Clipper Race: Inshore gains
The looming wind hole off the coast of Mexico has so far been relatively kind to the Clipper Race fleet during Day 11 of Race 10; The Garmin American Challenge from Seattle to Panama, with teams opting for the inshore…
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.
Warrior on final Approach to Bermuda in Antigua Bermuda Race
The turbo-charged Volvo 70 Warrior, sailed by Stephen Murray Jr., has set a blistering pace in the 2018 Antigua to Bermuda Race, covering 770 miles in 45 hours of high speed racing in the Atlantic Ocean, and is due to…
Wind hole looms for Clipper yachts
Light wind tactics remain the central theme on the tenth day of Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge as teams seek to maintain the best possible course ahead of an upcoming wind hole off the coast of Mexico. At what…
Antigua Bermuda Race: North by North West
After the first night at sea for the international fleet in the Antigua Bermuda Race the pace is relentless. The leading teams Warrior and Varuna are now over 300 miles offshore, blast reaching through two metre swell in the Atlantic…
Volvo leaders closing the game on the final approach to Newport
The Volvo Ocean Race teams were preparing to gybe on Sunday and begin the final run into the Leg 8 finish in Newport, USA. Team Brunel continue to hold the lead although Bouwe Bekking’s team have an advantage of less…
Clipper fleet leaves California behind and hits Mexican waters
The sixth day of Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge has featured champagne sailing conditions, as the fleet marks another milestone – crossing from Californian to Mexican latitudes. After a run of steady breeze, the only change to the leaderboard…
Volvo Ocean Race: Grinding out every advantage
On Friday at noon UTC, Brunel had a 12-mile lead over Dongfeng. 24 hours later the advantage is less than three miles, with the red boat in sight and sailing directly behind Bouwe Bekking, making up distance slowly but surely….
Clipper Round the World: Californian drag race
The wind has returned on Day 5 of Race 10 – the Garmin American Challenge from Seattle to Panama, but yesterday's wind hole off the Californian coast has made a big impact, with the Clipper Race fleet more compressed than…
Volvo Ocean Race: Leaders under pressure as race closes up
Twelve days into the 5,600-mile sprint from Itajaí in Brazil, the quick sailing through the trade winds was continuing Friday – although lighter winds lay in wait further down the track, meaning Brunel's lead of seven miles is far from…
Clipper Race: Light winds arrive
The forecasted light wind has arrived and is slowing the progress of the Clipper Race fleet as it races past San Francisco on Day 4 of the 4,100 nautical mile Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge from Seattle to Panama….
A series of “kitemares” test Clipper fleet
It has been a day of learning for the Clipper Race crews, with the majority of teams dealing with a series of 'kitemares' as the fleet entered the waters off California on day three of Race 10: The Garmin American…
Telefónica Blue joins Legends fleet
Gothenburg – May 3 2018: Telefónica Blue will join former race winner Ericsson 4 on the startline of the Legends Race this summer. She is the second Volvo Open 70 to confirm her entry in a fleet which will consist of…
Small changes making the difference in Volvo Race
At 1300 UTC every team apart from Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag had broken the magical mark of sailing 500 miles in 24 hours, lapping up the fast sailing that the stable north easterly breeze has granted them. Dutch-flagged Team Brunel continued…
Inshore tactics pay off in Clipper Race
There's been an early win for the Clipper Race teams that opted to stay inshore after yesterday's Le Mans start to the 4,100 nautical mile Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge from Seattle to Panama. After choosing to head south…
Miles falling away as Volvo fleet speeds towards Newport
Stage leaders Team Brunel continue to set the pace as they blast along at more than 22 knots, matching the wind for speed, and holding a narrow 15-mile jump on second-placed Dongfeng Race Team. The top trio, which also includes…
Volvo fleet into the trades, racing north
Yesterday, the goal for the leading group was to be the first to pick up the northeast trade winds and Brunel has done just that. “Not very stable trade winds, very shifty and cloudy,” skipper Bouwe Bekking reported on Tuesday…
Highest microplastics levels found during ocean race
The preliminary results of the Volvo Ocean Race Science Program found 360 particles of microplastics per cubic metre in the sample from the South China Sea, an area that feeds into the Great Pacific Ocean Gyre. The Great Pacific Ocean…
Start line looms for Clipper fleet
The Clipper Race fleet is making good progress towards the start line of Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge to Panama, after bidding Seattle a fond farewell. Visit Seattle gave its home port one last show by winning the short course…
Volvo fleet crosses the Equator into the North Atlantic
Just over a week into Leg 8 from Itajaí, Brazil, to Newport, USA, Charlie Enright’s American crew crossed into the northern hemisphere at 10:39:40 UTC followed closely by Team Brunel and Turn the Tide on Plastic. MAPFRE, Dongfeng Race Team…
Trade winds bring relief for Volvo crews
Vestas 11th Hour Racing has had a productive 24 hours on Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race, cutting its deficit to leader Turn the Tide on Plastic in half. Now trailing by just 5 miles, and sailing in more…
Turn the Tide on Plastic converts easterly position into northerly advantage
Dee Caffari’s crew set themselves up as the most easterly boat as the seven-strong fleet climb up the coast of Brazil bound for the finish in Newport, USA, some 4,000 miles away. Caffari and Turn the Tide on Plastic navigator…
Volvo fleet spreads east to west looking for advantage
Over the past 48 hours each team has thrown their cards on the table, lining up west to east and committing to the routing they think will best fire them towards the steady, favourable breeze the trade winds offer. Team…
Stepping out – leading Volvo duo break away from pack
The leading pair were the most easterly boats as the seven-strong fleet approached an oil field exclusion zone 100 miles off Rio’s coast, enabling them to continue make headway north for longer while their rivals were forced to tack. At…
Simon Walker taking on an offshore challenge of a totally different kind
Simon Walker has sailed around the world the ‘wrong way’ twice and was skipper of the Toshiba Wave Warrior in the 1996/7 BT Global Challenge, where he was the youngest skipper in the fleet and finished 2nd. He won the…
Tactical battles ensue as Volvo Ocean Race fleet navigates St Helena High
The famed anticyclone is renowned for dominating the South Atlantic and making tricky sailing for Volvo Ocean Race teams heading north or south. Constantly expanding and contracting, the St Helena High – also known as the South Atlantic High Pressure…
Game on as Volvo Ocean Race fleet switches back to race mode
Following a big send-off from Itajai, Brazil, on Sunday, the seven-strong fleet – back up to full complement with the welcome return of Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag – faced a tricky opening night of unpredictable weather. There…
Searching for a cyclone – the work behind the scenes of the Melbourne Osaka Race
Searching for a Cyclone The ORCV Race Management Team for the 2018 Melbourne to Osaka Double-Handed Yacht Race includes 6 Duty Race Directors and 2 Fleet Weather Officers – Robin Hewitt & Andrew Roberts. Robin and Andrew are on a…
Team Concise enter Round Britain and Ireland Race
Tony Lawson's Team Concise has entered the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race starting in Cowes on Sunday 12th August 2018. Both the MOD70 Concise 10 and Class40 Concise 8 will take on the non-stop 1800-nautical mile race – one…
MAPFRE leads the Volvo Ocean Race fleet out of Itajaí to Newport, Rhode Island
It was a familiar sight on Sunday afternoon in Itajaí, where the two red boats at the top of the Volvo Ocean Race leaderboard set the pace at the start of Leg 8 to Newport, Rhode Island on the east…
New York Times on the loss of John Fisher from the Volvo Race
It is not often that the mainstream media takes an interest in sailing. It is even less often that they write a detailed article. As always, it is disaster that attracts them, but we thought we would share this well-written…
Chinese Whisper takes line honours and sets new record in Melbourne Osaka Double-Hander
From the Melbourne Osaka Double-Handed Race Facebook page: Chinese Whisper has finished the 2018 Sundance Marine Melbourne to Osaka Double Handed yacht race early this morning, 23rd April 2018 at 04:21:13 AEST. It took them 21d 12h 41m 13s, a…
Full line up will take the start for Leg 8 Volvo race to Newport
Team SHK/Scallywag is back in the water and scheduled to take the start of Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race in Itajaí, Brazil on Sunday afternoon. The team had been in a race against time to have its boat…
Volvo Ocean Race: MAPFRE wins in Itajaí to extend In-Port Series lead
The Spanish team MAPFRE won the Itajaí In-Port Race on Friday in Brazil, after battling with team AkzoNobel for the lead on the first of three laps of the race course. A large spectator fleet was on hand to watch…
Clipper Race: Final push to the finish
As the front half of the Clipper Race fleet begins the motor through the Puget Sound to Seattle, the chasing pack are fighting for the final positions in the marathon 5,600 nautical mile race across the North Pacific Ocean. Qingdao…
Six VOR teams to start Itajaí In-Port Race
Six teams will be on the start line on Friday afternoon for the Itajaí In-Port Race in Brazil, with Vestas 11th Hour Racing joining the fleet following its dismasting, and subsequent repair and relaunching. Team SHK/Scallywag, who only arrived in…
Wind hole slows Clipper fleet within sight of Seattle
It's been slow going due to a wind hole sitting between the leading teams of the Clipper Race fleet and the finish line, but the end of the epic 5,600 nautical mile race across the North Pacific Ocean to Seattle…
World Sailing Offshore World Championship to launch in 2019
World Sailing is pleased to announce that the inaugural World Sailing Offshore World Championship will be held in 2019. Announced at World Sailing’s 2017 Annual Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico the World Sailing Offshore World Championship will be a powerful…
Wind hole stands between Clipper leaders and the finish line in Seattle
The leading Clipper Race teams have entered into what could be their final full day of the epic 5,600nm marathon across the North Pacific Ocean to Seattle, USA. But with a wind hole between them and the Finish Line, the…
Nice UltiMed supports Team Banque Populaire
Following the Maxi Banque Populaire IX’s capsize in the early hours of Saturday morning during her delivery down to the Mediterranean, all the teams involved in the Nice UltiMed, together with the City of Nice, are giving Armel Le Cleac’h…
Chinese Whisper on target to break Melbourne Osaka Double Handed record
The NSW Judel/Vrolijk 62, Chinese Whisper (Rupert Henry and Greg O’Shea) is on target to break the 23 year-old Melbourne Osaka Double-Handed Yacht Race record, with an ETA at the Osaka, Japan, finish line of this Saturday evening around midnight. …
