Apparently he hit a nerve. At the end of June, Australian circumnavigator and adventurer Don McIntyre announced that he would host a new edition of the Whitbread Round The World Race in four years' time, 2023. 1973 was the first time that crews sailed the world in stages at a regattum.
The start of Whitbread in 1973
The race for the 50th anniversary of the Whitbread Race will be called "Ocean Globe Race" and will lead around the world on GRP series yachts based on the model from back then. However, the concept is still in its infancy; The start and destination ports are not yet known.
Feedback for the retro race
Nevertheless, the idea met with great interest worldwide, as McIntyre has now announced. He already has twelve confirmed reports. The teams come mainly from France, Great Britain and Finland, but also from Belgium, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and the USA.
Ocean Globe Race: the route planned so far
In the "Sayula" class (named after the winning boat from 1973, a Swan 65), in which GRP series yachts between 56 and 66 feet are supposed to sail, Dominique Dubois, owner of the French Multiplast shipyard, reported. The most modern ocean-going racers are built here, most recently the trimaran "Sodebo Ultim 3" by ocean-going professional Thomas Coville.
"Maiden" should be there
Tracy Edwards has also already expressed interest in participating. The now 67-year-old British sailor became known as the skipper of the first all-women crew on the "Maiden" at the 1989 Whitbread Race.
The "Maiden" today
The documentary about the Maiden's participation in Whitbread was released this year, but has not yet been shown in Germany
In the second starting group for smaller yachts, the Finnish ocean sailor Tapio Lehtinen and his crew want to be part of a Swan 55. As one of only five solo skippers, he finished the Golden Globe Race 2018/19 and reached the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne.
17 skippers and one female skipper started this new Golden Globe Race, but the majority of them had to give up.
Defused rules
A maximum of 30 yachts should take part in the Ocean Globe Race 2023, which will be navigated like 50 years ago: without GPS and chart plotter, without grib files and weather routing, only with sextant and paper chart. The equipment of the ships is also said to be largely the same as it was back then.
The Finn Tapio Lethinen wants to contest the race on the Swan 55 "Galiana" with his crew
But after discussions with potential participants in the circumnavigation, navigation electronics, carbon parts, Dyneema or Spectrim rigs can now be retained. According to the original tender, all of this should have been removed from the old but often refitted ships that make up the launch field.
Official rules at the end of next year
Don McIntyre does not want to announce the official tender, which includes the route including the port of departure and destination, until the end of 2020. Until then, there may be further changes to the original idea.
Initiator Don McIntyre
The Australian who lives on clay has already proven that he can mobilize ocean sailors and adventurers from all over the world with the latest Golden Globe Race. He also wants to do that again in 2022.