• Leading pack, Pen Duick VI FR (14), Maiden UK (03), Translated 9 IT (09) and Spirit of Helsinki FI (71) battle to dominate. Lead changes daily.
• Fleet split into three groups – fluky winds proved challenging for Godspeed USA (01), Galiana WithSecure FI (06) and Sterna SA (42) bringing up the rear.
• A race within a race. Who will champion among the five French teams? Two Finnish go head-to-head. And the battle of the Australians as fierce.
• Crews reveal their secrets!!

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Tom Napper, first mate on Pen Duick VI, clearly all smiles showing how delighted he is to be back at sea! Images received from Team Pen Duick VI at sea on 12/09/2023. Credit: Team Pen Duick VI / OGR2023

Ocean racing, let alone racing around the world, doesn’t get better than this! The honeymoon champagne sailing is over and big winds are on the way. After a speculator send-off from Southampton on Sunday, the 14 yachts taking part in the McIntyre Ocean Globe passed the Needles to port and set sail for Cape Town. The fruits of years of preparation and work to relive the 50th anniversary of the Whitbread materialised. The race is on!

Finally, the crews could sail beside each other and gauge their relative speeds. Then the first 24hrs became complicated with fog, ships, currents and fickle winds! The fleet split in two, those heading west and the others south. West won out and the others lost valuable time hooked in counter currents and were the last to feel a wind shift to the west then north as they were forced to tack away from France.

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Maiden showing what she is made of giving the leading pack a run for their money. A fast boat with a very determined crew. There'll be no rest for those in her sight. Images received from Team Maiden at sea on 15/09/2023. Credit: Team Maiden / OGR2023

Now six days into the OGR the battle to dominate could not be more intense. The leading pack, all former Whitbread boats, including Pen Duick VI FR (14), Maiden UK (03), Translated 9 IT (09) and Spirit of Helsinki FI (71) roared past Cape Finisterre, benefiting from 15-20 knot winds astern and reaching double digit speeds. With Pen Duick VI and Translated 9 trading places back and forth, Maiden, the lighter yacht benefiting from the lighter winds earlier in the week constantly on their shoulders. Today they are set to push past expected strong headwinds that will slow the middle pack and cause challenges for the tail enders.  With IRC rating in place, it’s making the race even more interesting!  

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Image shows the forecast weather for 0330Hrs UTC Sat.16th and the position of the yachts for 0400hrs UTC Friday 15. It is clear the lead pack will sail south fast, missing the heavy weather to the west and forecast headwinds dramatically increasing the gap from the rest of the fleet .

Tweets from the boats:

Sep 13, 2023, 11:34 PM Team 09: #Translated 9 (IT) – SWAN 65 – Flyer Dog fight off Finisterre. 3 days in, we’re sailing in close combat with Pen Duick, Maiden and Spirit of Helsinki. Let the battle continue

Mid-week closer to the Spanish coast, the middle pack Neptune FR (56) and Outlaw AU (08), are utilised the wind hooking around the NW of Spain. L’Esprit d’équipe FR (85), Triana FR (66), and Explorer AU (28) remain mid fleet. Triana reported a broken steering cable (Sept 12th) which they fixed within four hours under emergency steering using dyneema rope and resumed sailing without further incident.

The tailenders bringing up the rear, include Evrika FR (07), White Shadow SP (17), Sterna SA (42), Galiana WithSecure FI (06) and Godspeed USA (01) all struggling in light winds. Sterna were required to do a quick fix of their baby stay which was parting 24 hours after the start, but continued sailing unhindered.

Today conditions are about to change. A fast-approaching low from the North West promises strong headwinds for some! By Friday afternoon, if the lead pack continues at their present speeds, they should be mid-way down the coast of Portugal and avoid the worst of it in reaching, pulling away rapidly from the rest of the fleet. The middle fleet will harden up, beating into 15-20kts for about 18 hours and then slip through. For the tail enders, which now includes Explorer having fallen into a hole overnight, they can expect a tough beat into the wind and the first real test of the race for a couple days maybe? Predicted 20-30knts, gusting higher with seas building to 3-4 meters pushed across by the 40-gusting 60kt Northerlies and 7-8mtr seas on the other side of the low. 

All of a sudden, the McIntyre OGR is getting serious as the challenge increases and there is still 26,000 miles to go…

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. The dreaded spinnaker wrap didn't slow Outlaw down. Middle of the pack and determined to beat the other Aussie Explorer. Credit OGR 2023/ Outlaw/Spirit of Adelaide

The OGR, a retro race in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread, means no computers, no GPS, sextants and paper charts being used to guide the sailors around the globe. This also means limited communication.

Entrants may transmit three pictures and three minutes of video each week. Translated 9, Triana and Pen Duick VI have restricted “Starlink” video transmission capability. Most entrants carry an Iridium for pictures and while it’s possible to send video, it’s not practical as the files are too big. Photo capability is considered a safety aid for medical emergencies, while pictures for media is allowed.

Skipper Marie Tabarly (Pen Duick VI) enjoying the British weather. Credit OGR 2023/ Pen Duick VI

Up to 4 tweets a day can be sent and will provide the majority of contact for the next 40-plus days until Cape Town and give a feel for what life is like onboard.

Initial thoughts when this Tweet was sent from Godspeed was that someone needed a little more practice with SMS.

Sep 13, 2023, 3:36 PM

Team 01: #Godspeed (US) – SWAN 51 – Adventure

iluwamhasfa amajaawt (can anyone de-code? ????

Not so! Turns out the coded message from Godspeed, sailed by military veterans, was a coded message from Dane to his wife and children. A message he’d previously written on a card given to his wife 20 years previously on deployment!!!!!

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Hopeless romantics underneath it all chilling at the startline. Godspeed and Skeleton Crew Sailing are a non-profit founded in 2016 by US Navy veteran Taylor Grieger, provides adventure therapy to military service members and veterans through sailing expeditions. Credit: Aida Valceanu / OGR2023

And love is in the air on the South African boat, Sterna, too.

9/14/2023 16:43:00

Team 42: #STERNA OF ALLSPICE YACHTING (SA) – SWAN 53 – Adventure

happy birthday thomas! can’t wait to marry you. love b

Let’s hope the invites are in the post!

Spanish entrants White Shadow, after some sail issues, are clearly having a party.

9/14/2023 17:51:00

Team 01: #WhiteShadow (ES) – SWAN 57 – Sayula

Hola corazones! tras una noche movidita hemos tenido un dia estupendo. Ducha, tapa murciana, solete, 8knts y radio3. Avanzando!

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Top bunk on Outlaw providing best vantage spot for watching your crew mates work hard fixing a torn sail Credit OGR 2023/ Outlaw/ Spirit of Adelaide

9/14/2023 20:46:00

OUTLAW: BALTIC 55 – Adventure

“Blew a spinnaker out during the night, repair underway. Spoke with Capt Coconut. Flirted with a TSS, a larger tops sailing day.”

Things got serious onboard Italian entrant Translated 9 with a near coffee disaster.

9/14/2023 20:34:00 Team 09: #Translated 9 “All good here. fridge broke, but we manage to repair it. moka coffee machine burned. all italians in crisis, until spare part was found ????

Moral is high onboard French entrant Neptune despite the lack of wind.

9/13/2023 20:28:00 Team 56: #Neptune (FR) – 60FT ALUMINIUM SLOOP – Flyer Parkiss va bien-RAS-baleines vues-on tricotte dans la petole-concentration max-estime recalee par VHF-moral top-BLU entre francais le soir

Each yacht will also have a 5–10-minute satellite call each week, that will be broadcast on the OGR website, Soundcloud and Youtube. 

It was during this call that Rinze Vallinga, first mate on Outlaw, revealed some of the team’s sail’s issues, including a wrapped spinnaker and torn genoa.

The competition for leaderboard position, IRC rating position and class position (Flyer, Adventure and Sayula) is on and there is another just as fierce competition afoot. With five French yachts racing, Gallic pride is at stake, each coveting the French title. The Finnish are battling it out between Galian WithSecure and Spirit of Helsinki, while the two Australian entrants, Explorer and Outlaw, both hailing from Adelaide are scrambling for bragging rights. It’s only a matter of time before the Spanish, British, American and South African form their own independent alliance.

McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 – COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. Keeping up with the fleet means no time to feed yourself! Patrick ensuring Minke and the crew are fully fuelled up onboard Explorer Credit: Team Explorer / OGR2023

By now watch systems will be running smoothly, seasickness will have abated and the reality of life at sea will start to sink in. Before departure, some of the crews shared the secrets of what they thought they’d miss most at sea. They all mentioned family and friends, followed quickly by wine and a stable bed.

Baptiste of Translated 9 revealed the fact he’s missing a daily shower. Ezgim, Translated 9, will miss Instagram. India from Outlaw, going for a run, while for Blaise from L’Esprit d’Equipe it’s Nutella and for Terry, first mate on Explorer, it’s his wife of course!

Translated 9 Race Start, Southampton. Credit: OGR 2023/ Translated 9

The next few days are going to prove very interesting indeed. Watch this space.

For media accreditation giving you access to crew and yacht photos and videos please click HERE.

For the opportunity for an exclusive onboard interview with a skipper please email jac@oceangloberace.com for further details (only accessible to accredited media and agreement of the skipper). 

oceangloberace.com

Cover photo McIntyre OCEAN GLOBE 2023 - COPYRIGHT FREE for Editorial Use. I spy with my little eye Pen Duick VI and Maiden. Nico Malingri, first mate on Translated 9 and GGR sailor Simon Curwen keeping a close eye on the competition. Translated 9, formerly ADC Accutrac sailed in the 1977 Whitbread. Credit:Translated 9 / OGR 2023

About the Ocean Globe Race

The Ocean Globe Race (OGR) is a fully crewed retro race in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race to mark the 50th Anniversary of the original event. Starting at MDL’s Ocean Village Marina, Southampton UK on September 10th, 2023, the OGR is a 27,000-mile sprint around the Globe divided into four legs, taking in the Southern Ocean and the three great Capes. The fleet is divided in three classes for a total of 14 entries. Stopovers will include Cape Town in South Africa, Auckland in New Zealand, and Punta del Este in Uruguay, before finishing back to the UK in April 2024.

Historic Whitbread Round the World Race pictures Click hereto view PPL’s historic library of Whitbread/Volvo round the world race images. If you are a new user of PPL’s PhotoShelter Picture Library, you will be asked to register for a free sign-in at pplmedia.photoshelter.com/signup/. You will then receive a verification email. If it does not arrive immediately, check your spam folder.   To view other pictures within the Library,  click on 'Galleries' at the top of the page, and then click the collection ‘Pictures of Yesteryear’ or  ‘Watersports & Sub Aqua’  located on the left-hand side.  You can  then drop down the menu to reveal all the galleries You can also locate individual boats, races, scenes or people via the keyword search box (top left).   Boats are listed under boat name, owner/skipper and when known, sail No.  Alternatively e.mail ppl@mistral.co.uk  or call Barry Pickthall on +44 (0)7768 395719 with your requirements