Ocean Globe Race
The Ocean Globe Race was the 50th-anniversary celebration of the original Whitbread Round the World Race, the first fully crewed round-the-world race in 1973. It was founded by Australian adventurer and circumnavigator, Don McIntyre. Except for safety equipment, no modern technology was allowed. The Ocean Globe Race set sail with 14 teams on September 10, 2023, from Ocean Village in Southampton, to circumnavigate the globe with 3 stopovers: Cape Town, Auckland, and rounding Cape Horn, Punta del Este, before returning to Cowes in April 2024. It was won by Maiden, a boat that had taken part in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew.
Rules
Each crew was to consist of at least 70% non-professional sailors, one woman and one sailor under 24 years old. For this reason, the OGR was defined as a global adventure for ordinary sailors on standard yachts. A distinctive feature of the OGR was the limited use of modern technology on board: computers, satellites, GPS, and high-tech materials were prohibited. Teams navigated using sextants and received weather forecasts through radio fax. The OGR was considered a testament to human endeavor, emphasizing team spirit and sheer determination.Entrants
At the start, the fleet consisted of 14 teams from France, Italy, Spain, Finland, the UK, the US, South Africa, and Australia. There was an approximate 30% quota of female sailors. The entrants were:- in the Flyer class: Translated 9, Pen Duick VI, Maiden, L'Esprit d'équipe, Neptune,
- in the Sayula class: Evrika, Spirit of Helsinki, White Shadow, Explorer, and
- in the Adventure class: Triana, Outlaw, Sterna, Godspeed, Galiana WithSecure.
Results
The main prize was the Ocean Globe Race Winners perpetual IRC Trophy awarded to the yacht with the lowest IRC corrected sailing time. Other prizes were the IRC prizes per class, the Line Honours prize per leg and the Spirit of the OGR prize, attributed to the most deserving entrant across the fleet.Maiden clinched the ultimate victory, claiming the top spot in the IRC standings and making history as the first all-female crew to triumph in a round-the-world sailing competition. The skipper was Heather Thomas. Maiden had taken part in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew.
By winning leg 1 and leg 2, Translated 9 was the yacht that won more legs. Translated 9 was co-skippered by Marco Trombetti, Vittorio Malingri, Simon Curwen, and Nico Malingri. Translated 9 was leading leg 3 when it retired due to a crack on the hull, but managed to repair it and join the fourth leg. After taking the lead in leg 4 they again retired due to the hull problem. Triana, the French boat skippered by the entrepreneur and sailor Jean d'Arthuys won the 3rd leg. Leg 4 was won by Pen Duick VI skippered by Marie Tabarly.