It’s no news that offshore races have developed over the 50-odd years since they have existed in an organised form. But they haven’t just developed. They have morphed into something completely different. Today, all-professional crews sail extremely specialised and technologically advanced machines across the oceans, steered by autopilots at speeds that were unconceivable a few decades ago. Not only is the average boatspeed double- digit, team budgets are too – counted in tens of millions of euros. ‘Modern offshore races are a fantastic
spectacle’, says DonMcIntyre, founder of the Ocean Globe Race, ‘and I love to
offshore racing history and have ignited the dreams of many people in the past. Now they will do it again.
Maiden At 58ft, the Bruce Farr-designedMaiden is probably themost famous. In the 1989-90 edition of the race, skipper Tracy Edwards led an all-woman crew to an astonishing second place in her class, winning both of the Southern Ocean legs. At the time this was no less than a revolution, a feat that has inspired female sailors ever since. Edwards was awarded anMBE and became the first woman to receive the prestigious Yachtsman of the Year trophy. The filmMaiden was released in 2018. In 2021, the boat was refitted and embarked on a world tour, amission to educate, empower and elevate young women and raisemoney to fund girls’ educational projects around the world. The all-female teamnow takes a break fromtheir world tour to participate in the Ocean Globe Race.
watch it. They are amazing sailors and the boats are incredible. But it's not achievable for normal people anymore, and it's driven largely bymachines and computers, backed by expert shore
teams.My vision is to bring back traditional offshore events, where ordinary people again can face these challenges in classic boats, and wheremodern technology doesn't play such a big part. And also, where budgets are within reach without huge sponsorship deals’. McIntyre knows what he’s talking about.
He is the founder and race chairman of the Golden Globe Race, a nonstop single- handed round the world race in classic
Pen Duick VI Another household name for those interested in the roots of offshore racing is Pen Duick VI. This 73ft aluminiumketch entered the very firstWhitbread in 1973, with high hopes of winning the event. The skipper was aman whomight be considered the father of today’s French ocean sailing dominance: Eric Tabarly. Unfortunately the ketch-rigged yacht broke hermainmast on Leg 1 after 25 days at sea and headed to Rio under jury rig. Amilitary aircraft was sent fromFrance with a new mast and sails and she set sail for Cape Town, arriving two days before the leg start. On Leg 3, 200miles after the start, the mainmast was broken and the rig cut free with all the sails and rigging. Although replacements were flown from France, she took no further part in the race. The boat and skipper returned under
the name Euromarché, but was outdated by more modern designs and ended mid-
boats with two editions completed since 2018. An experienced circumnavigator himself, he finished second in class in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge solo around the world race. In 2010, he led the successful four-man Talisker Bounty Boat Challenge to re-enact theMutiny on the Bounty voyage fromTonga toWest Timor. In 2021 he raced solo across the Atlantic in the Globe 5.80 Transat. He has been leading annual expeditions to Antarctica for 23 years and lived in the Kingdomof Tonga from2008 to 2020. Since 2020,McIntyre has been based in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, which is the start and finish port for the Golden Globe Race.
fleet. Nonetheless, Pen Duick VI always had a special place in Tabarly’s heart and has had many great adventures. Through the decades, Pen Duick VI has been kept in good condition and has sailed countless miles in races and expeditions. She will be skippered by Tabarly’s daughter Marie in the Ocean Globe Race.
‘Marie Tabarly will skipperPenDuickVI in the Ocean Globe’
ADC Accutrac The press eagerly followed Clare Francis and her ketch-rigged Swan 65 ADC Accutrac in the 1977-78 edition of the Race, when she and her teamfinished in fifth place. This was a standard production boat although in the interest of saving weight, all the doors and
half the water tanks were removed. This was the first boat ever to be skippered by a woman and Francismade headlines all over the world – this happened at a time when women were not believed to be capable of heading a race teamand sailing
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