A clutch of ‘budget friendly’ new round the world races for sailor-owners has tapped into renewed enthusiasm for adventure and endurance sailing. All three new events are set to take off in 2023.

The Global Solo Race non-stop single handed round the world race, planned for 2023, has already attracted 12 entries. It is organised by Italian sailor Marco Nannini, who took part in Josh Hall’s Global Ocean Race for Class 40s in 2011, and set up the Global Solo Race with Hall.

A fleet of 18 yachts left Les Sables d’Olonne for the Golden globe recreation race on 1 July 2018. Photo: Christophe Favreau / PPL / GGR

The race is open to monohulls from 32-55ft with an IRC rating below 1.25. The skippers entered so far are aged between 35 and 67 and are from Belgium, Switzerland, UK, Netherlands, France, Italy and Bulgaria with yachts ranging from an S&S 34 to a Farr 45.

Another event in the offing is the Race Around, a round the world race for Class 40s. Unlike the Global Solo Race, this is a multi-stage circumnavigation that will stop in Cape Town, New Zealand and Rio before returning to Europe to a finish possibly in the UK.

Phil Sharp racing his Class 40

The Race Around is being organised by Sam Holliday and Hugh Piggin, who both have roots in the Class 40 scene. They have recently added a solo section to the event to run alongside the double-handed class.

The Race Around seeks to attract high level sailors already active in Mini 6.50s, Figaros or Class 40s and to bridge the gulf that exists between these more affordable classes and the multi-million budgets of the IMOCA 60s that race in the Vendée Globe.

A third race to watch out for is Don Macintyre’s retro Ocean Globe Race, also due to start in 2023.

This fully crewed race follows on from the Australian adventurer’s successful 2018 solo Golden Globe Race, and has an old-school twist too: it harks back to the Whitbread Race days of the 1970s and 1980s and is only open to glassfibre production yachts of 47-66ft that were designed before 1988.

This will also have a multi-stage route starting in Europe with stops in South Africa, Australia or New Zealand and South America before returning to Europe.

We’ll have a complete round up of the new round the world races in a future issue. We’ll
look at what it costs, investigate ways they could be done by a syndicate, and talk to skippers planning to take part.

More details can be found at: globalsolochallenge.com, theracearound.com and oceangloberace.com

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