He has obviously struck a nerve. At the end of June, Australian circumnavigator and adventurer Don McIntyre announced that in four years' time, in 2023, wants to organise a new edition of the Whitbread Round The World Race. In 1973, crews sailed around the world in stages in a regatta for the first time.
The race to mark the 50th anniversary of the Whitbread Race is to be called the "Ocean Globe Race" and will take place around the world on GRP series yachts modelled on those of yesteryear. However, the concept is still in its infancy; the start and finish harbours are not yet known.
Resonance for the retro race
Nevertheless, McIntyre has now announced that the idea has met with keen interest worldwide. He has already received twelve confirmed registrations. The teams are mainly from France, the UK and Finland, but also from Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and the USA.
In the "Sayula" class (named after the winning boat of 1973, a Swan 65), in which GRP series yachts between 56 and 66 feet are to sail, Dominique Dubois, owner of the French Multiplast shipyard, has reported. State-of-the-art offshore racers are built here, most recently the Trimarana "Sodebo Ultim 3" by offshore professional Thomas Coville.
"Maiden" should be there
Tracy Edwards has also already expressed an interest in taking part. The now 67-year-old British sailor became famous as the skipper of the first pure Women's crew on the "Maiden" at the 1989 Whitbread Race.
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In the second starting group for smaller yachts, Finnish offshore sailor Tapio Lehtinen and his crew want to take part with a Swan 55. He was one of only five solo skippers to finish the Golden Globe Race 2018/19 and reach the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne.
17 skippers and one female skipper started in this new Golden Globe Race, but the majority of them had to give up.
Relaxed rules
A maximum of 30 yachts are to take part in the Ocean Globe Race 2023, navigating as they did 50 years ago: without GPS and chart plotters, without grib files and weather routing, using only a sextant and paper chart. The ships will also be equipped as much as possible as they were back then.
However, following discussions with potential participants in the round-the-world race, navigation electronics, carbon parts, Dyneema or Spectra in the rig are now allowed to remain. According to the original invitation to tender, all of this would have had to be removed from the aged but often refitted ships that make up the starting field.
Official rules at the end of next year
Don McIntyre does not intend to announce the official tender, which will include the route and the start and finish harbours, until the end of 2020. Until then, further changes to the original idea may follow.
However, the Australian, who lives on Tonga, has already proven that he can mobilise deep-sea sailors and adventurers from all over the world with the most recent Golden Globe Race. He also wants to organise it again in 2022.
