For decades the whole point of designing an IMOCA 60 has been to win the Vendée Globe solo round the world race. However, the adoption of the class by The…
The Ocean Race
Photo: Ainhoa Sanchez/VOR
The Ocean Race is a fully crewed round the world race originally known as the Whitbread Round the World Race, then the Volvo Ocean Race.
The crewed around the world race with stopovers has always been one of yachting’s premier ocean races and is next set to take place in 2022/23.
The race organisers are also running a new event designed to showcase top-flight, fully-crewed, competitive offshore racing based around northern Europe: the Ocean Race Europe.
The Ocean Race is scheduled to always run every four years, with the Ocean Race Europe also planned to take place every four years, essentially allowing competition between the teams to take place every two years in one form or another.
Both the Ocean Race and the Ocean Race Europe will be sailed in two different types of boat in two fleets: the one-design VO65 – used in the final two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race – and the development class IMOCA60s – the boats used for the solo round the world race, the Vendée Globe as well as other shorthanded ocean races.
The Ocean Race: What’s it like on a fully crewed IMOCA 60?
How much faster could an IMOCA 60 go if it were really pressed? Not in bursts, not for brief peak speeds, but at a sustained average pace over days or…
Taking the Helm: Tales of leading a Whitbread team
The Whitbread Round the World race/Volvo Ocean Race has a precedent for replacing skippers in Uruguay and Taking the Helm, recounts what happened after one such moment. Skip Novak took…
The boom in around the world racing for all
Have you ever dreamed of sailing in an around the world race, passing Cape Horn or surfing down the face of a breaking wave deep in the Southern Ocean? In…
Ocean Race Europe: Mirpuri Foundation wins with final hours gamble
The third and final offshore leg of The Ocean Race Europe came to an exciting conclusion in the early hours of Thursday morning in Genova, when the Portuguese entry Mirpuri…
Ocean Race Europe: Leg two finish sets up close final leg
The second leg of The Ocean Race Europe finished in Alicante, Spain on Wednesday 9 June, the culmination of three days of tight racing between the 12 international crews since…
Ocean Race Europe: Incredibly close finish to Leg 1
The opening leg of The Ocean Race Europe came to an incredibly close conclusion Tuesday 1 June in Cascais, Portugal with the winners in both the VO65 and IMOCA 60…
How to follow the Ocean Race Europe
On Saturday 29 May, the Ocean Race Europe will set off for the first time ever and will see 12 teams in two classes racing on a multi-stage course from…
The Yachting World hall of fame: 50 yachts that changed the way we sail
1. Mariquita Built: 1911 Design: William Fife III Mariquita is a living link between the ‘Big Class’ behemoths, such as Britannia, the J Class and all that went after, including…
Ken Read interview: The rise and rise of an all-American sailing hero
There are many successful sailors and many more successful businessmen, but it’s rare to find someone who has achieved great things in both spheres. Ken Read is one of them.…
Volvo Ocean Race skipper explains when to back off in big conditions
To win, first you have to finish. Chris Nicholson needs no introduction to that old chestnut, having found himself in numerous hazardous situations in different parts of the world’s fierce…
Volvo Ocean Race: How Vestas used supercomputer forecasting to gain an advantage
Vestas 11th Hour Racing is unique in that our sponsor Vestas shared the race team’s obsession with understanding how wind flows around various topographies, and we’ve therefore been fortunate enough…
David Witt: The controversial character who shook up the Volvo Ocean Race
“I am a dinosaur,” David Witt tells me. It’s a gift of a quote from a man who has been painted as out of touch, misogynistic, and a whole lot…
How to run the bow offshore – 5 tips from a pro sailor
British-Aussie pro sailor Jack Bouttell believes that success in his job as bowman comes down to preparation more than anything else. This applies especially to inshore bowmen about to go…
Woman on a mission: what drives Dee Caffari? How the pioneering sailor went from PE teacher to Volvo skipper
Dee Caffari puts most of us to shame. She turned up in the cliquey world of offshore racing in her mid-twenties without a reputation built on years of Figaro or…
Volvo Ocean Race confirm next race will be held in IMOCA 60s – but opinions are divided among crews
After months of speculation – Yachting World broke the story than the IMOCA 60 class were in the final stages of negotiation with the Volvo Ocean Race back in April…
Dongfeng Race Team wins closest ever Volvo Ocean Race
BREAKING NEWS: After nine months of racing, the Volvo Ocean Race was undecided until the final cross this afternoon. The short last leg to The Hague was littered with traffic…
COMMENT: The Volvo Ocean Race has finally made offshore sailing a sporting spectacle
There was a moment during yesterday’s live broadcast from the Volvo Ocean Race final day that left the normally loquacious commentator Conrad Colman momentarily lost for words. I gasped watching.…
Who will win the Volvo Ocean Race? With two legs to go it’s tense at the top
Dongfeng Race Team won today’s Sky Ocean Rescue in-port race in Cardiff today. At the beginning of this edition of the round the world race it looked like the in-port…
Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 designs could be adopted for the next Volvo Ocean Race
Final negotiations are underway between the IMOCA class and the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) to adopt the IMOCA 60 as the design the next fully crewed round the world race.…