The Ocean Globe Race will see 14 boats and their crews circumnavigating the world without the use of modern equipment, in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread Race. They depart from the race village in MDL Ocean Village Marina in Southampton on Sunday 10th September.
The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race is a 27,000-mile round the world yacht race with no assistance and without the use of modern technology.
This means the teams can’t use GPS, chartplotters, electric winches, spinnaker socks, Code 0 furling, electric autopilots, mobile phones, computers, iPads or use synthetic materials like Spectra, Kevlar or Vectron.
Navigation will be done by sextant, paper charts and the stars.
Their only means of communication is via registered, licensed maritime-approved HF Single Side Band (SSB) Radio. HAM Radio transmission is banned.
Weather forecasts will be received via the radio or stand-alone paper print HF Radio weather fax.
Each boat can only carry no more than 11 sails (sloop) or 13 sails (ketch). Teams will be subject to a time penalty if they have to use replacement sails.
The teams will also carry emergency gear, including a GPS chartplotter/AIS MOB plotting and locating system with a sealed screen for emergency use only by authorized crew, AIS Transponder and Alarm, Radar transponder and Alarm, Two SOLAS liferafts (200% crew capacity).
Every week, the team needs to run the boat’s engine for 30 minutes, with the prop turning.
Each boat should also carry standard operating procedures documents for man overboard (MOB), fire, dismasting, steering loss, grounding, serious injury, jury rig and other emergencies. Each team will have already carried out an MOB jury rig and emergency steering trials.
Approved items include desalinators, refrigeration, non-GPS digital cameras, electric clocks and headsail furling.
The Ocean Globe Race 2023 will start at 1300 on 10 September 2023 from the Royal Yacht Squadron start line at Cowes, Isle of Wight.
It will have four legs.
The first leg – 6,650 miles – is from Southampton to Cape Town. The first boats are expected to finish between 9-21 October 2023.
The second leg – 6,650 miles – is from Cape Town to Auckland, New Zealand. It starts on 5 November 2023. The first boats are expected to finish between 14-23 December 2023
The third leg – 8,370 miles – is from Auckland, New Zealand to Punta del Este, Uruguay. It starts on 14 January 2024. The first boats are expected to finish between 9-18 February 2024.
The fourth leg – 5,430 miles – is from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Southampton. The first boats to cross the finish line are expected 1-10 April 2024.
Each team must reach port no later than 48 hours after the restart of the next leg or will be disqualified. A minimum stop of three days is mandatory, but the clock starts with the gun.
218 sailors – 65 women and 153 men – will sail from Southampton. The teams are made of 23 nationalities including 96 crew from France, 31 from Finland, 18 from the UK, 18 from the USA, 11 from Italy and 6 from South Africa.
Tracy Edwards’s Maiden is the only all-female crew taking part. This was the case in the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race.
The captain, chief mate or one designated Ocean Yachtmaster must sail the entire race.
All entrants – who have to undergo a medical examination and have completed an approved medical/survival training course – must have onboard for each leg:
70% of the crew (including the Yachtmaster Ocean and Yachtmaster) registered for the start leg must complete a 1,500-mile non-stop ocean voyage all together in the entered yacht, after March 2023
The Race Village at MDL Marina’s Ocean Village Marina will open on 29th August 2023, twelve days prior to the start of the race on 10 September. During the run up to the start, the Race Village will host speakers, pre-race activities, past race screenings, hospitality and entertainment as well as the media centre and sailors’ briefing area.
Read more: https://oceangloberace.com/
Visit the Race Village from 29th August at Ocean Village, Southampton. Further information >>