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.
Line honours in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 180 nautical mile Cabbage Tree Island Race at the weekend was the first step towards two targets for Bob Oatley’s celebrated supermaxi, Wild Oats XI, over the next nine months. On…
Racing remains too close to call at the head of IMOCA 60 class, Class 40 and the Multi50 Class in La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe while the margins in the Ultime and Rhum classes are more established. The IMOCA 60…
ALICANTE, Spain, Nov 7 – Team SCA, for so long left to play catch-up at the back of the fleet, pulled off a stunning coup on Friday to snatch sixth place from MAPFRE in Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean…
Early this afternoon (Thursday) about thirty miles off La Coruña, Bob Escoffier, the 65 year-old skipper from Saint Malo, was airlifted to safety by the Spanish Navy from his modified Sydney 60ft monohull Guisnel Grouo which was racing in the…
Ian Walker (GBR) and his Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing crew have barely snatched a wink of sleep for nearly 48 hours, but they will surely be celebrating deep into the night after an epic first leg victory in the Volvo…
Route du Rhum leader Loick Peyron reported this morning that he had just enjoyed his first hot meal after two and a half days of the race, a 'cassoulet' bean stew on the moonlit 'terrasse' of his giant Maxi Solo…
The next 24 hours could well be the longest of Ian Walker’s 44-year-old life. The British skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and his crew have led for the majority of the 6,847 nautical mile (nm) first leg from Alicante…
A helicopter rescue after a boat was struck by lightning is added to the toll of damage on La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe this Tuesday afternoon, but in general the 3,542 mile race to Guadeloupe has settled in to a…
ALICANTE, Spain – Dongfeng Race Team has suffered significant damage after part of the control lines for the masthead gennaker sail broke, but the Chinese boat continues to challenge for Leg 1 victory in the Volvo Ocean Race after pulling…
Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze Clark's newly-launched 100 foot Super-maxi 'Comanche' has left Charleston, USA, on a ship bound for Australia to take on the blue water classic Down Under. The 70th edition of world-famous Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race…
Twenty-four hours into the 10th Route du Rhum and strong words are being used to describe the race so far: vicious, violent, stormy, raging. The fleet battled through extreme conditions during the first night, with the wind continually changing in…
As the tenth edition of the legendary Route du Rhum solo Transatlantic race to Guadeloupe started off Saint Malo, France this Sunday afternoon under grey skies and a moderate SSW’ly breeze. The perennial question of just how hard to push…
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is pleased to announce that 119 entries have been received for the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht race and the 70th edition is bringing new, old, large and small together for the start on…
“We made a really good play, worked hard to get a good lead, and then to realise that’s just going to disappear is quite hard to take,” admits Ian Walker. The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper is sheltering in the…
Ill fortune was in no way selective as it struck a wide cross section of the La Route du Rhum-Destination fleet over the first 24 hours of the 3,542 miles Transatlantic race which started from Saint-Malo, France on Sunday afternoon,…
The weather forecast for the first few days of La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe seems to suggest that the 3,542 miles from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre will be quick. But first up there will be an active frontal system to cross…
The tenth edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe starts on Sunday 2nd November 2014 at 1400hrs CET (1300hrs UTC) off the Pointe Grouin. There are 91 solo skippers racing in five classes. There are 24 trimarans, 1 catamaran and…
They lurk in the dark, depths of the ocean, sometimes revealed only by a sharp apex standing proud above the surface. No, not sharks – but they’re just as scary, and they can be just as deadly. “You know they’re…
Line honours will go to one of the eight giant Ultimes but there are also victories to be gained in each of the four other classes. Here is a quick evaluation of the favourites at three days before La Route…
Anthony Leighs named his year-old canting Elliott 35 ‘Crusader’ because he wanted to set off on a crusade of fast offshore racing – and the dream came true in the New Caledonia Groupama Race, when he smashed the record, beating…
It’s been 19 days and well over 3,500 nautical miles (nm) since the Volvo Ocean Race fleet set sail for Cape Town from Alicante, but the three leading boats are still within sight of each other with the fourth chasing…
Sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston hopes to inspire greater French participation in ocean racing through his entry in the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe. Speaking at a press briefing on his Open 60 yacht Grey Power today, ahead of this weekend’s…
As might be expected for a country for which solo ocean racing is a national passion – witness the huge crowds on the Saint Malo docksides today enjoying warm Indian summer sunshine – the vast majority of the entries for…
The search is on for what could be the toughest job on the ocean: The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is currently searching for twelve highly skilled sailors for the challenging role of race skipper. Race Director, Justin Taylor,…
All seven teams have now entered the Southern hemisphere. They’ve crossed the Equator, paying tribute to King Neptune, following the smelly traditions and hairy rituals. Shaved head or not, things actually look pretty different down there. There is wind. Strong, stable…
At 1600hrs local time this afternoon the race village for La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe was opened, ready for an estimated influx of up to two million visitors expected over the next week leading up to the start of the…
Franck Cammas on board “Keel Bill Groupama” finished second in real time in this year's exiting Groupama Race. The New Zealand yacht “Crusader” shattered the race record by 4h 26m to take first place. Third place went to “Mange Mieux…
Day 5 of the Rolex Middle Sea Race has proved a day of reckoning for the competing fleet. The forecast strong northwesterly wind has arrived and consistently blown over 25 knots with gusts exceeding 40 knots. The effect has been…
Don MIckleborough, one of the great characters of Australian offshore racing, has died. Four days after throwing a big party at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for family and friends, to celebrate his 90th birthday, he died in his…
After a long and frustrating second night at sea, the Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet continues to make slow progressing on a mirror-like sea. Despite the very light winds, by 13.00hrs on Day 3, all but four yachts had rounded…
Entry is open and the Notice of Race is online for the 37th Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship (SSORC), to be hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club on the weekend of November 29 and 30. The two-day series traditionally opens…
While Syd Fischer continues to prepare his super maxi Ragamuffin 100 for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race after the new hull was delivered 19 days ago, American Jim Clark has launched his colourful new Comanche in the USA and…
ALICANTE, Spain, Oct 18 – Dongfeng Race Team lost the lead in the Volvo Ocean Race early on Saturday after the boat hit an unidentified object and broke their rudder. They lost the lead briefly but replaced the decimated part…
It took just under 26 hours for Team Beau Geste to finish the 380nm Audi Hong Kong to Hainan Race, smashing FreeFire’s 2012 record for a shorter route by 2h 49m and 21s and setting a new benchmark of 25h…
The warning signal for the 2014 Audi Hong Kong to Hainan Race sounded on schedule today and with 15kts of easterly breeze available throughout the harbour, Race Officer Simon Boyde had no qualms about setting a Club start. Nine boats…
ALICANTE, Spain, October 16 – All seven Volvo Ocean Race boats have tasted the lead at least once during five extraordinary days of racing since setting off from Alicante at the weekend in sailing which is re-writing the offshore rule-book….
A round the world yachtsman has revealed plans to create a world-class sailing school in Plymouth that he hopes will turn out the next generation of champions. Conrad Humphreys plans to create an academy of young sailors capable of competing…
Skippers and owners in the IMOCA class got together for a general meeting in Nantes on Wednesday 15th October, after a serious matter was raised by one of its members. Should foils be banned or allowed on the new boats?…
The 100 foot (30.47m) LOA monohull limit set by a number of the classic 600 mile races such as the Fastnet, Sydney Hobart and Middle Sea races has been lifted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Malta…
On Sunday morning at 10hr in Noumea, the “ off” will be sounded for the 4th edition of the Around New Caledonia sailing race. The Groupama Race is the longest windward leeward race in the world : 300 miles down…
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