Following the various dramas that have beset the first leg of the current Volvo Ocean Race, the Legends regatta that took place three weeks ago seems a long way back. But the race that started the whole event 38 years ago feels like a different world.

This month’s CNN Mainsail is a must watch and is a reminder that speed and hardship aren’t the only factors in global racing. In today’s well mapped word, stepping into the unknown is rare. But in 1973, when the race started, it was at the heart of this event and lasted for eight months. Crews came back changed people while their achievements inspired a new world of offshore racing.

In the January issue of YW (out 8 Dec) we report on the Legends event. We talk to the pioneers, sail some of the icons of 38 years of the race, hear some of the stories behind the stories and discover what motives two generations of sailors separated by a common race.