It was in 1981 that 29 entrants set out on the third edition of the Whitbread Around the World Race, creating the current record as the biggest ever, fully crewed challenge.
As the race evolved every four years, it became ever more professional and eventually, as the Volvo Race for elite sailors, the numbers dropped dramatically, averaging in the past 20 years, to only seven starters.
The 2023 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original 1973 Whitbread, the first ever fully crewed race, around the world. Already, two and a half years from the start, 25 entrants are paid up and another three have committed, meaning we have 17 different countries represented. The clear expectation is, that a full fleet of 34 yachts, sailed by professional and amateur, mixed gender crews, will cross the start line on Sept. 10th 2023. If so, the OGR is set to become the largest ever, crewed, round-the-world race!