OGR – Final Countdown To Leg 3
WITH JUST SEVEN DAYS to the start of leg three to Cape Horn of the MCINTYRE OCEAN GLOBE, Explorer AU (28) has finally crossed the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron finish line 62 days after the start of Leg 2….
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.
GSC – 100 days to the peak of the Everest of the seas
By Marco Nannini / Global Solo Challenge Today marks exactly 100 days since Philippe Delamare left A Coruna, on the 30th of September 2023. 100 days sailed impeccably by the French skipper whose experience makes him the only competitor in…
ULTIM CHALLENGE – High speed Biscay crossing is just the start
The first 24 hours of the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, which started Sunday at 1330hrs on the Rade de Brest in the west of France, have seen the giant foiling 32m ULTIMs already display a measure of their globe devouring speeds….
RORC Transatlantic Race – Watch the start
The RORC Transatlantic Race is part of the RORC Season’s Points Championship, the world’s largest offshore racing series. For more information about the RORC Transatlantic Race: www.rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/ Race Tracker: https://rorctransatlantic.rorc.org/tracking Start Day: Sunday 7th January 2024 – Marina Lanzarote, Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands…
Newcastle was a welcome sight for 200 sailors as their first taste of land for 2024
The City of Newcastle is stop number six for the 2023-2024 Clipper Around the World Race. Newcastle locals turned out in force to greet over 200 sailors as they arrived after spending Christmas and New Year at sea. Racing in…
The Odyssey Begins – RORC Transatlantic Race
Sunday 7 January, Marina Lanzarote, Arrecife: The 10th edition of RORC Transatlantic Race started in superb conditions outside Marina Lanzarote. Flat water, 10 knots of breeze and 20 degrees of air temperature provided spectacular sailing conditions for the start of the…
ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest opens a new chapter in round the world racing
As a new chapter in ocean racing history was opened with the start of the inaugural ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, the sun shone on the Rade de Brest in the west of France and the modest NE’ly wind was scarcely enough…
Light winds, sunshine for ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest start
The six intrepid skippers who will compete on the first ever solo multihull race around the world, the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest are expecting light winds and some winter sunshine for their send off from Brest on Sunday when the 24,220…
GSC – A delicate approach to Cape Horn
Philippe Delamare’s delicate final approach to Cape Horn By Marco Nannini / Global Solo Challenge After 97 days at sea and 18,000 Nautical Miles sailed from A Coruna, Philippe Delamare must be certainly starting to feel that the big prize…
ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest
Welcome to the Land of the Giants! When the giant Ultims arrived on cue today, taking centre stage in the port of Brest at the heart of the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest race village, the French public turned out in their thousands to welcome the…
Arkea Ultim Challenge – Ticking all the boxes in terms of mental and physical preparation
– Ticking all the boxes in terms of mental and physical preparation. – For several months now the skippers and all their teams have been working hard to be ready for this Sunday, start day for the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest…
2024 RORC Transatlantic Race – International Fleet ready in Lanzarote
Calero Marinas – Marina Lanzarote, Arrecife, Canary Islands to Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada The Royal Ocean Racing Club starts the racing season for 2024 with the 10th anniversary edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, starting from Lanzarote…
GSC – Ice limits and ridges of high pressures
By Marco Nannini / Global Solo Challenge 2024 started a little more gently than 2023 had ended, with widespread milder conditions and a persistent high pressure zone in the area south of Cape Leeuwin as well as south east of…
2023 ORCV Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race Westcoaster – Wrap-up and Results
Skippers, sailors, supporters and plenty of locals finally got to soak up some Tasmanian summer sun in the Willie Smith Race Village in Hobart on Sunday afternoon for the presentation of trophies for the 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race…
Vanessa Dudley completes her 25th race
When the modified Joubert 42, Tilting at Windmills, docked in Hobart sunday afternoon, crew member Vanessa Dudley became just the third woman to achieve the milestone 25 Sydney Hobarts in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s race. The respected sailor…
Jessica Watson arrives in Hobart to great fanfare
When Azzurro, the ‘Little Boat That Could’, docked in Hobart this afternoon (sunday) just before 3.45pm, there was a huge crowd waiting to meet her – or more precisely, one of her crew – Jessica Watson OAM, who had just…
JPKs dominate Hobart Divisions 3, 4 and 5
The 2023 Hobart fleet encountered uncertain and wild weather conditions across the entire journey. Maybe not so much for the big boats but when you get down to the 50 footers and smaller, they did it hard. The three JPK’s…
GSC – No respite for festive celebrations in the Roaring Forties
By Marco Nannini / Global Solo ChallengeWhilst life ashore has followed the calendar of festivities, with Christmas and the preparation for the New Year celebration, life for the 14 skippers at sea in the Global Solo Challenge has been marked…
Alien wins record-breaking fourth Heemskerk Perpetual Trophy and Peccadillo smashes multihull record in 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
After a gruelling last 24 hours of sailing in winds gusting greater than 40 knots and battling 4 to 5 metre seas along the South Coast of Tasmania, Alien, skippered by Justin Brenan from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria,…
Love & War stands test of time 50 years on
The sight of the Love & War approaching the finish line of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is always a majestic one and it was extra special this year when the S&S finished the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s…
Launceston to Hobart Race Wrap
Words: Liz RountreePhotos: Shaun Tiedermann Porco Rosso wrapped up the win on all fronts in the 17th annual Willie Smith Launceston to Hobart Race, but the drama was yet to start. The team skippered by Paul McCartney pulled in the…
Mistral has what it takes to win race
Rupert Henry believes his two-handed boat, Mistral, can one day win the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race overall after he sailed the Lombard 34 to an impressive finish today. Mistral, co-skippered by Henry and French based Australian, Jack Bouttell, was…
Alive wins Rolex Sydney Hobart for a second time in five years
Alive, skippered by Duncan Hine, has been declared the overall winner of the 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, securing the Tasmanian boat its second victory in five years. The win is also Tasmania’s fifth in the 628 nautical mile…
Emotions run high and low amidst TP52 finisher
The sight of the first three TP52s to finish the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this afternoon (friday) reflected three contrasting emotions: disappointment, excitement and resignation. For the New Zealand entry Caro, ninth boat to finish the Cruising Yacht Club…
Launnie to Hobart – Day 3 Report
Words: Liz RountreePhotos: Colleen Darcey Porco Rosso claims the win in all categories with a 1am finish on Friday, Fork in the Road following in the late morning and Jazz Player crossing the line mid-afternoon. But they are not the…
Peccadillo leads while Ginan, Lord Jiminy and Ryujin battle for Heemskirk Perpetual Trophy and line honours
Peccadillo has regained the lead overnight and has set up what will be a thrilling race finish as the monohulls chase down the only multihull entrant in the battle for line honours in the 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race…
GSC – A delicate refueling operation
By Marco Nannini / Global Solo Challenge After dismasting on the night between 21st and 22nd December Ari Känsäkoski’s has had to fight the strong countercurrent of Agulhas which was making the boat drift to the south-east, exactly in the…
Wharington’s extraordinary effort to start and finish Rolex Sydney Hobart
They said it couldn’t be done and that just drove Grant Wharington to prove the doubters wrong when he built the new 100 foot Wild Thing 100 in five months and made both the start and finish lines of the…
The ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest, the next big step in the history of sailing round the world
The ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest which starts from Brest, France on Sunday 7th January will be the first ever solo race round the world on giant Ultim trimarans, the biggest and fastest ocean going sailboats in the world. There…
Alice Parker project gets thumbs up from Adrienne Cahalan
URM Group navigator Alice Parker had “mixed emotions” after the RP72 she navigated to third on line honours in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this afternoon. While URM Group secured a line honours podium place, it was unable to…
Ryujin leads on line honours in 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
Ryujin, the Sayer 12 skippered by Alex Toomey and racing fully crewed in this year’s race, is leading the race on line honours and is in fine shape on the second day of sailing in the 2023 Melbourne to Hobart…
Andoo Comanche skipper lauds LawConnect crew for victory
Andoo Comanche skipper John Winning Jnr could not hide the pain of seeing his dream of a “swansong” victory on the boat slip away in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. This year’s race had added significance for Winning Jnr with his crew…
Final mile decides Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours in favour of LawConnect
In what has been an epic race from start to finish, Christian Beck’s LawConnect has lost her bridesmaid tag of the last three years to claim line honours in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race…
Launnie to Hobart – Start report
Words: Liz Rountree Picture: Gill Dayton “The Doghouse overall winners of the first leg of the race” Kites popped for a clear start for all 20 starters in the 17th annual Willie Smith Launceston to Hobart Race. The fleet set…
Thick sea fog hits the 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
The 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race started in sunny conditions on Port Philip Bay today with competitors set for a quick race to Hobart. The fleet started the 51st race in a steady 13 knot southerly breeze under blue skies…
Rolex Sydney Hobart – Spirits remain high on URM Group in tight race for third
The fight for third place on Line Honours in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is unravelling into a thriller, with URM Group looking ahead and behind at their rivals. While buoyed after taking third…
Launceston to Hobart Race Preview
Words: Liz Rountree The 17th annual Willie Smith’s Launceston to Hobart kicks off Wednesday at 11:30am. The 20 entrants start off Beauty Point before heading out the Tamar River and turn right, keep outside of Swan Island through Banks Straight,…
Conditions hamper LawConnect visibility of race leaders
LawConnect continues to stalk Andoo Comanche in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but squalls of 30 knots-plus are hampering the crew’s ability to keep their rivals in sight. At 9am, the margin was still tight between the two race leaders…
LawConnect fires first shot in bid for line honours win in Rolex Sydney Hobart
LawConnect made best of its bid to break a hoodoo of three runner-up finishes in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race by leading the fleet towards the Heads after this afternoon’s start. The Christian Beck owned maxi led off the…
2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Final Weather Briefing and Line Honour Contenders
David Witt warns crews to brace for a wet and cold ride in Rolex Sydney Hobart With the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race start tomorrow, uncertainty remains for crews over the expected conditions – except that a long, wet and…
