We ask top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest yachts of our times. America's Cup and offshore legend Dawn Riley nominates America True.
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!
26th February 2021
Graham Dalton, New Zealand solo sailor and entrant in the 2022 Golden Globe Race (left) with his brother Grant Dalton, (centre) and Barry Pickthall, the GGR ORG Ambassador
Credit: PPL
One sails in the fastest, most sophisticated and prestigious sailing challenge in the world, all over in just minutes! The other is attempting the longest, loneliest, most demanding and slowest race, for any individual in any sport on the planet. The Dalton family wants it all! With the America s Cup just days away and the third edition of the gruelling eight-month solo Golden Globe Race starting next year, the contrast is extreme.