Offshore Sailing Race Articles
IMOCA 2026 Season: Five Races, One Brutal Standard If you want to understand where offshore sailing really lives now — you don’t look at one race.
You look at the calendar. And in 2026, the IMOCA class didn’t just put together a season — it built a proper test piece.
Five races. Different formats. Different pressures.
Same outcome: if you weren’t ready, you were going to get found out.
At the centre of it all, Class President Antoine Mermod looked ahead to his ninth season at the helm with a simple message — the numbers might ebb and flow, but the level never drops.
© IMOCA
Solo. Crewed. No easy miles.
16-05-2026
IMOCA 2026 Season: Five Races, One Brutal Standard If you want to understand where offshore sailing really lives now — you don’t look at one race.
You look at the calendar. And in 2026, the IMOCA class didn’t just put together a season — it built a proper test piece.
Five races. Different formats. Different pressures.
Same outcome: if you weren’t ready, you were going to get found out.
At the centre of it all, Class President Antoine Mermod looked ahead to his ninth season at the helm with a simple message — the numbers might ebb and flow, but the level never drops.
16-05-2026
A 14,000-Mile Opening Statement: The Ocean Race 2027 Raises the Bar from Alicante to Auckland
With less than a year to go, The Ocean Race has fired a clear warning shot across the bows of the offshore world. When the fleet leaves Alicante on 17 January 2027, crews won’t be easing into the race — they’ll be thrown straight into the longest opening leg in the event’s 53-year history.
06-03-2026
A 14,000-Mile Opening Statement: The Ocean Race 2027 Raises the Bar from Alicante to Auckland
With less than a year to go, The Ocean Race has fired a clear warning shot across the bows of the offshore world. When the fleet leaves Alicante on 17 January 2027, crews won’t be easing into the race — they’ll be thrown straight into the longest opening leg in the event’s 53-year history.
06-03-2026
The RORC Transatlantic Race once again proved why it sits at the very top of the global offshore calendar. The 2026 edition delivered outstanding performances across a demanding and complex Atlantic course, blending cutting-edge yacht design with meticulous preparation, seamanship and resilience at the highest level of ocean racing.
19-02-2026
As the RORC Transatlantic Race moves into its final hours, the shape of the IRC leaderboard is now largely set. A diverse fleet of monohulls has completed the 3,000-nautical-mile crossing from Lanzarote to Antigua, with the remainder closing fast after nearly two demanding weeks at sea.
13-02-2026
As the RORC Transatlantic Race moves into its final hours, the shape of the IRC leaderboard is now largely set. A diverse fleet of monohulls has completed the 3,000-nautical-mile crossing from Lanzarote to Antigua, with the remainder closing fast after nearly two demanding weeks at sea.
13-02-2026
Two Visions, One Ocean: Raven and Be Cool Set the Tone for the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race
The RORC Transatlantic Race has always thrived on contrast. It is a race where outright pace meets endurance, where innovation rubs shoulders with tradition, and where vastly different yachts are measured by the same unforgiving yardstick: three thousand miles of Atlantic Ocean.
07-02-2026
Two Visions, One Ocean: Raven and Be Cool Set the Tone for the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race
The RORC Transatlantic Race has always thrived on contrast. It is a race where outright pace meets endurance, where innovation rubs shoulders with tradition, and where vastly different yachts are measured by the same unforgiving yardstick: three thousand miles of Atlantic Ocean.
07-02-2026
Three days into the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race, the fleet has made its collective decision — and it’s the decision that has shaped Atlantic crossings for generations. Every boat has committed to the southern escape from the Canary Islands, pressing down the African coast before turning west for Antigua, avoiding the lighter air to the north and positioning early for the trade winds that will define the race.
05-02-2026
Three days into the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race, the fleet has made its collective decision — and it’s the decision that has shaped Atlantic crossings for generations. Every boat has committed to the southern escape from the Canary Islands, pressing down the African coast before turning west for Antigua, avoiding the lighter air to the north and positioning early for the trade winds that will define the race.
05-02-2026