The great offshore races and their latest results.

Offshore safety: the Special Regulations

World Sailing's Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) set safety equipment and training requirements for offshore racing, sorting races into categories by how exposed they are. ORC strengthened them after the 1979 Fastnet Race, with changes ratified in 1980. The facts below come from the 2022-2023 edition, the most recent text we could check, and are not the current rules. An April 2026 Irish Sailing notice says the OSR were amended for 2026-2027, including the lifejacket section, but does not give the new wording. Always check the current regulations and your race's own documents.

Key OSR equipment and training points, as the 2022-2023 text states them:

• Life jackets. For offshore categories, life jackets must meet ISO 12402-3 Level 150 (150 newtons of buoyancy) or an equivalent, with crotch or thigh straps and an integral harness. Inshore dinghy racing references ISO 12402-5 Level 50. See life jackets.
• Harnesses and tethers. Must meet ISO 12401. Tethers may be no longer than 2 m and must have self-closing hooks.
• Training. In Category 0, every crew member must have been trained within the past five years. In Categories 1 and 2, at least 30% of the crew, and at least two people including the person in charge, must be trained. A current World Sailing Approved Offshore Personal Survival course certificate counts as evidence.

Races can set their own requirements too. The Newport Bermuda Race, for example, requires at least 30% of each crew, and at least two people including the person in charge, to hold a World Sailing Approved Offshore Personal Survival certificate, and accepts US Sailing's International Offshore Safety at Sea course with hands-on training. US Sailing says many offshore race organizers require its Safety at Sea courses.

Quick reference

The Newport Bermuda Race is even-year in practice: it is held every two years, the 54th race was in 2026, and the next is set for June 2028.

The Ocean Race

According to Wikipedia (secondary), the race began as the Whitbread Round the World Race, which left Portsmouth on 8 September 1973 with 17 yachts. It became the Volvo Ocean Race in 2001 and The Ocean Race in 2019. Wikipedia lists the 2017-18 winner as Dongfeng Race Team, skippered by Charles Caudrelier.

2022-23: 11th Hour Racing Team, skippered by Charlie Enright, became the first US team to win in the race's 50-year history. The win rested on an International Jury decision: the team retired from the final leg after a collision that was not its fault and was awarded redress points. Wikipedia lists WindWhisper Racing Team as the 2023 VO65 class winner.

Shorter events now run between round-the-world editions:

• The Ocean Race Europe 2025, seven IMOCA teams from Kiel (10 August 2025) to Boka Bay, Montenegro, was won by Biotherm, skippered by Paul Meilhat.
• The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 started in New York on 1 September 2026 and finished in Lorient, France (earlier plans named Barcelona as the finish). Six IMOCA teams raced, each with two women and two men. Paul Meilhat's United by the Ocean won in 7 days, 23 hours, 39 minutes and 11 seconds, 8 minutes 56 seconds ahead of 11th Hour Racing, skippered by Francesca Clapcich.

Next edition, as of October 2026: the 15th edition is set to start from Alicante on 17 January 2027 in IMOCA 60s, with four crew including at least one woman. The planned route is Alicante, Auckland, Itajai, St. Petersburg (Florida), Cascais, Port Said (listed as tentative) and a finish at AMAALA in Saudi Arabia. It is due to enter the Red Sea for the first time, with the fleet passing through the Suez Canal together.

Vendee Globe

The Vendee Globe is a solo, non-stop, unassisted race around the world, held every four years. It starts and finishes at Les Sables d'Olonne in France and passes the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn.

2024-25 (10th edition): 40 skippers started from 44 entries, six of them women, on Sunday 10 November 2024. Charlie Dalin (France, MACIF Sante Prevoyance) won on 14 January 2025 in 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds, beating the previous race record (Armel Le Cleac'h, 2016, 74 days 3 hours) by more than nine days.

Dalin had also crossed the line first in 2020-21 but was placed second, because Yannick Bestaven received time compensation for his part in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier. We have not given a date for the next edition because we did not confirm one from a source as of October 2026.

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

First held in 1945, the race is organized by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and Rolex has been title sponsor since 2002. The course is 628 nautical miles. Line honours go to the first boat home; the overall winner, decided on handicap, receives the Tattersall Cup.

Two sailors died during the 2024 race. In 2025, Jiang Lin became the first woman to win the race overall and Min River the first double-handed overall winner; Min River was declared winner after a protest gave a time penalty to BNC - my::NET / LEON, which had initially been ahead. One secondary source gives Master Lock Comanche's 2025 elapsed time as 2 days, 5 hours, 3 minutes and 36 seconds, but we did not find it from the organizer.

Rolex Fastnet Race

Founded in 1925 and organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the Fastnet is held every two years. The 695-nautical-mile course runs from Cowes around the Fastnet Rock off southern Ireland to Cherbourg, France. The 1979 race led ORC to strengthen the Offshore Special Regulations.

2025 (51st): a record 444 entries started from Cowes.

• Overall (Fastnet Challenge Cup): Leon, a double-handed JPK sailed by Alexis Loison and Jean-Pierre Kelbert. The top three overall were all French double-handed crews: Leon, Lann Ael 3 and Amarris. Sources name different JPK models for Leon: Rolex describes a 10.43 m (34 ft) boat, Scuttlebutt says JPK 1050, and Sail-World says JPK 10.80.
• Monohull line honours: Black Jack 100 (Tristan Le Brun), 2 days, 12 hours, 31 minutes, 21 seconds.
• Multihull line honours: the Ultim SVR Lazartigue, 41 hours, 18 minutes, 4 seconds.

Transpac (Los Angeles to Honolulu)

The first Transpac started from San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 11 June 1906, and Clarence MacFarlane of Honolulu is credited as its originator. It started in Los Angeles because the 1906 San Francisco earthquake ruled out a start from the Golden Gate. In 1936 the Transpacific Yacht Club agreed to hold it in odd-numbered years, which it has done since 1939. Starts are staggered, pursuit style, and the course is 2,225 nautical miles.

2025: 53 boats raced and 49 finished.

• Barn Door Trophy (first monohull to finish): Bryon Ehrhart's 88-ft Lucky, which started on Saturday 5 July and finished at Diamond Head on 11 July 2025. Sources disagree on its elapsed time: the Transpacific Yacht Club gives 5 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes, 49 seconds, while Yachts and Yachting gives 6 days, 6 hours, 23 minutes, 50 seconds. The club is the primary source. The Barn Door record is Comanche's 5 days, 1 hour, 55 minutes, 26 seconds, set in 2017.
• King Kalakaua Trophy (overall on corrected time): Alli Bell's Cal 40 Restless. Bell was the first woman skipper to win it.

Newport Bermuda Race

The race runs from Newport, Rhode Island, to St. David's Lighthouse, Bermuda, and is known as "the thrash to the Onion Patch." It dates from 1906, and the Cruising Club of America and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club have run it since 1923. It is held every two years, starting on the third Friday in June, and takes two to six days depending on the Gulf Stream, the weather and the boat. Bermuda's tourism site gives the distance as 635 nautical miles; a 2026 race report gives 636 miles and says the course was lengthened by one mile that year.

2026 (54th): just under 150 boats started and only six retired.

• St. David's Lighthouse Trophy: Nicole, a Cal 40 owned and skippered by Thomas Campbell.
• Line honours and Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Trophy: Black Jack 100 (owner Remon Vos, skipper Tristan Le Brun), 1 day, 11 hours, 26 minutes, 46 seconds, within an hour of the 2016 race record.

The next race is scheduled for June 2028.

Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac

The first race, in 1898, had five boats. It has run every year since 1921, after a break from 1917 to 1920. The 333-mile course runs from Chicago up Lake Michigan to Mackinac Island, and the organizers call it the longest annual freshwater sailing race in the world. Course records are 23 hours, 30 minutes, 34 seconds for monohulls (Pyewacket, 2002) and 18 hours, 50 minutes, 32 seconds for multihulls (Stars and Stripes, 1998).

2026 (117th): the Racing Division started on 10 July 2026, with about 250 teams.

• Line honours: Whitehawk, Peter Thornton's 104-ft ketch, for the fifth year running, in 1 day, 23 hours, 11 minutes.
• Mackinac Cup: Rambler (J/99, Jim Nachtman).
• Mackinac Trophy: Mockingbird (GL52, Chris Duhon).

The 118th race is scheduled for July 2027.

Rolex Middle Sea Race

Established in 1968 and organized by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, this 606-nautical-mile October race goes around Sicily, starting and finishing in Malta.

2025 (46th): 117 boats started and 110 finished. Balthasar (Maxi 72, Louis Balcaen) won overall, and Black Jack 100 took line honours in 65 hours, 44 minutes.

2026 (47th): scheduled to start from Grand Harbour, Valletta, on 17 October 2026. As of October 2026 we do not have results.

A note on ratings

Overall winners in several of these races are decided on corrected time. The Sydney Hobart, the Fastnet and the Middle Sea Race all use IRC; see handicap systems.