OffshoreAdventure 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
The destination: Auckland. The distance: 14,000 nautical miles. The message: this is not a warm-up — this is the real thing.
From the Mediterranean start line, the fully-crewed IMOCA fleet will race south through the Atlantic, round the Cape of Good Hope, across the Southern Ocean, and into the Pacific — all in one colossal opening leg. It is a passage that will test navigation, engineering, psychology and teamwork long before the race rhythm has a chance to settle.
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
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
With fewer than fifty days until the start cannon cracks across Marina Lanzarote, the 2026 RORC Transatlantic Race is already shaping up to be one of the most compelling offshore contests of the decade. Nineteen boats are currently entered for the 3,000-mile charge west to Antigua — and more contenders are expected to join the line as the winter trade winds begin to settle in.
19-01-2026
Master Lock Comanche Fires a Warning Shot: Champions Poised for Overall Cabbage Tree Island Race Glory
The road to the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has a new headline act — and it thunders in red, black, and carbon fibre.
Master Lock Comanche, already one of the most feared Maxi yachts on the planet, has delivered a dominant statement victory in the Cabbage Tree Island Race, the traditional proving ground for the Boxing Day showdown.
28-12-2025