Mercedes team - where Ineos is also a sponsor. Adcock previously spent 22 years working for Mercedes before moving across in 2022.

American Magic have also spent time with the Williams team to see how they work.

Each boat can produce more than 3,000 data points within half a second and send them to engineers onshore for analysis in real time.

"The steering wheels look more like an F1 wheel with the functions on the wheel and how the boat's programmed to automatically shift mode. That side of it is very similar," says Hutchinson.

"If you're good at Call of Duty [video game] you're probably really good at sailing an AC75 because it's a similar controller."

The technological advancements in the sport have taken the America's Cup far away from the experience of most traditional sailors. The return of cyclors for this year's race has moved that dial even further.

"It's hard for the average sailor to relate to what we're doing," admits Hutchinson, who has been part of five America's Cups.

"They look at the boat and there are a lot of traditionalists out there who say 'this actually isn't racing'.

"But I bet you and I couldn't hop into an F1 car and understand how to turn the thing on. We understand the concept of the car, we know we can drive a car, but we probably can't drive one of those cars. I equate it to that.

"The America's Cup is a unique competition, it's always been at the tip of the sphere of the sport."

The crossover of cycling into sailing might seem incongruous, but at the heart of the two sports is a very similar culture, Day believes.

That shared ground has made blending the two so successful.

"There seems to be a correlation between sailors who love toys and boats and cyclists who love bikes and toys," says Day. "We all have this sense of freedom of getting out into nature with the wind in our hair.

“Whether it's on a boat or on a bike, it seems to be something we can enjoy together.”

Previously on Insight

Fury, hope and changing gear with a sword - Ukraine's Paris preparations

Paralysed by an ex-boyfriend, Otto rises as Paralympian

How a Facebook advert changed a life and the look of a sport

East meets west London - the mentor who changed Chelsea

East v West - Germany's drug-fuelled Cold War for medals

Recommended Stories

49ers gm john lynch confident ricky pearsall will play this season after shooting: ‘he’s doing remarkably well’.

Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest in an alleged attempted robbery in San Francisco on Saturday.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll confirms he's taking over offensive playcalling duties

Daboll reportedly took over playcalling multiple times last season.

Brandon Aiyuk said he made contract negotiations with 49ers 'a little more difficult than it needed to'

"Ultimately, I wanted to be here."

Florida State's fall continues & USC looks like a brand new team | College Football Enquirer

In the aftermath of another brutal loss, Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and SI's Pat Forde react to Florida State being stunned by Boston College on Monday. They discuss why FSU's roster building philosophies have failed to produce long term results, and praise BC head coach Bill O'Brien for his early impact. Additionally, they react to USC's new-look defense that fought off LSU on Sunday night.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1: Tight Ends (Full-PPR)

The Yahoo Fantasy team reveals their Week 1 PPR tight end rankings to kick off the fantasy football season.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1 (Full-PPR)

The Yahoo Fantasy team reveals their Week 1 PPR rankings for fantasy football.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1: Tight ends (Half-PPR)

The fantasy football experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their Week 1 tight end rankings to kick off the 2024 season.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1: Defense

The fantasy football experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their Week 1 defense rankings to kick off the 2024 season.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1 (Half-PPR)

The experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their fantasy football rankings at each position in Week 1 of the 2024 season.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1: WRs (Half-PPR)

The fantasy football experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their Week 1 wide receiver rankings to kick off the 2024 season.

Fantasy Football Rankings Week 1: RBs (Half-PPR)

The fantasy football experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their Week 1 running back rankings to kick off the 2024 season.

GoFundMe benefiting pregnant wife of Matthew Gaudreau has raised over $500K

Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau were killed by an alleged drunk driver while biking in New Jersey on Thursday.

Fantasy Football: 5 award predictions for the 2024 NFL season

Scott Pianowski looks into his crystal ball to give you some end-of-season fantasy headlines today.

Fantasy Football 2024 Draft Kit — rankings, mock drafts, sleepers and everything you need to win your league

Our fantasy football draft kit is here to help you crush your 2024 drafts and build championship-winning teams!

OT Trent Williams, 49ers finalizing new contract with $48M in guaranteed money to end holdout

Williams has been seeking a new deal as his current contract does not have any guaranteed money remaining.

Ravens DT Justin Madubuike to go by Nnamdi, his Nigerian-given first name, going forward

Madubuike led all NFL defensive tackles with 13 sacks last season.

Can San Francisco get back to Super Bowl, Week 1 predictions & Gerald vs. the wasps | McCoy & Van Noy

Gerald McCoy & Kyle Van Noy discuss the Ravens-Chiefs matchup in Week 1, San Francisco's bumpy offseason & Gerald recounts his weekend fighting off wasps.

10 bold fantasy predictions for 2024 NFL season | Yahoo Fantasy Forecast

Week 1 and the NFL season have arrived and we are so ready for it. Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens reveal our fall pod calendar with three new weekly shows and co-hosts. While the rest of this week's pods will focus on Week 1, consider this pod our final full season preview of the year. Harmon and Behrens share their five boldest fantasy predictions for the 2024 season.

No. 10 Florida State drops to 0-2 with stunningly disastrous home loss to Boston College

Boston College ran for 268 yards.

Brewers' Willy Adames hits home run in 5th consecutive game, also his 13th 3-run shot of season

Willy Adames hit a home run in his fifth consecutive game and his 13th three-run homer of the season, putting him in some rare company.

You are using a very outdated website browser. Upgrade your browser or install Google Chrome to better experience this site.

Latest News: €213 Million Golden Globe Race 2022 Media Value

days hrs mins secs

Stepping back to the Golden Age of Solo Sailing

In 1968, nine men started the first solo non-stop sailing race around the world. Only one finished.

• The History

In August 1966, British yachtsman Francis Chichester set out from England to sail solo around the world to Australia and back via the five Great Capes in the 16m Gipsy Moth IV in a bid to beat the Clipper ship records.

He completed the circumnavigation in 226 days (274 days including the stopover in Sydney) to set a record for the fastest voyage around the world in a small boat.

A diverse adventurer and excellent navigator, Chichester attracted huge interest thanks to the exclusive coverage provided by The Sunday Times newspaper. Returning triumphant on 28th May 1967, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and became not only a British hero but an inspiration to many more who would follow in his wake.

One sailor, one boat, facing the great oceans of the world.

There was now just one last challenge left to man: To sail solo non-stop around the globe, and a number of sailors began to plan.

In March 1968, the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race was announced – the first-ever attempt to sail solo non-stop around the world. There was no entry fee, virtually no rules nor qualification requirements because most of those who become entrants were already well on the way with their planning to attempt this challenge anyway.

By offering a trophy for the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world via the five great capes and a £5000 UK Pounds Price for the fastest time, the Paper created an instant race and a great story to increase circulation.

Nine colourful characters with varying sailing skills headed off at various times in a strange collection of yachts.

There was only one finisher – Robin Knox-Johnston and his 9.75m traditional ketch-rigged double-ended yacht Suhaili who, at the start, were considered the most unlikely boat and given no chance.

The rest either sank, retired or committed suicide.

French entrant Bernard Moitessier famously continued sailing his sturdy yacht Joshua, rounded Cape Horn, then continued on for a second circuit of the Southern Ocean and ended up in Tahiti to “save my soul” as he put it – rather than heading back to civilization, a possible winner and certain fame.

Donald Crowhurst sailed an imaginary voyage around the world, whilst actually sailing in circles in the Atlantic Ocean. He simply transmitted fake position reports hoping to fool the world. Ultimately, this deception played out a twisted route in his mind, all described with great detail in his log to the point he finally slipped over the side in an apparent suicide, his trimaran found drifting, abandoned.

The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race quickly became a legend to sailors and non-sailors alike with its triumph and tragedies and epic human endeavour in facing the unknown. It remains so today.

Later, the Race would inspire the formation of the BOC Challenge Around Alone and Vendée Globe solo round the world races.

To learn more about this fascinating story, go to Wikipedia , watch the documentary ‘ Deep Water ‘ or read these excellent books: A World of My Own by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier, A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols.

In 2017, the Hollywood film The Mercy was released and tells the story of Donald Crowhurst (played by Colin Firth).

All historic video footage and photos of the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race are the exclusive copyright of PPL PHOTO AGENCY and may not be reproduced in any format for any purpose under any condition and may not be retransmitted at any time without the written permission of the rights holder. For video or image licensing, please email:  [email protected]  or visit  www.pplmedia.com .

Title Partner

Major partners, premium partners, technical partners, les sables-d'olonne host port partners.

Associations

• Buy a Classic Boat
• Southampton Boat Show
• Print Subscription
• Digital Subscription
• Single Issues

Your special offer

Whitbread History: The Legacy of this Round the World Race

Fifty years ago, the Whitbread Race changed sailing forever. Only one journalist was there at all of them – Barry Pickthall – and here he shares his memories of the boats and the sailors, like Blyth, Knox-Johnston and Tabarly, who vied to lead their crews to beat the world.

The first whitbread.

Standing on the dock in HMS Hornet, Portsmouth (now the Gunwharf Quay shopping centre) on Saturday September 8, 1973, to count the 18-strong Whitbread fleet out, no one fully appreciated – least of all the many young crew members, some of whom had only signed on just days before – the enormity of what they were taking on. 

Yes, Francis Chichester had already rounded the globe alone with one stop followed by Alec Rose (2 stops). Robin Knox-Johnston had become the sole finisher in the 1968/9 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and Chay Blyth had completed the first west-about solo non-stop circumnavigation two years later. But these were all solo challenges with an average speed of little more than 4 knots. The big question was how full-on racing yachts designed and built to compete in transatlantic or 600-mile events like the Fastnet classic, would hold together over 27,000 miles of open ocean.

Back then, we didn’t have anything like the hourly news feeds that social media now deliver. Indeed, the Royal Naval Sailing Association (RNSA), organisers of those first Whitbread races, encouraged skippers to report their positions 24 hours in arrears so as not to give their competitors listening in on these open conversations, any tactical benefit from their position reports.

It was only nine months later when just 13 of the original number returned to Portsmouth to complete the course, that the full scale of the challenge became clear. Yes, the South African yacht Jacaranda used the first leg simply as a delivery trip back home, but others like Eric Tabarly’s French favourite Pen Duick IV was dismasted (twice), Burton Cutter, the British maxi skippered by Les Williams, which was first to finish the first leg to Cape Town, came close to breaking up in the Southern Ocean, and three lives – Dominique Guillet, Paul Waterhouse, and Bernie Hosking – were lost at sea. Those fatalities alone led to sustained pressure on the organisers to call an end to the event.

Changing Tides

Fifty years on, history of the Whitbread Round the World Race has become a history of ocean racing itself. When it began from Portsmouth back in 1973, no one had raced a fully crewed yacht around the world before, navigation was rudimentary, communications spasmodic, clothing was basic and man-overboard rescue techniques, theoretical.

The event was conceived by sailing publisher Anthony Churchill and publicist Guy Pearse who published their proposals for of a four-leg race around the world during the 1981 Cowes Week regatta . After failing to find sponsorship, the pair handed the race concept over to RNSA which had been approached by the Whitbread brewery with the offer of sponsorship for a major regatta . Admiral Otto Steiner, Vice Commodore, met with Sam Whitbread to draw up the initial plans for the circumnavigation over a Pint in a pub in Old Portsmouth. The overall sponsorship fee agreed was £13,000 – less than a single berth aboard some of the 14 yachts competing 50 years on in the current Ocean Globe Race to commemorate that first adventure. The rest, as they say is history, but this is no stultified story – the race progressed almost out of recognition reflecting developments that have occurred in sailing over four decades. 

The race attracted many of the established sailing names, among them Chay Blyth, who was supported by the British philanthropist ‘Union’ Jack Hayward for a maxi entry, Great Britain II , in the first race. Robin Knox-Johnston co-skippered Heath’s Condor in the second race. French doyen Eric Tabarly competed in three races, sailing the first two in his maxi yacht Pen Duick VI, but never enjoyed the same success as his singlehanded endeavours which started with him winning the 1964 Observer Singlehanded transatlantic Race (OSTAR).

Peter Blake who sailed as a crew member in the first two races, went on to convince New Zealand’s business community to sponsor his later entries. His high-water mark was winning every leg of the 1989/90 Race with the maxi-ketch, Steinlager 2. But by that time, major changes were being proposed, and while the maxis were still planned as the lead class, competitors and sponsors were considering less expensive options.

The Race Gets it’s Own Class: Whitbread 60 Class

In 1991, Whitbread organised a major conference of international designers, engineers, builders and spar makers to formulate the basis for a new 60ft class to produce a totally new breed of faster, safer boats, more exciting to sail and less expensive than their IOR counterparts. It meant that boats from a variety of designers would sail at very much the same speed. As a result, handicapping disappeared and during the latter years of the Whitbread era, the race became more comprehensible. 

The Whitbread 60 class was introduced for the 1993/4 race and made a dramatic entrance, by beating many of the 80ft (24m) maxi-raters on a boat-for-boat basis. The new class had such a great impact both on the race and the sport that the Whitbread 60s became the sole class in what was the last of the Whitbread sponsored races in 1997. This time the boats raced for the Volvo Trophy.

But the focus here is on those first pioneering races and the 50 th anniversary event – The Ocean Globe Race, conceived and organised by Australian Don McIntyre. The yachts in the current race are all from that Golden Age of sailing and some like Tracy Edwards’ Maiden , Outlaw , the Baltic 55 formerly known as Equity and Law , the Swan 65 ADC Acutrac skippered by Clare Francis, now named Translated 9, Pen Duick IV, and two other French yachts Neptune and L’Esprit d’Equipe , the latter, winner of the 1985/6 race, are all former Whitbread racers now fully restored for this event.

Back in 1973, the Flat Earth Society still had a voice, and apart from the invention of radio, navigation remained very much as it had been since John Harrison invented the first chronometer in the 1720s that gave seafarers the ability to calculate longitude positions from sun sights for the first time. These OGR sailors are restricted to the same equipment available to their 1973 forebears – sextant, chronometer, and paper charts together with VHF and long-range radios. There is no GPS, chart plotters or radar, and personal items such as watches must be wind-up and music on old fashioned cassette.

1973/4 Whitbread Race

The first race began from Portsmouth September 8 th , 1973, with 17 making the start line.

Portsmouth grocer Sir Alec Rose fired the 100-year-old cannon to send the fleet away on the 6,650-mile leg to Cape Town. The Royal Navy’s Nicholson 55 Adventure was in pole position as the gun fired, while further offshore Chay Blyth’s 77ft (23.5m) Great Britain II was to windward of Eric Tabarly’s 73ft (22.3m) Pen Duick VI. Aboard the biggest boat, Les Williams’ 80ft (24.4m) Burton Cutter, her crew were still busy completing the interior joinery as they headed off down the Channel.

Once clear of the Cape Verde Islands, the fleet fanned out in the South Atlantic with Pen Duick VI taking the most westerly route for 25 days until she was dismasted. Burton Cutter  skippered Les Williams and George Bryans with Adventure made full use a modern racing yacht’s windward ability to pioneer a new route straight down the Atlantic, rather than follow the traditional Clipper ship route towards Brazil. Remarkably, five weeks out, Bryans’ crew sighted the bigger Burton Cutter four miles ahead. Burton Cutter broke clear and was first to Cape Town, a day ahead of the handicap winner, Adventure , which, in turn, was 3 hours ahead of Great Britain II. Sayula II finished the next day, having taken a trade wind route to claim 2nd on handicap.

Pen Duick VI, with a replacement mast, arrived two days before the second leg started on November 7th. Most boats stayed around 46°S for the traverse of the Southern Ocean where the seas have no equal, building themselves into awesome precipices and cavernous valleys. 12 days out, Paul Waterhouse was lost overboard from the 55ft (16.8m) Tauranga and in the same gale Eddie Hope’s arm was broken on Great Britain II . Four days later Dominique Guillet disappeared from 33 Export. Burton Cutter pulled out early into the second leg when plating in her bow area deformed badly. 

Halfway between Cape Town and Sydney, at 46°S, 90°E, Sayula II capsized, yet despite this, her crew piled on the pressure to finish 5th behind Pen Duick VI , Great Britain II , Roddy Ainslie’s 71ft (21.6m) ketch Second Life and the 57ft (17.4m) Kriter of Jack Grout to win the leg on handicap and take the overall lead.

The previous leader, Adventure, developed a rudder problem on December 2nd and was forced to rely on the trim tab on the back of the keel for her steering and dropped to 3rd overall on corrected time.

Frantic working over the holiday period resulted in 15 boats at the start on December 29th. The 8,370-mile course to Rio included the ‘Old Ogre’, Cape Horn, the sailors’ most feared landmark. Two hundred miles into the leg, Pen Duick VI’s mast toppled again. With great haste and much efficiency, a new one was prepared and stepped in Sydney and the French boat departed again on January 3rd.

Two days after that, Bernie Hosking was tragically lost from Great Britain II. In general however, the Southern Ocean was not so cruel. After two days of calm, Great Britain II was first around the Horn and into Rio, followed by Sayula II , which, with the same place on handicap behind Adventure, retained the overall lead.

Chay Blyth continued to lead on the next leg – the 5,500 miles back to Portsmouth. Burton Cutter, back in the race for the final leg was 2nd home and Sayula II 3rd. But the 4th to finish, Adventure, took the handicap honours on this leg and 2nd overall behind the Mexican Swan 65. Ramón Carlin and his Sayula II crew had sailed their way into the history books.

1977/8 Whitbread Race

These were still pioneering days for ocean racing, and the disparate fleet of 15 yachts from 6 countries, ranging in size between 51 and 77ft (15.5 – 23.5m) reflected this. Two had been designed specifically for the challenge, five were production yachts, three from the same mould as the 1973 winner Sayula , two others heavily built cruising yachts and one, Traité de Rome, the smallest in the fleet, little more than an inshore racer. For many, the event was still an adventure, but having so many yachts entered for a second race, the Whitbread was now established as a four-yearly event in the sporting calendar.

Eric Tabarly was back with his Pen Duick VI (later disqualified for its spent uranium keel) as was Great Britain II, renamed GB II , this time skippered by Rob James with 16 fare-paying charterers as crew. Adventure also raced again as did Les Williams with another maxi-sized yacht, the 77ft (23.5m) Heath’s Condor co-skippered by Robin Knox-Johnston. Peter Blake went with them as a watch leader again. The ketch rig was still the majority choice, its advocates believing that two masts provided a greater safety margin with the bonus of smaller sails to manage. Few at this stage of race evolution saw any performance advantage. Of the three Swan 65s, Pierre Fehlmann’s Disque d’Or and ADC Acutrac skippered by Claire Francis, the first woman to enter the race, were both ketch rigged, and only Kings Legend skippered by Nick Ratcliffe had a single sloop rig. Flyer , designed by Sparkman & Stephens as an improvement on the Swan 65 model, skippered by the little-known Dutchman Cornelis (Conny) van Rietschoten, was another to be ketch rigged.

One major innovation was the experimental carbon mast stepped at the last minute on Heath’s Condor, designed to lessen her pitching movement in a seaway. It carried a  3 per cent rating penalty but failed 3,000 miles out of Portsmouth. An alloy replacement was air-freighted to meet the dismasted vessel in Monrovia, allowing Heath’s Condor to just make it to Cape Town in time for the start of the second stage of the race to Auckland, New Zealand.

This first leg was won by Flyer which not only showed that a modern ketch rig could compete on equal terms against sloop rigged configurations, but that beating into the southeast trade winds was quicker than the traditional clipper ship route skirting the South Atlantic high pressure system.

Heath’s Condor led the fleet into Auckland, despite having a man-overboard incident en route. There was another emergency aboard GB II, when the spinnaker guy wrapped itself around Nick Dunlop’s waist and also trapped the legs of skipper Rob James. When the sail filled, the rope began to squeeze the life out of Dunlop, bursting the blood vessels behind his eyes before the line could be cut. The only assistance available was medical advice received over the radio from the doctor on Heath’s Condor. Mercifully, the two eventually made a full recovery. Others to experience difficulties included Adventure , which broke her spinnaker pole, 33 Export , which suffered a broken boom, and Kings Legend , which sprang a leak in her rudder post. Eric Letronse was washed down the deck of 33 Export and broke his leg badly. 

Flyer , which had finished 45 minutes behind Kings Legend into Auckland, continued to lead the handicap stakes around Cape Horn and back to the finish. She returned in a force 10 gale to secure the handicap trophy. GB II took line honours for the fastest circumnavigation, finishing 10 days inside her own record set four years earlier.

Modern Day Racing

Future races became more and more professional with no place for amateurs. The costs also increased to the point where even multinational sponsors began to waver. From a record entry of 28 yachts in the 1981/2 Whitbread Race, numbers faded to 10 or fewer.  The original Whitbread race has now morphed into The Ocean Race in 2022/3 in which only five multi-million Dollar, foil-borne IMOCA 60s took part. Only one, Team Malizia, completed the course, although due to the scoring system, where completing the course no longer counts for much, came second. 

By contrast, there are 14 entries in the Ocean Globe Race – all secondhand yachts sailed by amateur crews. First into Cape Town in October at the end of leg one, was the Finnish Swan 651 skippered by Jussi Paavoseppä which stole the lead from Marie Tabarly’s Pen Duick IV in a nail-biting finish, ahead of Translated 9 – the current handicap leader, followed by the all-girl crew on Maiden, skippered by Heather Thomas.  

Ocean Globe Race 2023/24 Updates

Here are the latest Ocean Globe Race updates .

• Maiden Success: Ocean Globe Race All-female Crew
• Uffa Fox: reflections on a great sailing character, by Barry Pickthall
• How to win the Round the Island Race

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM CLASSIC BOAT

How D-Day Actually Worked: Operation Details 80 Years Later

1956 Powerboating World Champion Restored: Saving Berlin VI

Classic Yachts Magazine 2024: Out Now!

Classic Boat is the magazine for the world’s most beautiful boats. Packed with stunning images, we have the inside stories of the great classic yachts and motorboats afloat today, as well as fascinating tales from yesteryear and the latest from the wooden boat building scene around the world.

• Telegraph.co.uk

ADVERTISING

© 2024 The Chelsea Magazine Company , part of the Telegraph Media Group . Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

• Crew Login Forgotten Password

Enter your details below for the race of your life

Select a race

Clipper Race to dock in Oban, Scotland for first time ever

08 August 2023

For the first time in its 27-year history, the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will be making a stop in Scotland when it sails to Oban during its upcoming edition.

Image: Oban, Scotland

Image: Racing across the North Atlantic

Whilst a brand-new stop on the Clipper Race circuit, Clipper Ventures has visited the destination as part of the company’s other events and initiatives. In 2021, in partnership with Our Isles and Oceans, the company ran four weeks of sail training programmes out of Oban. These sessions were for young people who had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Its yachts returned to Oban in 2022 to run additional courses.

Oban has also featured on SKIRR Adventures ’ itinerary. Clipper Ventures' Arctic exploration brand, which takes crew up to the High Latitudes, has stopped to explore Oban before heading up to Iceland and Greenland.

Laura Ayres, Managing Director at Clipper Ventures , added: “As our first ever stop in Scotland, we know Oban locals will put on a huge Highlands welcome for our crew. The Clipper Race brings large numbers of international visitors to its Host Ports and their surrounding areas. It is our hope that this new partnership with Oban will bring a substantial economic impact to the local community.

“Oban is not only an incredible sailing destination but also has a rich history of adventure – the perfect match for our intrepid crew. The area’s great food and drink scene will also be welcomed after a tough Atlantic crossing. From previously visiting Oban through our other sailing programmes, we know this will make a brilliant penultimate stop on our circumnavigation, and the stopover will show off everything Oban has to offer and shine the spotlight on the town and surrounding region.”

Andrew Spence, Chief Executive of Bid4Oban, said: “Oban is a fantastic and welcoming venue for the Clipper Round the World Race Yacht Race. Located in the heart of the magnificent West Coast of Scotland, it boasts superb sailing waters and is renowned for its spectacular coastal scenery and traditional Scottish Highland hospitality. Steeped in history dating back centuries, Oban is a true showcase of a traditional highland coastal town.”

Councillor Robin Currie, Leader of Argyll and Bute Council said: “We are really excited to support this international event along with BID4Oban Ltd and look forward to welcoming the many crews, teams, sightseers and family members who follow this amazing race. Given that, this race attracts an international following it is sure to put Oban at the forefront of destination cruise sailing in Scotland and provide a welcome boost to the local economy.”

By the time teams arrive in Oban they will have sailed almost 40,000nm and crossed six oceans. The last stop before the emotional homecoming, the arrival into Oban will mark the end of the North Atlantic crossing, allowing the crew a few days to gather their thoughts before they embark on the short but intense race back to the finish line in Portsmouth.

Scottish crew taking part in the 2023-24 edition are:

Andrew Fisher, 59, Business Owner, Edinburgh, Legs 1 & 2

Anne Sheehan, 53, Finance and Operations Director, Argyll, Leg 5

Campbell Fleming, 55, Geologist, Glasgow, Legs 3 & 5

Danielle Gray, 20, Student, Glasgow, Leg 8

David Dunaway, 67, Surgeon, Glasgow, Leg 2

Elizabeth Balmer, 29, PhD Student, North Ayreshire, Leg 6

Hamish Mitchell,59, Air Traffic Controller, Ayrshire Legs 2 and 5

Gill Petrie, 29, Broughty Ferry, Leg 2

Joan Kelly, 59, Midwife, Inverness, Leg 1

Laura Webb, 59, Programme Director, Stirling, Leg 3

Mark Jaffray, 48, Offshore Supervisor, Aberdeenshire, Leg 6

Michael Almond, 63, Senior Engineer, Fife, Legs 5 & 8

Ross Dunlop, 60, Retired, Edinburgh, Circumnavigator

Stephen Mackenzie, 56, Farmer, Ross & Cromarty, Legs 3, 4, 5, & 6

Susan Smith, 64, Retired, Argyll, Legs 1 and 2

Image: Oban

The Clipper Race fleet will arrive in Oban in July and depart for the final race of the circumnavigation July, which will see the eleven yachts return to Portsmouth, UK for Race Finish celebrations.

Related Stories

23 Aug 2024

Steering a different course: hear from sailing pros Hannah Brewis and Ella Hebron on turning a passion into a profession

We chatted to Clipper Race and Washington, DC leadership duo, Skipper and First Mate Hannah Brewis and Ella Hebron, on…

27 Jul 2024

Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam sails back into Portsmouth as Clipper Race champions

Today the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race drew to a close at the Grand Finale at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, where the Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam proudly sailed in as Clipper Race CHAMPIONS!Image: Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam with some welcome…

26 Jul 2024

Important update for the finish of Race 14

The Clipper Race Office has been closely monitoring the predicted weather on the Race 14 course and there is an…

UNICEF takes the win on Race 14!

It's a huge congratulations to Dan, Laura and the UNICEF team as they take the top spot on Race 14 - the final race of the 2023-24 edition! This is the team's first win, and adds to the four podium spots clocked up around the…

​The Clipper 2023-24 Race Champion is…

The Clipper 2023-24 Race Champion is...With over 40,000nm of racing, six ocean crossings, fourteen races and eleven months…

Instant reactions to the closing of the Clipper 2023-24 Race

And just like that... 326 days, 40,000nm, six oceans and six continents later... Race 14, and the Clipper 2023-24 Race…

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Kirsten Neuschafer wins 2022 Golden Globe Race and makes history

• Katy Stickland
• April 27, 2023

Kirsten Neuschafer has become the first woman to win a solo, round the world yacht race after winning the 2022 Golden Globe Race

Kirsten Neuschafer made it very clear from the start that she was aiming to win the 2022 Golden Globe Race . And now the South African skipper has achieved her goal, and made history in the process.

After just over 235 days at sea, the sailor crossed the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne in France at 9pm CEST on 27 April 2023 and became the first woman to win a solo, round the world yacht race.

After a painfully slow final few miles as she ghosted towards the finish, Neuschafer actually crossed the finish line around 10 hours behind competitor, Simon Curwen, but a previous stop for repairs for the British sailor had already relegated him to the Chichester class (for those who make a single landfall).

No wind, meant it took hours for Kirsten Neuschafer to sail the Minnehaha over the finish line. Credit: Katy Stickland

Second-time Golden Globe Race competitor, Abhilash Tomy will be the next boat across the finish line, lying some 100nm astern of Neuschafer. That these three will finish within the space of a couple of days after 235 days at sea speaks to the high level of competition between these front runners.

Tired but jubilant, the focussed 39-year-old, who throughout much of the race had no idea she was leading, celebrated a hard-fought victory. Her Cape George 36 cutter, Minnehaha was then towed up the channel to the pontoon as thousands of people cheered and applauded her incredible achievement.

Among them were 2022 Golden Globe Race skippers Ian Herbert-Jones, who had just arrived from Cape Town, having been rescued from his dismasted boat just weeks before, and French sailor Damien Guillou , whose race ended after windvane steering failure on approach to Cape Town.

‘I feel very emotional and honoured,’ said Neuschafer after finishing the race. ‘I am never going to forget the welcome. I want to thank my fellow skippers as without them, there would have been no race. Simon was very difficult as he was always in front of me and I knew Abhilash was close, and this encouraged me to navigate as quickly as possible.’

Kirsten Neuschafer – the winner of the 2022 Golden Globe Race and the first woman to win a solo round the world yacht race. Credit: Katy Stickland

1997 Vendée Globe veteran Catherine Chabaud, the first female sailor to race solo non stop around the world without assistance, and the winner of the 2018 Golden Globe Race, Jean-Luc van den Heede, were there to greet Neuschafer as she stepped off her boat after nearly 8 months at sea.

Her official finishing time was 233 days, 20 hours, 43 minutes and 47 seconds. This takes into account the 35 hour time compensation and 30 litre fuel allowance given to her following her role in the rescue of fellow race skipper, Tapio Lehtinen,

Neuschafer said she was driven to keep going, even in calms and the doldrums on the way up the Atlantic, where she regularly went swimming to deal with the frustration.

‘I never thought I would give up; there was no reason to think this as I had full confidence in the boat. I never doubted I would get to the finish line.’

Catherine Chabaud, the first female sailor to race solo non stop around the world without assistance was there to greet Kirsten Neuschafter on. her arrival. Credit: Katy Stickland

Throughout the 2022 Golden Globe Race , Kirsten Neuschafer has fought to be at the front of the fleet, her ambition to win driving her more than many of the other entrants.

She deliberately chose a boat that she believed could win the race and survive the Southern Ocean.

Speaking to Yachting Monthly from Prince Edward Island, where she was refitting the boat, she said: ‘From the outset it wasn’t a question of taking any boat that was available and in my price range; it was to choose a boat that I believe can win and can survive the Southern Ocean , and then get that boat at any cost, no matter how much work.’

Kirsten Neuschafer in the lead, in early March 2023. Credit: Kirsten Neuschafer/GGR 2022

Her choice of the Cape George 36 paid off. Minnehaha has the longest LWL in the fleet, and with a generous cutter rigged 806sq ft sail plan, the boat achieved slightly higher speeds than her counterparts.

As a result, she holds the 2022 Golden Globe Race records for the best 4 hour speed average (9.80 knots), best 24 hour distance (218.9nm) and best 7 day distance (1,216.2nm).

The boat’s performance was evident after her average start in the race, but she constantly pushed, choosing to hand steer the boat rather than just rely on her Hydrovane windvane steering to make up for lost ground. Her disappointment coming 6th through the first race gate at Lanzarote was evident, but her motivation was stronger.

Kirsten Neuschafer prepared Minnehaha on Prince Edward Island. Credit: Patricia Richard

Having exited the Bay of Biscay in 10th place, she was soon climbing the leader board. Coming down the Atlantic, she chose a more coastal route to keep the island of Trinidade to port; a strategy to make the most of the current and receive weather information via her weather fax so she could identify the location of the South Atlantic High.

She took the longer, southern route with a more comfortable point of sail to reach the race’s second gate at Cape Town; a strategy that paid off when she was second through the gate behind the then race leader Simon Curwen .

Article continues below…

Kirsten Neuschafer: Golden Globe Race 2022 skipper

Kirsten Neuschafer has plenty of Southern Ocean experience, which she hopes will be an advantage as she takes part in…

Golden Globe Race: Kirsten Neuschafer: ‘I’ll give it my best shot but I’m pretty disillusioned’

Third place Golden Globe Race skipper Kirsten Neuschafer has been left frustrated by the lack of wind, which has also…

By this time, Curwen was extending his lead as he began crossing the Indian Ocean. Days after leaving Cape Town, Kirsten Neuschafer diverted from her race route to rescue fellow entrant Tapio Lehtinen, after his Gaia 36, Asteria sank around 450 miles south east of South Africa.

At the time, Neuschafer was 105 miles from Lehtinen’s position; she hand steered through the night, posting speeds of 7 knots to reach him the following morning. Once safely onboard, they waited for the arrival of the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier Darya Gayatri , which would take Lehtinen to port.

Kirsten Neuschafer and Tapio Lehtinen share rum after the rescue of the Finnish skipper from his liferaft. Credit: Kirsten Nesuchafer/GGR 2022

Neuschafer was awarded a 35 hour time compensation and a 30 litre fuel allowance by the Golden Globe Race organisers.

Back in race mode, she pushed hard across the Indian Ocean, gaining 500 miles on Curwen and arrived just 29.5 hours behind him in Hobart. She briefly took first place when passing through Tasmania but then became trapped in no wind zones around New Zealand for several days.

This allowed Curwen to extend his lead by 900 miles; by this time, he was also sailing in a different weather system to Neuschafer and her nearest rival, Abhilash Tomy .

Neuschafer and Tomy swapped second and third place positions across the South Pacific, Neuschafer often frustrated by the calms, and her inability to find the better wind, which was often in the race’s Pacific exclusion zone.

She dived for 8 hours to remove the barnacles from the boat’s hull to improve her speed.

Kirsten Neuschafer/ rounded Cape Horn on Day 164 of the race. Credit: Kirsten Neuschafer/GGR 2022

Curwen, who had a 1,200 mile lead, then reported the failure of his Hydrovane self-steering gear , which forced him to make a 1,000 mile detour to Chile to make repairs; this also put him in the Chichester Class for entrants who make one stop.

This meant both Neuschafer and Tomy were back in the race for first place.

After 150 days of racing, Neuschafer took the lead and was the first to round Cape Horn on 15 February 2023.

But her routing decision up the Atlantic allowed Tomy to make gains in his Rustler 36, Bayanat , despite battling problems with his Wind Pilot windvane steering, his rig, rigging, and having to hand-stitch his mainsail after it ripped in two.

Kirsten Neuschafer took a more easterly route up the Atlantic. Credit: Kirsten Neuschäfer/GGR2022

Unlike Tomy, who stayed close to the rhumb line, Kirsten Neuschafer, who was sailing more conservatively due to a bend in Minehaha’s bowsprit, decided to take a more easterly route.

At the time she said: ‘I read up in  Ocean Passages for the World what is the best route for this time of year and the route is to pass 80 miles south of the Falklands and make for a point to the east of 35°S and 30°W at this time of year, and this is what I’ve been doing. I don’t know if it was a good idea to follow the suggestions or not.’

Doubting her easterly route, she took a more northerly route; it was a decision which would prove incredibly frustrating for Kirsten Neuschafer, who sailed through more light winds than any other 2022 Golden Globe Race sailor while sailing up the Atlantic, and meant she crossed a very wide doldrums.

This allowed both Tomy and Curwen to make gains on her position before Curwen in his Biscay 36, Clara , took the lead and become the first of the 2022 Golden Globe Race fleet to cross the finish line.

Positions of the Golden Globe Race 2022 skippers on 27 April 2022 at 2100 CEST

Kirsten Neuschafer, (South Africa), Cape George 36 cutter, Minnehaha – FINISHED 1st Abhilash Tomy , (India), Rustler 36, Bayanat – 100nm to the finish Michael Guggenberger , (Austria), Biscay 36, Nuri – 1800nm to the finish

Chichester Class:

Simon Curwen , (UK), Biscay 36, Clara – FINISHED 1st (Chichester Class) Jeremy Bagshaw , (South Africa), OE32, Olleanna – 2600nm to the finish

Edward Walentynowicz , (Canada), Rustler 36, Noah’s Jest Guy deBoer , (USA), Tashiba 36, Spirit Mark Sinclair (Australia), Lello 34, Coconut Pat Lawless , (Ireland), Saltram Saga 36 , Green Rebel Damien Guillou , (France), Rustler 36, PRB Ertan Beskardes , (UK), Rustler 36, Lazy Otter Tapio Lehtinen , (Finland), Gaia 36, Asteria Arnaud Gaist , (France), Barbican 33 Mk 2, Hermes Phoning Elliot Smith ,  (USA), Gale Force 34, Second Wind Guy Waites (UK), Tradewind 35, Sagarmatha Ian Herbert-Jones (UK), Tradewind 35, Puffin

Enjoyed reading Kirsten Neuschafer wins 2022 Golden Globe Race and makes history?

A subscription to Yachting Monthly magazine costs around 40% less than the cover price .

Print and digital editions are available through Magazines Direct – where you can also find the latest deals .

YM is packed with information to help you get the most from your time on the water.

• Take your seamanship to the next level with tips, advice and skills from our experts
• Impartial in-depth reviews of the latest yachts and equipment
• Cruising guides to help you reach those dream destinations

Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

History 1973-74

Crews 1973-74.

• The first Whitbread Round the World Race started on 8 September 1973 on a fine, mild Saturday morning in Portmsouth.
• A total of 324 sailors took part, among 19 competing teams.
• The start gun was fired by Sir Alec Rose, who five years earlier (1967-68) had sailed round the world singlehanded, stopping only twice.
• The race was run on corrected time.
• Leg 4 was a pursuit race to ensure the fleet crossed the finish together.
• The winner’s trophy was presented by Admiral of the RNSA, HRH Prince Philip to Ramón Carlin.
• Three lives were lost:
• Bernie Hosking/Great Britain II/Chay Blyth on Leg 2 Paul Waterhouse/Tauranga/Eric Pascoli on Leg 2 Dominique Guillet/33 Export/co-skipper on Leg 2
• Five boats did not complete the course.
• Three yachts were dismasted ( Pen Duick IV twice, Great Britain II , Otago )

The reality of offshore sailing’s dangers became apparent early on when Great Britain II was hit at night by a ferocious squall just a few days out from Portsmouth. Bernie Hosking was thrown overboard, but after a frenzied search, his silhouette was picked out in beam of the searchlight. The seas were cold and rough, but he was pulled back on deck by the crew and given a ‘hot’, rather than a ‘stiff’ drink. There was no brandy to administer since skipper Chay Blyth was operating a dry boat, but that was to change in subsequent legs.

Eric Tabarly’s Pen Duick VI, became the first boat to suffer a dismasting in the Whitbread Race. There was no possibility of repairs so a jury rig was built and the crew headed to Rio de Janeiro, some 1,200 miles to the southeast. By the time they arrived, a new spar had arrived from France and after it was fitted Pen Duick VI set off across the Atlantic once more, arriving two days before the restart from Cape Town.

Despite the lack of accurate tracking software, it was clear that Burton Cutter was a class apart in the first leg. Williams’ crew was the first to cross the finish line in Cape Town, taking just over six weeks to complete the leg, but fell to sixth on corrected time.  It was the Royal Navy’s Adventure skippered by Patrick Bryans who finished just over 24 hours later who won overall.  In second place was Adventure’s main rival Sayula II, whom she beat by more than three days on corrected time. 

If the first leg was seen as a bit of a blast, the second quickly turned into a reality check as the fleet was battered as soon as they reached the southern ocean.

Burton Cutter started to break up and was forced into Port Elizabeth for repairs.  The stringers and welding work were coming apart from the hull while the crew, which included Peter Blake, pumped to keep her afloat. The yacht ran off to Port Elizabeth where repairs were put in hand.  They cruised to Rio and re-joined the race for Leg 4.

Paul Waterhouse had gone below on Tauranga and as he came back up Tauranga broached violently. The spinnaker boom broke at the mast end causing it to thrash around on the clew of the sail. He rushed forward to control the sails and retrieve what was left of the boom, but as he went, the boat changed direction once more and the sail suddenly took off. The sheets went taut under Waterhouse and threw him in the air, dumping him back on deck and then overboard.

The crew searched for almost four hours without success. Since he made no effort to grab a lifeline when he came down, it is likely Waterhouse was unconscious when he went overboard and would have drowned immediately.

Three days later, as the fleet battled against gales and heavy seas 350 miles west of the Kerguelen Islands, 33 Export skippers Dominique Guillet and Jean-Pierre Millet decided to replace the foresail with a smaller one. During the manoeuvre, both were hit by a breaking wave, which slammed the boat over to starboard. Guillet was missing.

Thirty minutes were spent looking for him, but deteriorating conditions forced Millet to abandon the search to preserve the safety of boat and crew. They withdrew from the race, the crew traumatised by Guillet’s death.

Adventure suffered problems with her rudder, depriving her crew of a second leg victory, and Great Britain II lost her mizzenmast. Otago also lost the top section of her mizzenmast.

Sayula’s fifth place across the finish in Sydney resulted in a win for the leg and an aggregate first on the two legs so far.  Quite different boats were in the frame at this time, with Grand Louis in second beating Kriter by five hours on corrected time. 

Within a few miles of leaving Sydney on Leg 3, Pen Duick VI was dismasted for the second time in the race.

Also for the second time, Bernie Hocking disappeared overboard Great Britain II. This time, with winds blowing force 5-6, the crew did not recover him despite a search that lasted more than two hours.

Blyth and his crew expressed their loss by sailing the boat hard and fast to Rio, taking line honours for the first time in the race.

The focal point of the leg was always going to be Cape Horn. The most famous landmark of all filled many crews with dread. In 1973, the number of sporting yachts that had survived this rounding numbered less than 10. That number would be more than doubled when the Whitbread fleet passed through.

At Cape Horn, HMS Endurance was standing by and a wad of a blank round fired as a salute to their colleagues pierced Adventure’s headsail.

The ride to Cape Horn was not the downwind slide many had expected – though there were sightings of 150-metre tall icebergs. With Cape Horn behind them, the fleet turned north towards the warmth of Rio de Janeiro. Great Britain II was the first to finish, followed by Second Life and Sayula II.

The start on the last leg had been staggered so the larger boats started later than the smaller ones. In theory, this would ensure the fleet finished together. To win the overall race, the British navy entry Adventure had to beat its Mexican rival Sayula II by three and a half days.

With 1,600 miles to go to Portsmouth, Adventure was becalmed for six hours, but then began to make progress in the right direction. She made good use of local knowledge. Off the Isle of Wight, she was again nearly becalmed and this time in a foul tide, so the crew dropped anchor with only 37 miles to go to the finish. Then some wind south of the Island was found and, in the darkness, Adventure crossed the finish line in third place, giving her the overall runner-up prize. Sayula II arrived in fourth place to take the first Whitbread Trophy title.

Five days earlier Great Britain II had claimed line honours, completing the course in 144 days - a record for a round-the-world passage at that time. Realising that the handicap system did not favour Great Britain II for overall victory, Chay Blyth’s aim had been to win line honours for each leg. On three of the four legs, she was the fastest boat and on corrected time she finished sixth.

David Bowen, Enrique Carlín, Fransisco Carlín, Paquita Carlín, Ramón Carlín, Ray Conrady, Roberto Cubas, Butch Dalrymple-Smith, John Hutchinson, Keith Lorence, Bob Martin, Adolfo Orinday, Lawrence Wale Tjerk M. Romke de Vries

CEA C. Abrahams, CPO M. Bird, Lt D. Budge, Lt A. Bolingbroke, Lt Cdr C.P.E. Brown, Lt Cdr J.P.G. Bryans, Ch Tech. P.N. Chowns, Sub Lt R.A.G. Clare, CPO M. Forrest, Lt Cdr S. Gray, Lt A. Higham, CPO H.J. Hyland, Lt Cdr A.A.M. Johnstone, Sub Lt R.J. Kingsnorth, Lt Cdr T. Laycock, LS P.J. Long, Cdr M. K. Matthews, CPO R. Mullender, Lt A.W. Netherclift, Sgt G. Norman, Lt Cdr F.S. Owens, Surg Lt S. Ormerod, CPO W.E. Porter, CEA M. Rose, MEA T.J. Sales, Cdr C.F. Seal, Lt M.C. Shirley, Lt Cdr M. Skene, LA D. Thompson, Lt R.A.S. Turner, PO M.J. Trotter, Sub Lt H. Trotter, Capt G.M.F. Vallings, Lt S. Van der Byl, Lt C.F.F. Watkins, Capt J.H. Wiltshire, Lt P. Wykeham-Martin, Inst Lt K. Richardson  

Grand Louis

Gerard Beck, Gilles Berthelin, Bénédicte Lunven, Bruno Lunven, Löic Caradec, Jean-Michel Carpentier, Patrice Carpentier, Patrick Elies, Philippe Facque, Pieter Rens, Francois Thepaut, Franck van Beuningen, Michel Vanek, André Viant, Françoise Viant, Jean-Michel Viant, Sylvie Viant

Michael Austin, Philippe Bayle, Alain Benech, Pierre Bonnet, Armand Broyelles, Joel Charpentier, Georges Commarmond, Alain D'Auzac, Bernard Deguy, Jean-Louis Duboc, Michel Girard, Alain Gliksman, Ariane Grout, Jack Grout, Hughes Lallement, Bernard Lauvray, Pierre Lenormand, Michel Malinovsky, Jean-Claude Montesinos, F. A. de la Noe, Patrice Quesnel, Didier Roquet, Guy Schwartz, Gilles Vaton, Olivier Stern-Veyrin 

Luigi Arzenati, Piero Bianchessi, Conrad Burge, Pierre Dagreves, Michel Drouart, Giorgio Falck, Luciano Ladavas, Nino Pecorari, Franco Pecorari, Giorgio Pecorari, Toio Piegieggoli, Jerome Poncet, Gigi Vaicava, Giovanni Verbini

Great Britain II

Pete Bates, Eric Blunn, Chay Blyth, Brian Daniels, Alec Honey, Eddie Hope, Bernard Hosking, Len Price, John Rist, Len Robertson, Mike Thompson, Alan Toones,

Second Life

Roddy Ainslie, Geoffrey Bush, Charles I. Butterworth, Richard Carlyle, Wendy Hinds, Rob James, Timothy A. Kershaw, Capt. A. W. King-Harman, Dr. Robin Leach, Christopher A. J., Lord W. B. Moulsdale, Frank Sheehan, John Stapleton, Alan Taphouse, John R. Whitfield

Paolo Bertoldi, Maurizio Curci, Paolo Grazioli, Constance Imbert, Alessandro Lojacono, Fransesco Longanesi Cattani, Carla Malingri, Franco Malingri, Doi Malingri di Bagnolo, Paolo Mascheroni, Carlo Mauri, Michel Meda, Christina Monti, Alberto Passi, Riccardo Tosti

British Soldier

Lt. P.R.G. Ash, Cpl A. C. Badrick, Maj R.G. Barton, WO II J.A. Bullock, Capt. G.I. Bye, Maj A.N. Carlier, Cpl. M.E. Cox, Maj J.A. Cuthill, Maj C. Davies, Maj J.T. Day, S/Sgt. J. Doherty, Capt D.M. Gill, L Cpl C. Edge, Maj L.D. Edinger, Capt. A.W.D. Edsor, Maj S.A. Edwards, Capt. D.T.I. Glyn Owen, S/Sgt. P.J.C. Green, F.O. M.J. Hayman, Lt R.A. Hill, L Cpl A.M. Hogton, Maj R.J. Knox, L Cpl J.R. Le Maitre, S/Sgt D.A. Leslie, Capt M.C. Lewin Harris, Lt R.J. Little, Cpl G.S. Marshall, Lt Col J. Myatt, S/Sgt P.D. Phillips, Maj G.C. Philp, Maj J.J.J. Phipps Flight, Lt T.W. Rimmer, WO II J.B. Rosson, Maj R.S.P. Tamlyn, Capt A.E. Truluck, Cpl P. Waterhouse, Sq Ldr R.K. Webster, Capt A.G. Whitfield

LouisGeorge Baitier, Serge Bays, Paolo Chamaz, John Dean, Patrice Ducourtioux, Jean-Noel Durand, Pascal Emeriau, Marco Galimberti, Robert Girardin, Edoardo Guzzetti, Yves Olivaux, Erik Pascoli, Zara Pascoli, Guy Piazzini, Yvon Redier, Vittorio Reggazola, Michel Ribet, Thierry Vanier, Paul Waterhouse

Bogdan Bogdzinski, Zygfryd Perlicki, Zbigniew Puchalski, Mackiewicz Ryszard, Bronislaw Tarnacki 

Peter Addeson, Tom Addeson, Paul Audoire, Patrick Fierre, Dominique Guillet, Richard Heberling, Bruno La Salle, Jose Le Deliou, Daniel Millet, Jean-Pierre Millet, Roch Pescadere, Jacques Redier, Yvon Redier, Olivier Stern-Veyrin, Philipe Viellescase

Otago  

Bohdan Berggrun, Zygmunt Choren, Witold Ciecholewski, Stanislaw Jakubczyk, Kazimierz Kurzydlo, Adam Michel, Iwona Pienkawa, Zdzislaw Pienkawa, Edwin Trzos

Peter von Danzig

Hein Anhold, Uli Blank, Gert Findel, Frederick Heineman, Maximilian Heinemann, Jan Peter, Jamaer Wilfried, Kollex Reinhard, Laucht Volker, Mackeprang Achim, Meyer Jürgen, Meyer Aki Müller-Deile, Tomas H. Rüter, Rudiger Steinbeck, Thomas Weber

Pen Duick VI

Michel Barré, François Bessieres, Charles Bonnay, Jean-Philippe Chaboud, Antoine Croyere, Jean-Pierre Dagues, Arnaud Dalhenx, Bernard Deguy, Olivier de Kersauson, Mickaël le Berre, Pierre Leboutet, Patrice Madillac, Patrick Meulemeester, Pierre Monsaingeon, Marc Pajot, Patrick Phelipon, Bernard Rubenstein, Éric Tabarly, Patrick Tabarly, Thierry Vanier 

Burton Cutter

David Alan Williams, Sid Berkeley, Peter Blake, Barry Buchanan, Marco Chiara, Andrew Culley, Chris Edwards, Bill Elgie, Colin Forbes, Tom W. Moore, Jacques Redon, Paul Rosser, Nick Rowe, Alan Smith, John Tanner, Ricardo Vilarosa, Leslie Williams

M. Avery, W. J. Damerell, John Goodwin, Wilhelm Griitter, Peter Koehurst, Gerhard Last, Charles Smith, Yvonne van der Byl

Christian Aguesseau, Colin Berry, Pierre Chassin, Graeme Corlett, David Dean

Pen Duick III

Yves Allemant, M. C. Cruz, M. Cuiklinski, Nicola Egger, Jean-Claude Grigaux, J. Nebout, J. Pommaret, E. Riviere

What is The Ocean Race?

The Ocean Race is often described as the longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world, sailing’s toughest team challenge and one of the sport’s Big Three events, alongside the Olympic Games and America’s Cup.

To truly understand the race, though, it’s better to think of it in a way the athletes who take part will recognise immediately. Put simply, The Ocean Race is an obsession, and many of the world's best sailors have dedicated years, even decades of their lives trying to win it.

Take Sir Peter Blake, who competed in the first edition of what was then the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74 and came back again and again until he finally conquered his Everest, securing an overwhelming victory with Steinlager 2 in 1989-90. Only then was he able to fully turn his attention to other projects.

The race sits, just as it always has, at the intersection of human adventure, and world-class competition. Thanks to the work of the Onboard Reporters embedded with every team, fans are given a unique insight into just what it takes to win a race that is relentless in its demands – as teams give everything they have, 24 hours a day, in pursuit of the tiny advantages that can make all the difference.

The race’s concept is simple: it’s a round-the-clock pursuit of competitive edge and the ultimate ocean marathon, pitting the sport’s best sailors against each other across the world’s toughest waters. It’s relentless: the importance of winning, the adventure of life on board, the transformative effect on the sailors — all of these combine to give the race its power and depth.

The last edition of the race was the closest in history, with three teams virtually tied, approaching the finish line. After 126 days of racing spread across 11 legs, the winning margin for Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team was only 16 minutes. The top three teams were separated by just four points.

A total of 2.5 million people visited the Race Villages during the 2017-18 event, getting a first-hand taste of the action. Millions more followed the action on our digital platforms, television and via the news as the race set new high-marks for international coverage.

Now we enter a new era as the event continues to evolve. Two classes will compete in the 2022-23 edition of the race with the addition of the high-tech, foiling IMOCA 60 class adding a design and technical element. The one-design VO65 fleet will race for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup over three legs: Leg 1 from Alicante, Spain to Cabo Verde, Leg 6 from Aarhus, Denmark to The Hague in the Netherlands, and Leg 7 from The Hague to Genova, Italy.

Following the success of our ground-breaking and award-winning sustainability efforts in the last race, sustainability will continue to be a core value of the race as we go forward, as we redouble our efforts to restore ocean health and lead, inspire and engage on this critical issue.

The 14th edition of The Ocean Race started from Alicante, Spain on January 15th 2023, and will finish in Genova, the Grand Finale, in Italy early in the summer of 2023. The race visits 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 features 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 IMOCA 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.

How the race is won

Although at its most fundamental level the perfect strategy for  winning The Ocean Race comes down to simply scoring more points than  your competitors, there is much more involved in emerging victorious  from a five-month, 32,000-nautical mile (36,825-mile / 60,000-kilometre)  race around the world.

The Ocean Race uses a high points scoring system with the winning  team on an offshore leg awarded points equal to the number of entries in  the race. Second place gets points equal to the number of entries minus  one – and so on down the finishing order.

However, double points are up for grabs on two of the legs: the  monster 12,750-nautical mile (14,672-mile / 23,613-kilometre) Southern  Ocean passage on Leg 3 from Cape Town, South Africa to Itajaí in Brazil –  the longest in the race’s 50-year history – and the transatlantic  crossing on Leg 5 from US city Newport, Rhode Island to Aarhus in  Denmark.

The points on Leg 3 will be split between the order in which the teams  pass the longitude of 143 degrees east – and their finishing order at  the end of the leg. On Leg 5 the points will be doubled based on the  teams’ finishing order on the 3,500-nautical mile (4,028-mile /  6,482-kilometre) transatlantic crossing.

With the rules dictating that teams which fail to finish a leg shall  receive no points, the crews will need to manage their instinct to push  their boats and themselves flat out with the need to avoid sustaining  damage that might slow them down or even force them to retire.

As well as avoiding damage the sailors need to avoid incurring penalty  points that can be awarded for any transgressions to the race’s rules,  such as entering race imposed exclusion zones, measurement violations,  and anything else deemed to be a breach of the regulations.

The final standings at the end of the race are determined based on the  teams’ total score for all of the legs – less any penalty points. The  team with the highest series score wins with others ranked accordingly.  Ties on overall points are throughout the race broken in favour of the  boat with the highest overall position in the In-Port Series.

In The Ocean Race 2017-18 after racing for eight months around the world  the top three teams were so close on points starting the final leg from  Gothenburg, Sweden to The Hague in the Netherlands that the eventual  winner – China’s Dongfeng Race Team – was not decided until the last few  miles to the finish line.

Europe 2021

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

3 Months And 24,000 Miles Later, Vendée Globe Competitors Complete Race

Eleanor Beardsley

After sailing 24,000 miles nonstop in a nearly three-month journey, competitors in the Vendée Globe — an around-the-world solo yacht race — are expected to finish at a French port on Wednesday.

Copyright © 2021 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Drastic early days of broken boats and high drama in Whitbread Round the World Race

• April 24, 2018

It is over 40 years since the first crewed round the world race, the Whitbread Round the World Race, now now the Volvo Ocean Race. Barry Pickthall remembers the early days

The Whitbread round the World race

Sailing pioneers Francis Chichester, Alec Rose and Robin Knox-Johnston had already done it single-handedly, but a race round the world for fully crewed yachts was thought a step too far in the 1960s. Any number of blazered armchair sailors said it could never be done.

Yet a meeting between the Royal Naval Sailing Association and brewery boss Sam Whitbread in a Portsmouth pub led to 17 disparate crews on the start line for the first Whitbread Round the World Race in September 1973.

Only 14 went the distance and a heavy price price was paid in lives and broken boats. But lessons from this and subsequent Whitbread races held every four years for the next three decades pioneered many of the advances now commonplace on cruising yachts.

Preparation

In 1973, preparedness meant making it to the startline with the crew and food on board. When Sir Alec Rose fired the cannon from Southsea Castle, many crews were too busy still finishing their boats to think about what lay ahead.

Aboard Les Williams’s Burton Cutter crew were cutting wood to make berths as they sailed out of the Solent. The 80-footer was built in Poole by a company more used to making fuel tanks than boats and there had been no time even to hoist her sails before the race. For Peter Blake, then a keen but green 25-year-old, the experience was a baptism of fire. “We had a big drum of rope in the cockpit and I was cutting off the sheets to size each time we hoisted a new sail,” he recalled years later.

Improvisation was the key. Arriving late for measurement at HMS Vernon , Burton Cutter was found to be floating down by the bow. Skipper Williams was at a loss as to how to reballast her in the short time available. Not so owner Alan Smith. A West Country businessman who was more hunting and shooting than sailing, he simply rang up his gunsmith and arranged for lead shot to be poured into her skeg.

Burton Cutter was first into Cape Town, pioneering an upwind route through the South Atlantic High when others chose the longer trade route to Brazil. But the boat began to break up soon after heading into the Southern Ocean and only rejoined the race on the last leg from Rio back to Portsmouth.

Four years later, few lessons had been taken on board. In 1977 Williams co-skippered the British maxi Heath’s Condor with Robin Knox-Johnston. Again, little time was left for sailing before the race and the crew were still rigging her experimental carbon fibre mast on the eve of the start. Little wonder, then, that they lost it overboard during the first leg.

Contrast this with the efforts of an then-unknown Dutchman, Cornelis van Rietschoten. After commissioning Sparkman & Stephens to design a boat to beat Ramon Carlin’s 1973-74 race winner, the Swan 65 Sayula II , he embarked on a transatlantic crossing to test the boat and crew, plus a return race (which they won) and a Fastnet. Flyer and her crew were honed to such a high level compared to the rest of the fleet the race was almost won already.

Van Rietschoten returned with a second Flyer four years later, this one a Frers-designed maxi built expressly to win line honours. Again preparation paid off – the crew became the only team in the history of the event to win both line and handicap honours.

Van Rietschoten not only repeated the pre-race trials, he funded a research programme that had far-reaching effects. First, he commissioned Britain’s National Weather Centre to condense a century of weather statistics. These went into a computer program to predict the likely local scenarios, particularly in the Southern Ocean.

The program wasn’t a complete success, but the lessons learned from the research, along with coaching given by weather guru David Houghton, meant the crew only got the weather ‘wrong’ once. In the previous race the first Flyer crew found themselves on the wrong side of pressure systems 14 times – and still won.

During the first two races crews suffered badly from colds and flu in the Southern Ocean because short bursts of activity led to sweating that then chilled on the body under layers of fleece and oilskins. The challenge was to ‘wick’ sweat away from the skin. Working with Musto and the National Aerospace Laboratory at Farnborough, the Flyer crew helped to develop the first three-layer system, which went on to revolutionise how manufacturers made their sailing clothing.

The third improvement centred on rigging. During the first two races, yachts were rigged with 1×19 wire. By 1981 rod rigging was in vogue, with the rigging bent at the spreader tips. Van Rietschoten, an engineer at heart who was reluctant to change from a ketch to a sloop rig, was unconvinced.

He commissioned Dutch Aerospace laboratories to develop a discontinuous rigging system with individual rods between spar and spreader tips that could articulate at each connection point. The industry thought this was over the top until three maxis lost their rigs early that season. Navtec took up the idea and offered it as standard.

That was too late for Peter Blake’s first New Zealand entry. Ceramco New Zealand set out from Portsmouth with continuous rod rigging and off Ascension Island it failed at a spreader tip, leading to her crew making the longest voyage in history under jury rig.

The Whitbread round the World race 1985/86

Watch systems

The first Whitbread races were laissez faire events compared to today’s full-on racing. Crews tended not to fly spinnakers at night for fear of mishandling them and watch systems on some boats were very laid-back. Of Burton Cutter in 1973, Blake recalled: “We had a game of backgammon running below and anyone still in the game was excused watches. It put a lot of pressure on the losers, who finished up not only out of pocket, but doing more than their fair share of the work.”

They knew how to hold parties during the early years. With none of the crew and PR regimes that police Volvo raceboats today, hedonistic events were fuelled by the sponsor’s brew and an ethic among crews that what goes on on tour stays on tour. In a libertine era, life ashore was played out to the full.

The most notable parties – or at least those that can be written about – include a riotous affair at a local yacht club during the 1973-74 race, when Clare Francis led a conga straight into the swimming pool. That night ended in a haze of tear gas as riot police charged into this millionaire’s oasis to clear out the prostitutes.

Peter Blake inaugurated the Garden Party aboard Ceramco New Zealand in 1982 at a stopover at Mar del Plata, Argentina, but the most memorable event was on Lion New Zealand four years later during the penultimate stop, then changed to Punta del Este, Uruguay. Called on to bring a plant to the boat, guests excelled themselves by denuding hotels and restaurants of every potplant not bolted down. One crew even arrived pulling a palm tree behind their VW transporter, having ripped it out of the harbour boulevard.

Death is never mentioned yet never far from any crewman’s mind, especially when yachts are riding on a knife-edge between windswept and wipeout in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties. But ultimate danger also heightens the challenge for these sailors – it is what has always attracted a special breed of sportsmen and women to the Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race.

The dangers quickly became apparent when untested crews entered the Southern Ocean in 1973. Paul Waterhouse was the first to lose his life. He was lost overboard from Tauranga 12 days after the fleet left Cape Town. Four days later co-skipper Dominique Guillet disappeared overboard from the 60ft ketch 33 Export . On the ninth day of Leg 3, Chay Blyth encouraged his Great Britain II crew to make more sail after a southerly buster passed. Tidying up the foredeck, Bernie Hosking pulled on a sail-tie caught in the forestay. It gave way and he too was lost. Three deaths in that first race were three too many and the race might have ended then had the Press had its way.

There have been two more deaths since, both from falling overboard. Each was tragic, but the Whitbread and Volvo races have been responsible for huge strides made in safety equipment in the four decades since. Lifejackets, harnesses, MOB tracking devices, immersion suits and sprayhoods have helped to extend life expectancy from just a few minutes to half an hour or more in the Southern Ocean, a legacy that overshadows the best parties.

This is an extract from a feature in the November 2014 issue of Yachting World

• AMERICA'S CUP
• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set to visit trio of Australian stops in upcoming edition

Related Articles

You are using a very outdated website browser. Upgrade your browser or install Google Chrome to better experience this site.

Latest News: 2023 McIntyre Ocean Globe Prize giving!

days hrs mins secs

• 1989–90 Edition

The 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race started from Southampton and was run with several classes of yacht.

Steinlager 2  skippered by Peter Blake won the race easily. For the first time since 1981–82 (when the race comprised of four legs), the victor won every leg in their division (albeit closely chased by both Grant Dalton’s  Fisher & Paykel NZ  and Pierre Fehlmann’s  Merit  entries). The vast difference in speed and capability of the many different boats involved in the 1989 to 1990 race lead to the creation of a committee to examine the commission of a Whitbread class boat for use in future races.

Many of the Maxi yachts in this year’s race were nearly twice the size (LOA) of the smallest, and carried well over twice the sail area. The net result of this was that many of the smaller boats finished the longer legs more than ten days after the leg winner. In the overall results, the last finisher was some 52 days behind Blake’s  Steinlager 2  128-day aggregate time. In addition, the cost of the big yachts was becoming too expensive to fund – even for the well sponsored teams like  Steinlager ,  Rothmans  and  Merit . Eventually, the new class would be called the Whitbread 60.

The race featured the first all-woman crew on Tracy Edwards’  Maiden . Although in a much smaller boat than many of their male counterparts the women fared well, claiming two leg victories in Division D. Tracy Edwards was named yachtsman of the year and appointed MBE. In 2018, a feature-length documentary was made about the team’s participation in the race.

1989-90 Official Film

Technical Partners

Official suppliers.

Associations