Bruno Peyron has officially announced the relaunch of The Race – the non-stop crewed race around the world without outside assistance and without limits. After several months of consultation, a second edition of the around the world race for giant G-class boats is planned for 2013-2014, starting from a port in Southern Europe.

After talks with leading maxi-multihull G-class skippers, apparently out of the dozen which have been built, between eight and ten of them will be lining up for the start, and that is not counting any new boats. The ultimate goal remains the same as when the first edition was launched – bringing together “the ten fastest teams around the world.”

Bruno Peyron explained: “As I’ve been able to stand back and gain some perspective since I last took part in the Jules VerneTrophy, there are several things I noticed that led me to take this decision to relaunch The Race. First, since the recent America’s Cup that we have just seen, we can conclude that we French are no longer alone in the world of multihulls and that is excellent news. We are entering a new era.”

“We can see too that since The Race, 12 giant multihulls have been built, including four in the past three years. So today there are certainly enough boats of sufficient quality for us to propose this event relaunch to their skippers and partners, without counting any new multihulls, which may be built following on from this by 2013 or 2014.”

“I have noticed that some major brands have been looking at the possibilities offered by the Volvo Ocean Race, which I can fully understand, but this does indicate that there is simply no alternative international race for multihulls. And just to conclude, others around me have become aware of this and share this feeling and my discussions with the leading G-class skippers have led me to move things forward in this direction.”

“The new 100-foot class (of which three are already up and running and a fourth is about to be made ready) has shown what these innovative boats can do sailing around the world via the three legendary capes while budgets remain limited. So, in this respect, it is now much easier to be able to take part in The Race.”

“Why 2013 or 2014? To place the event in between two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race and to offer the main international challengers the possibility of taking part in the event.  This time frame will enable teams to draw up their project and get things moving by attracting a group of ambitious and enthusiastic partners.”

History of The Race

Created by the French sailor Bruno
Peyron, The Race started on 31 December 2000, as a way to celebrate our
arrival in the third millennium with a global ocean race. It was the
first race around the world without limits, in other words it was open
to boats without any size restrictions. The total freedom that was given
to designers led to the birth of a new generation of sailboats,
maxi-multihulls, now known as the G-Class.

For the first edition
of The Race, the first giant multihulls ever built set out from the
start in Barcelona to sail around the world via the three capes (Good
Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn) before crossing the finish line in
Marseilles.

The reference time for the race was set by the New
Zealander Grant Dalton aboard the maxi-catamaran Club Med, which
completed the voyage in 62 days, 56 minutes and 33 seconds.

Read skippers’ reactions:

Grant Dalton, winner of The Race: “When Bruno Peyron announced he was launching The Race, with my experience of round the world sailing, it immediately interested me. Although the Jules Verne Trophy was fascinating, what really attracted me here was the idea of a real race with other boats. Thanks to Bruno’s vision, I was able to experience the finest moment of my professional career. The maxi-catamaran Club Med was the first of her kind, measuring 108 feet and able to cover more than 600 miles day after day.  She was a marvel and I was privileged to be on board. The Race opened the way to more extreme sailing. It pushed back the limits and allowed us to do what had previously been thought impossible. This race remains by far the highlight of my 25 years of professional sailing. The idea of relaunching The Race will move the world of sailing another step forward.”

Pascal Bidégorry, Skipper of Banque Populaire V, holder of the North Atlantic record: “Since Banque Populaire V was built, taking part in The Race has seemed obvious to me.  I experienced the first edition as a spectator and I can still remember the enthusiasm that surrounded this race. After a few years of sailing multihulls and when you are lucky enough to sail on a maxi-multihull like Banque Populaire, I can’t imagine taking part in all these record attempts without entering an event like The Race. These are fabulous boats and battling it out around the world in real time is incredible. I admire what they do in the Volvo Ocean Race, but from a race and sailing perspective, there’s nothing like The Race.”

Francis Joyon, single-handed round the world record holder: “I think that any project, which gets our giant multihulls racing is something that needs to be looked at, particularly when the idea comes from Bruno, who has so much experience in this field.”

Lionel Lemonchois, winner of the last Route du Rhum and who was on board Team Adventure in the first edition of The Race: “It’s great to hear that Bruno is relaunching The Race. He is finally giving us an opportunity to race around the world aboard these incredible maxi-multihulls. Personally, this race led me to discover these fantastic machines and I have some great memories of it. With another challenge ahead, I hope to be there….”

For more, visit www.therace.org