RSHYR: It’s crowded in here
Comfy she is not – in her 40 foot hull Imalizard boasts no floor, no shower, no windows, no table other than a small chart table and even that, in these days of electronic charts, is barely used, while sails…
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.
Wild Oats XI crew is almost “over the moon” when it comes to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
When the knife-like bow of the supermaxi, Wild Oats XI, carves across the start line in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day the 20-man crew will have an astonishing 301 starts in the classic to their credit….
Stealthy Dongfeng trying to catch a break
Dongfeng Race Team opted to try one last trick in an eleventh-hour bid to overhaul Leg 3 leaders MAPFRE on Friday as they went into stealth mode. The decision by skipper Charles Caudrelier and navigator Pascal Bidégorry means Dongfeng will…
MAPFRE extends lead in VOR race to Melbourne
MAPFRE extended their lead over rivals Dongfeng Race Team on Thursday as Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race entered its closing stages. While the finish line isn't quite in sight, the most physical element of the battle is in…
Pantaenius Newport to Coffs Race – not everyone beats south at Christmas
The Pantaenius Newport to Coffs Coast Yacht Race has returned to its traditional start date of December 27 – the day after the ‘big’ race, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, gets underway and boats beat south to Hobart….
New leader for VOR as MAPFRE jumps in front
Spanish crew MAPFRE broke the Leg 3 deadlock on Wednesday after 10 days at sea, snatching the lead from Dongfeng Race Team with just 1,500 nautical miles left to Melbourne. Xabi Fernández's team overhauled long-time leg leaders Dongfeng shortly before…
Internationals feeling the heat in lead up to Sydney Hobart
With just a week to go to the start of the 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart, the pressure is building on everyone to get their boats fully prepared, the crew working as a team and every last wrinkle ironed out, especially…
Dongfeng and Mapfre swap the Volvo lead in fast conditions
A little over 2,000 miles now stand between the Volvo Ocean Race pace setters and the Leg 3 finish line in Melbourne – and with just eight miles splitting the first two teams on Tuesday it couldn't be tighter at…
Volvo Ocean Race: Close running in the Southern Ocean
Current Leg 3 frontrunners Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE have been racing practically neck and neck on Monday as the Southern Ocean continued to test the Volvo Ocean Race fleet. After eight extraordinary days at sea less than three nautical…
Wild Oats XI struck by lightning
The Oatley family’s champion Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race supermaxi, Wild Oats XI, is at the centre of a frenetic repair schedule after it was struck by lightning at the weekend. It is uncertain at this stage if the…
Two Rolex watches are good – three would be better
Pay attention – it all gets a bit complicated – Bob Steel won the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2008 on his TP52 Quest, and he had already won the race once before, in 2002, on…
François Gabart: “We can still raise the level of the game and go much faster”
46 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds is the new single-handed round the world record, held by François Gabart as of Sunday 17 December, 02:45 (UTC+1). The skipper of the MACIF trimaran was welcomed triumphantly in Brest this…
François Gabart smashes the single-handed round the world record
François Gabart, who left Ouessant on 4 November 10:05 (UTC+1), crossed the finishing line of his solo round the world, located between Lizard Point and Ouessant, at 02:45 (French time, UTC+1) this 17 December. On his first attempt, the MACIF…
Relentless work by leaders in Volvo Ocean Race
The leading crews in the Volvo Ocean Race are currently in the middle of the most physically demanding hours of the race to date. Dongfeng Race Team and MAPFRE are gybing back and forth as they zig-zag in an east-southeasterly…
You can win the Rolex Sydney Hobart at both ends of the fleet
“Line Honours is all that matters,” so declared the man who will steer one of the very last boats to cross the finish line in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this year, as he…
Rolex Sydney Hobart: There are a lot of ways to get to Hobart
Yes, I know you can fly there for starters, but in the last week of the year for a surprising number of people, the only way to get to the Apple Isle of Tasmania is by racing boat, but even…
A race of second chances for Warwick Sherman
In 2012, at the age of 58, well known Cruising Yacht Club of Australia offshore racer Warwick Sherman contested his first Sydney Hobart – it was on his bucket list after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin mantle cell lymphoma in June…
Solo sailors can enter the Rolex Sydney Hobart
When the start cannon fires on Boxing Day, Queensland entries headed south will number 11 in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but one is a little more unusual than the rest – a…
Gybing duel as Southern Ocean storm approaches Volvo fleet
Charles Caudrelier's Franco-Chinese crew Dongfeng Race Team continued to lead the way east, managing to stay just ahead of a huge depression catapulting the fleet towards Australia. However they have been under constant attack from Leg 2 winners MAPFRE, just…
Golden Globe Race officials meet French Federation de Voile to discuss Race Rules and Safety issues
Dateline Paris 14th December 2017: The organisers of the 2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR) today met with the full board of the French Federation de Voile (FFV) to discuss all aspects of the organisation, operation and safety/security considerations for the…
Volvo boats surfing mountainous waves in winds gusting to 50 knots
The deep low-pressure system that has been forming for the past few days has now engulfed the seven crews, forcing them to switch from all-out racing to a more conservative mode. Nevertheless, boat speeds rocketed to an incredible 38 knots…
Clipper boats neck-and-neck and due to reach Sydney today
After twelve intense days and almost 2,500 nautical miles of racing, just half a nautical mile now separates frontrunner Sanya Serenity Coast, from second placed Visit Seattle, both led by the Clipper Race’s two female Skippers, as the teams cross…
Jeff Cordell lining up for decade of L2Hs
This year’s Launceston to Hobart yacht race will be the 11th edition, but for prominent Bellerive Yacht Club member Jeff Cordell and two of his crew of B&G Advantage this will be the their 10th. It’s a significant year for…
Dramatic video of AkzoNobel breaking their mast track in the Southern Ocean
[Thursday, December 14, 2017]: Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 challenger team AkzoNobel, currently racing through the Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Melbourne on Leg 3 of the round the world race has suffered damage to the yacht's mast and mainsail when…
RORC Transatlantic Race to Teasing Machine
Eric de Turckheim's French Nivelt-Muratet 54 Teasing Machine was today declared the overall winner of the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race. Whilst a number of the record 23 yacht fleet are still racing, none of them can better Teasing Machine's corrected…
50th Hobart looms for Tony Ellis
This year Tony Ellis will become just the second person ever to compete in 50 Sydney Hobart races when the fleet departs the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on Boxing Day – and he will be just one Hobart shy…
Nerve-wracking drag race to Sydney for Clipper fleet
With under 200 nautical miles (nm) left to Sydney, but with under five nautical miles separating leaders Qingdao with Sanya Serenity Coast and Visit Seattle, in challenging winds, teams are set for a truly nerve-wracking drag race conclusion to Race…
The countdown to the fourth edition of the Barcelona World Race begins
Barcelona, 13th December 2017. The countdown to the Barcelona World Race 2018/19 kicked off this Wednesday with a presentation of the regatta for the international sailing community at the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona (FNOB) headquarters in the Catalan capital. The fourth…
Jim Cooney buys Comanche – the super maxi will now call Australia home
One of the favourites to take line honours in the 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, LDV Comanche, was purchased today (14 December 2017) by Sydney’s Jim Cooney from its American owner Jim Clark, making the super maxi yacht an…
VOR: A game of risk and reward ahead of huge Southern Ocean depression
While the Leg 3 finish line in Melbourne lies some 5,000 nautical miles in front of the teams, it's what is behind them that is currently consuming them. A huge depression is forming west of the fleet with winds of…
Snakes and ladders game as Clipper fleet heads to Sydney
It’s been another busy day for the fleet as teams zigzag north to the Sydney finish line trying to avoid the windholes, with some teams far more fortunate in the game than others. Qingdao leads the fleet for the third…
Solo round the world: François Gabart focussed and happy
If all goes well, François Gabart will complete his single-handed round the world at the end of the week, after less than 45 days at sea. During the radio session with Macif’s employees this Tuesday, the MACIF trimaran skipper was…
Light airs for Clipper fleet ahead of scoring gate
It has been a day of contrasts for the fleet on Day 9 of Race 4: The ClipperTelemed+ Tasman Test. After surfing down waves at 20 knots in the Southern Ocean, and rounding Waypoint Mitchell (the race mark that took…
Respite for Volvo crews after a furious start
A spectacular start to the 6,500 nautical mile leg from Cape Town in South Africa to Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday saw the city's famed 'Cape Doctor' breeze send the fleet on its way yesterday with 20 to 25 knots and…
Misconduct charge against Volvo sailors dismissed
The International Jury has dismissed a charge of misconduct under Rule 69 of the Racing Rules of Sailing against David Witt and Steve Hayles following a complaint to World Sailing. In its decision, the International Jury wrote: “David Witt and…
Tactics at play as Clipper fleet rounds Tasmania
Following a week of close racing in the Southern Ocean, Clipper Race teams are getting more tactical as the race leaders approach Waypoint Mitchell, south of Tasmania, and prepare to head north to Sydney. The eighth day of Race 4:…
François Gabart increases his lead at the equator
One week after passing the longitude of Cape horn, once again François Gabart has clocked up an extraordinary time at the equator, which he crossed this Sunday, 10 December, at 11:35 (UTC+1), 36 days, 1 hour and 30 minutes after…
Clipper Round the World: Close racing gets even closer
As close racing continues in the Southern Ocean, the leaderboard positions in the Clipper Round the World Race continue to change, with Qingdao retaking the lead on day seven of the ClipperTelemed+ Tasman Test. With less than 20 nautical miles…
Teasing Machine sets the pace in Transatlantic Race
Eric de Turckheim's Nivelt-Muratet 54 Teasing Machine finished the 2017 RORC Transatlantic Race on Friday 8 December in an elapsed time of 13 days 19 hrs 29 mins 08 secs, meaning the French team leads the race overall after IRC…
Volvo Ocean Race sailors prepare for rough re-start in Cape Town
Strong winds are forecast for the start of Leg 3 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Sunday afternoon in Cape Town as the famous ‘Cape Doctor’ – a strong south-easterly wind – pays a visit over the weekend. On Saturday…
