The Inaugural 2023 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) was a huge success celebrating the 50th anniversary of the world’s first fully crewed 1973 Whitbread Race.
220 amateur sailors on 14 classic production yachts and historic Whitbread Race veterans set out to recreate history and relive the way it was in 1973. Without GPS, satellite comms or computers, no high-tech anything except safety gear! Their life defining moments were accompanied by 70’s cassette tape music and now the survey results of their uniquely human experience have been released publicly.
Four yachts from 2023 have signed up for another round starting from Europe mid Sept. 2027. They are Team Galiana, Outlaw, Explorer and Neptune. Other entrants are eager for this unique opportunity that turns their circumnavigation dream into reality. They join the only amateur crewed 28,000 mile race around the world via Cape Horn and the only one not using autopilots. It’s not elite, not professional and raced under strict IRC rules in affordable 48-65ft production yachts, or actual and similar ex Whitbread yachts. Entrants are all private owners. Most have never seen the Southern Ocean before. Only three in 2023! They all live an opportunity exclusive to the McIntyre Ocean Globe, yet available to anyone!
While sextants and long range SSB radios remain, significant changes in 2027 are planned! The biggest – YouTube LIVE STREAMING 24/7 from the fleet via the McIntyre “OGR LIVE Window”. Using custom hardware and software developed for possible inclusion in the upcoming Golden Globe Race, it allows upload-only streaming where OGR sailors can open their world to followers. No two way communication, just a “Trueman Show” voyeurs delight into the raw beauty and excitement of racing around the world, as it happens, all the way every day.
Don McIntyre, founder and organiser of the OGR said: “The OGR LIVE Window does nothing to change the ethos and 1973 technology experience for the sailors racing, but it opens an amazing experience for followers, able to watch each team real time live at various scheduled times of the day. Any serious action or problem and the BREAKING NEWS drops in over the top and we all watch in awe LIVE! By then we may even be able to link a 360 camera, so plug your virtual reality goggles into a computer and look around in a raging gale in the Southern Ocean..without getting wet!”
A new IRC point score system for each leg will determine the overall winner of the OGR. Both line honors and IRC winners are recognised for each of the four Legs, but there is only one overall winner of the race and that is the IRC winner. Once a week full weather information is available for safety to the fleet, but then it is back to barometer and radio forecasting. Mixed gender crew requirements and at least one under 24 years remain. All dacron sails remain but some special cloth increasing durability will be allowed. Fuel consumption is restricted to 180 liters for the entire race and there after 10 minutes penalty is applied for every liter consumed. A crew member trained as a Cetacean observer must be on each leg to record observations and interactions.
Tapio Lehtinen will return for the OGR 2027 with his classic S&S Swan 55 yawl, Galiana, marking his fifth round-the-world race. Galiana was leading the 2023 race on handicap during the third and fourth legs but suffered from disastrous bad luck, becoming stuck in high pressure alongside other smaller yachts in the fleet—providing a compelling reason to have another go!
As a warm-up for the 2027 OGR, Galiana is in the middle of an 11-month voyage around the North Atlantic, spending the winter in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. In June, she will participate in the Bermuda Race and return home via Greenland and Iceland to undergo further preparations for the OGR. Want to join Galiana? Visit www.tapiolehtinensailing.fi. You can also follow Galiana’s voyage on Facebook at /tapiolehtinensailing.
Outlaw is a Baltic 55 originally built for the 1985/86 Whitbread, competing under the name Equity and Law. Built in Finland back in 1984 to a Douglas Peterson design, Outlaw is in a remarkable condition considering her age after a massive rebuild to new condition in 2022/23.The Spirit of Adelaide crew feel confident in her ability to carry them safely around the world for a second OGR. The skipper Campbell Mackie raced twice around the world with Sir Robin Knox Johnston’s Clipper race before the 2023 OGR. He is not interested in retirement homes as a young 77 year old and is eager for his fourth race around the world.
Outlaw is a Baltic 55 originally built for the 1985/86 Whitbread, competing under the name Equity and Law. Built in Finland back in 1984 to a Douglas Peterson design, Outlaw is in a remarkable condition considering her age after a massive rebuild to new condition in 2022/23.The Spirit of Adelaide crew feel confident in her ability to carry them safely around the world for a second OGR. The skipper Campbell Mackie raced twice around the world with Sir Robin Knox Johnston’s Clipper race before the 2023 OGR. He is not interested in retirement homes as a young 77 year old and is eager for his fourth race around the world.
The McIntyre OGR is open to any owner, skipper or sailor who wants it badly enough! Private boats, intimate teams. No need to know why, you just need to know it’s you. Dream it, visualise it, do it! Right now there are boats available to buy , there are crew vacancies to be filled on GALIANA, OUTLAW and EXPLORER!
Visit www.oceangloberace.com for details.
