Golden Globe Race from Les Sables d'Olonne in Vendée

The 2018 Golden Globe Race - 30 sailors … 30,000 miles … non-stop … alone … no outside assistance - from Les Sables d'Olonne in France.

Next GGR

Already, 20 sailors from 10 Countries have signed up to compete in the next Golden Globe Race slated to start on 4th September 2022, and many more have expressed an interest to compete.
1.John Clarke (47) GBR – Nicholson 32 MKX
2.Ian Herbert Jones (49) GBR – Tradewind 35
3.Guy Waites (52) GBR
4.Ertan Beskardes (57) GBR – Rustler 36
5.Simon Curwen (60) GBR – Biscay 36
6.Robin Davie (67) GBR – Rustler 36
7.Confidenial GBR
8.Arnaud Gaist (47) FRA Barbican 33 MKII (long keel version)
9.Confidential FRA
10.Guy deBoer (63) USA
11.Doug Dean JOHNSON (53) USA – Rustler 36
12.Matthew Wright (49) AUS
13.Michael Date (57) AUS Aries 32
14.Confidenial AUS
15.Michael Guggenberger (41) AUT – Endurance 35
16.Gaurav Shinde (32) CAN
17.Pat Lawless (62) IRE Saga 36
18.Guido Cantini (50) ITA Vancouver 34
19.Confidenial NZL – Rustler 36
20.Confidenial NOR

They arrive !

Follow the arrivals ...

We advice to follow the race on the page of Facebook Golden Globe Race

RCA radio, will be on first position to tell the arrivals of Mark et Jean-Luc, follow on facebook RCA radio

Welcome to the skippers : Chais des Marins near fishing School (allée du Frère Maximin - Les Sables d'Olonne).

Departure on July 1st, at 12:00 pm

Chenal-Arundel-La-Chaume---Credit-A-Lamoureux-Vendee-Expansion

Chenal-La-Chaume-Credit-A-Lamoureux-Vendee-Expansion

All GGR boats to discover at 9.30 am to 11.30am - Quai Dingler or Quai des Boucaniers - Les Sables d'Olonne

You will can admire the Suhaili boat of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, and the Joshua boat of Bernard Moitessier.

List of skippers :
Abhilash Tomy / India
Antoine Cousot / France
Are Wiig / Norway
Ertan Beskardes / United Kingdom
Francesco Cappelletti / Italy
Gregor McGuckin / Ireland
Mark John Sinclair / Australia
Loïc Lepage / France
Kevin Farebrother / Australia
Jean-Luc van den Heede / France
Istvan Kopar / USA
Igor Zaretskiy / Russia
Uku Randmaa / Estonia
Tapio Lehtinen / Finland
Susie Goodall / United Kingdom
Philippe Péché / France
Nabil Amra / Palestine
Mark Slats / Netherlands

The race

To celebrate Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s historic 1968/9 world first solo non-stop circumnavigation in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Yacht Race, a new Golden Globe Race will be staged to mark the 50th Anniversary of that epic, starting from Falmouth on June 14th, 2018.

Departure from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France on July 1st, 2018 and sail solo, non-stop around the world, via the 5 Great Capes and return to Les Sables-d’Olonne in Vendée.
Entrants are limited to sailing similar yachts and equipment to what was available to Sir Robin in that first race. That means sailing without modern technology or benefit of satellite based navigation aids. Competitors must sail in production boats between 32ft and 36ft overall (9.75 – 10.97m) designed prior to 1988 that have a full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge. These yachts are heavily built, strong and sturdy, similar in concept to Sir Robin’s 32ft vessel Suhaili.
In contrast to the current professional world of elite ocean racing, this edition travels back to a time known as the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing. Suhaili was a slow, sturdy 32ft double-ended ketch based on a William Atkins ERIC design. She was heavily built of teak and carried no computers, GPS, satellite phone nor water-maker, and Robin completed the challenge with no outside assistance or aid of modern day shore-based weather routing advice. He had only a wind-up chronometer and a barograph to face the world alone, and caught rainwater to survive. But he was at one with the ocean, able to contemplate and absorb all that this epic voyage had to offer.

This anniversary edition of the Golden Globe Race is a celebration of the original event, the winner, his boat and that significant world-first achievement. Competitors in this race will be sailing simple boats using basic equipment to guarantee a satisfying and personal experience. The challenge is pure and very raw, placing adventure ahead of winning at all costs. It is for ‘those who dare’, just as it was for Sir Robin. They will be navigating with sextant on paper charts, without electronic instruments or autopilots. They will hand-write their logs and determine the weather for themselves. Only occasionally will they talk to loved ones and the outside world when long-range high frequency and ham radios allow. It is now possible to race a monohull solo around the world in under 80 days, but sailors entered in this race will spend around 300 days at sea in little boats, challenging themselves and each other.
The 2018 Golden Globe Race will be a fitting tribute to the first edition and it’s winner, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

Golden Globe Race