Five teams have now been confirmed for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup, the new trophy announced earlier this month.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the cup will be awarded to the team which accumulates the best score across three different legs of the race.

The five-boat fleet of identical 65-foot high-performance ocean racing yachts — raced by a mixed gender 10-person crew which must include three female and three under-30 sailors — will join the five-boat IMOCA fleet in the opening leg from Alicante, Spain to Mindelo in the Cabo Verde archipelago, as well as Leg 6 from the Danish city Aarhus to The Hague in the Netherlands via a flyby in Germany’s Kiel.Sailing.City, and the around-the-world race’s final seventh leg from The Hague to Genoa, Italy for the grand finale.

They will also take part in their own four-heat in-port race series with inshore races held during the stopovers in Alicante, Cabo Verde, The Hague and Genoa.

This week, Ambersail 2 became the latest VO65 team to announce their place on the starting line for the new challenge. The Lithuanian-flagged team — which previously competed in The Ocean Race Europe last year — will be led on the water by skipper Rokas Milevičius.

Determined: Viva México skipper Erik Brockmann | Credit: Jen Edney/Viva México

And the Olympian is assembling a team of strong local talent including experienced helmsman and tactician Saulius Pajarskas, younger generation sailors Domantas Juškevičius and Deimantė Jarmalavičiūtė, as well as Jonas Drąsutavičius and Polish sailor Viktoras Pascalis who recently joined the team.

Viva México also returns to competitive action after the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe.

The team’s skipper Erik Brockmann — an accomplished Mexican yachtsman and past world champion skipper who also led the team in The Ocean Race Europe — says their taking part in the new sprint event is another significant step towards a Mexican crew racing around the world in The Ocean Race for the first time since his countryman Ramón Carlín won the first ever edition in 1973-74 aboard Sayula II.

Veteran Spanish sailor Pablo Arrarte will lead the Polish yacht WindWhisper, whose entry was also announced this week just says after the confirmation of Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team’s return for its third consecutive entry in The Ocean Race — this time with a fully Portuguese crew, racing the boat used by Dongfeng Race Team to win the 2017-18 edition and Mirpuri Foundation to clinch The Ocean Race Europe.

The team will be led by António Fontes who competed as a sailor in the 2017-18 edition of the Race and now graduates from boat captain to skipper for the three stages of The Ocean Race VO 65 Sprint.

Rounding out the Sprint Cup field is Team JAJO, which will be bolstered by the addition of legendary Dutch around-the-world racer Bouwe Bekking as watch captain.

The Biotherm IMOCA competing in last month’s Route du Rhum | Credit: Vincent Olivaud/#RDR2022

Meanwhile, the five IMOCA teams set to race around the world full-crewed for the first time in the 2022-23 edition of The Ocean Race starting in January from Alicante, Spain recently arrived in three separate ports around the Mediterranean ahead of the Alicante assembly deadline.

Four of the five — Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim – PRB (SUI), Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm Racing (FRA), Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia (GER) and GUYOT environnement – Team Europe (FRA), co-skippered by Benjamin Dutreux and Robert Stanjek — arrived in Mediterranean waters after sailing fully crewed across the Atlantic from Guadeloupe following the finish of the solo Route du Rhum race that started in St Malo, France.

All the teams that took part in the Route du Rhum will undergo a refit period and measurement ahead of The Ocean Race rules-mandated assembly deadline of Monday 2 January, by which time all the teams must arrive in Alicante.

American entry 11th Hour Racing Team, skippered by Charlie Enright, last week docked in the nearby port of Valencia after a short passage from the team’s base in Concarneau, France via some training off the coast of Portugal. They plan to shift to Alicante after Christmas.

The first leg of the 2022-23 edition of The Ocean Race starts on 15 January 2023, just 25 days from now.

In October 2023, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre will celebrate its 30th anniversary in Le Havre before the famous two-handed tranatlantic race heads to Martinique, where the finish of the race known as the Route du Café will be hosted for the second time in a row.

It is an anniversary that nearly 100 duos across the three open classes — IMOCA, Ocean Fifty and Class40 — have already marked on their calendars as the highlight of their 2023 season.

And this 16th edition of the biennial offshore race, which is the longest of the Transats, will once again see a very popular celebration take place in Le Havre which has been the historic start port since 1993.

From 20 October 2023, the opening date of the race village, a big public festival around the Paul Vatine baisin runs right through until start day on 29 October.

Thirty years is also a good time to refresh memories of the race’s proud history. Since 1993 no fewer than 534 sailors have braved the Atlantic, racing between Le Havre and the most beautiful coffee-producing destinations.

Although the first Transat Jacques Vabre was raced solo and crowned the Le Havre skipper Paul Vatine as victor, it became double handed from 1995, and that format has continued.

And there are many, many famous duos who have won the the Route du Café: Paul Vatine who scored the double in 1995 alongside Roland Jourdain; Franck Cammas-Steve Ravussin; Yves Parlier-Eric Tabarly, Franck-Yves Escoffier-Karine Fauconnier; Loick Peyron-Jean-Pierre Dick; Charlie Dalin-Yann Eliès and so many other talented partnerships have marked the event with their multiple wins and their complementary skills and personalities.

In 2023 the names of three other winning duos will be added to this long list. A multi-class race, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre will be the highlight of the season in three classes. In IMOCA, the new Raison and Koch-Finot-Conq designs — due for 2023 launches — will challenge the best 60-footers of the 2021-2022 generation. An amazing field of 40 IMOCAs are due at the start, almost double the entry for the 2021 edition.

Ten Ocean Fifty trimarans are expected to compete, a record field for the 50-footers which also corresponds to the number of entries set by this class which wishes to control its growth. And no shortage of intensity and excitement in Class40 which will have nearly 50 participants for a Route du Café which should be sold out.

Because of the differences in speed potential of the three classes, Race Direction are working on developing three different courses. This innovation was tested in 2021 to guarantee grouped arrivals in Martinique, this making sure everyone shares the one big party and maximum media exposure for all competitors.

The Class40s race only in the North Atlantic and will have some 4,500 miles to cover, which makes the Route du Café their longest transatlantic race. As for the Ocean Fifty and IMOCA, they will race a course into the South Atlantic with two passages through the Doldrums and a total of nearly 6,000 miles of racing

There are many different elements which make the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre a unique event. It is a globally important, major race whose historical partners, the city of Le Havre and the JDE group (holders of the Jacques Vabre coffee brand) are also the organisers. They will be able to rely on the Normandy region and for the second consecutive year on Martinique, the land of origin for coffee in America which awaits sailors from mid-November 2023.

A new trophy has been announced for the VO65 one-design class in The Ocean Race 2022-23, which sets sail from Alicante in Spain next month.

Along with five confirmed IMOCA teams racing around the world, up to five VO65 teams will be on the starting line with an option to compete for the new VO65 Sprint Cup.

The new trophy has been specially created for VO65 teams and will be awarded to the team which accumulates the best score across three different legs of the race: Alicante to Cabo Verde; Aarhus in Denmark to The Hague; and The Hague to Genoa, Italy.

VO65 teams participating for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup will compete in the in-port races scheduled in those cities as well as the three stages of offshore racing from point to point.

“This new trophy will enable a new generation of sailors, along with some familiar faces, to gain some valuable experience in The Ocean Race,” said Phil Lawrence, race director of The Ocean Race.

“This format provides an opportunity to compete in The Ocean Race environment, with racing from host city to host city along with in-port competitions. The participating VO65 teams will get significant offshore racing exposure.”

The first racing for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup is the in-port race in Alicante on 8 January 2023, followed by the first offshore stage in the event from Alicante to Cabo Verde starting on 15 January.

“We are very happy that we will compete in the in-port race and then take the leg one start in Alicante on 15 January. We’re looking forward to racing three incredible Legs against some top-level competition. It promises to be an incredible battle,” said Jelmer van Beek, a 27-year-old Dutch sailor from The Hague who has been named skipper and will lead the young Team JAJO.

“For me personally it is an amazing challenge to be the skipper of Team JAJO,” he added. “I think I am one of the youngest skippers to take a start in the race. It’s a huge responsibility and above all a challenge. But one that I am ready for and really looking forward to, especially with this team.”

At sail during the Genoa coastal race in The Ocean Race Europe | Credit: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

The Dutch boat had a refit at Royal Huisman last summer and is almost race ready, with finishing touches being applied in Barcelona before the team assembles for training next Tuesday 6 December.

“It’s been such a big learning experience working on this boat to get it ready for racing,” said Mateusz Gwóźdź from the Polish team. He is once again expected to be the youngest sailor in the race, at just 17 years old, and having previously competed in The Ocean Race Europe. “I can’t wait to get the boat in the water and do more training before we head for Alicante.”

The Polish team has been preparing its new VO65 (previously AkzoNobel) from a base in Valencia, Spain and is planning to make a full team and crew announcement shortly.

Working its way back into The Ocean Race is Team Viva México, who are aiming for a Mexican comeback of sorts after the historic win of Sayula II in the first edition of the race in 1973. No Mexican-flagged team has participated in the race since then.

“In 2019 we set ourselves a goal to bring Mexico back into what we consider the greatest race around the world,” said skipper Erik Brockmann, who led the team in The Ocean Race Europe.

“Many things have changed in the past three years that we did not anticipate then, but being on the start line to race for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup is an exciting step towards bringing Mexico back into Race and a way of paying tribute to the historic win we achieved 50 years ago.”

More information about the VO65 teams racing for The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup will be made available shortly, race organisers say.

Meanwhile, the IMOCA fleet is set to lead the action in The Ocean Race with five teams - 11th Hour Racing Team, Team Malizia, GUYOT environnement-Team Europe, Biotherm Racing and Holcim PRB - featuring many of the top names in offshore sailing, racing around the world.

The IMOCA fleet will assemble in Alicante, Spain from 2 January 2023 ahead of their in-port race on 8 January. Leg One of The Ocean Race begins on 15 January.

French skipper Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) has dismasted on the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe while lying in ninth place on the solo race from Saint Malo to Guadeloupe which started on Wednesday at 1415hrs.

He reported the accident at 1700hrs this afternoon. He is uninjured and his team are in contact with him.

There have never been so many IMOCA class entries in the La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe in the IMOCA class. With 37 boats set to take the start line, there are certainly more contenders for the podium than in any previous edition and there is strength and depth all the way through the field.

For the top IMOCA skippers, winning this mythical solo race is the obvious goal. It is very much an extended sprint. It is contested at a unique, high-level intensity with very little time to rest. The transition between what is often a tough Bay of Biscay crossing to the foot to the floor, relentless high speeds of the trade winds is often key. For many, the race lasts around two weeks, whilst the course record for the IMOCAs was set in 2014 by François Gabart, then 31-years-old, who completed the race in 12 days, 4 hours and 38 minutes.

The 2018 edition saw a dramatic finish, with Paul Meilhat taking the IMOCA title. He returns with a new boat in the colours of his new sponsor Biotherm. He is just one of seven new IMOCAs launched over the last four months. There are four pairs of sisterships now. Maxime Sorel V and B – Monbana – Mayenne is a Verdier sistership of the current APIVIA. Meilhat’s Biotherm is a Verdier sistership of LinkedOut. Yannick Bestaven’s new Maitre Coq V is a Verdier sistership of 11th Hour Racing-Mâlama and Sam Davies’ new Initiatives Coeur 4 is a sistership of the Sam Manuard designed L'Occitane en Provence.

Holcim – PRB by Kevin Escoffier

Three boats come from completely new moulds. There is the Verdier Holcim – PRB by Kevin Escoffier, Manuard’s Charal2 by Jérémie Beyou and the VPLP-designed new Malizia – Sea Explorer of Boris Herrmann ). All these new boats are expected to be on starting line on November 6 off Saint-Malo.

Like others in the class, Kévin Escoffier (Holcim - PRB) believes that the "new boats will not be favourites; it is will be the boats of the 2020 generation that are more reliable that will have the advantage". Four new boats were among the 'top 10' of the Azimut Challenge flagship event in mid-September.

Charlie Dalin (APIVIA)

Among these boats and skippers are of course, the dominant Charlie Dalin (APIVIA) and Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut). Both have new IMOCAs in build, and this will be their last race with their current monohulls. Dalin, second in the Vendée Globe, is the recent winner of the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race and June’s Vendée Arctic race and remains undefeated this season. But he has never competed in the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, whilst Thomas Ruyant, who won the Transat Jacques Vabre last year, is also a contender for the win. 

A big jump for 13 rookies

But the weather conditions in November on the Bay of Biscay are frequently an acid test for the new boats, exposing early weaknesses. Proven reliability is often the most important attribute. There are certain weather scenarios – especially a lot of upwind sailing - which could prove good for the non-foiling straight daggerboard boats, especially early in the race. Among them, Conrad Colman (Imagine), Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job), Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com) and Éric Bellion (Commeunseulhomme powered by Altavia), who showed well last June during the Vendée Arctique.

Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com)

And there will be 13 rookies racing on the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe taking on a major solo race for the first time. Among them in the IMOCA class are the experienced Swiss sailors Justine Mettraux (Teamwork.net) and Oliver Heer (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing), the Chinese Jingkun Xu (China Dream-Haikou), and Britain’s James Harayda (Gentoo) will discover for the first time this mythical transatlantic.

All of the IMOCA skippers are expected in Saint Malo on October 26, including Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), who is based in the Corsair city. All will take part in a parade under sail for visiting spectators who maybe can’t get to the start to see the IMOCAs in their glory. Those lucky enough to be around in Guadeloupe for the finish can expect the first boats around November 18th.

They said :

Charlie Dalin (APIVIA) : “I feel like I have known this race, the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe since I was very young. And this race has always made me dream. However, I I have never taken part and now is the time to give it a go. The competition promises to be tough. There is quantity and quality with six new latest-generation boats. The challenge will be to find the right tempo because it's neither fast like a stage of La Solitaire du Figaro, nor as long as a Vendée Globe. It's somewhere between the 100 meters and the marathon: you will always have to set your cursor in the right place ! ".

Kevin Escoffier (Holcim – PRB) : “The Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe is the race of my childhood. I have memories of going round the locks and going out to sea with my father on the fishing boats. It was the 'Rhum' that made me want to go offshore racing. My objective will be to continue learning, to make the boat more reliable, to optimize and to get to know my boat better. We know that the start of the race will be very important, especially the passage through the Bay of Biscay. I aim to race to get to the finish line and do everything to I possibly can get to the finish. "

Isabelle Joschke MACSF

Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) : “I am so excited about the idea of ​​competing in this Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe. It's a mythical race and it's also a course that I really like. Leaving France in the Autumn and crossing the Atlantic, sometimes facing great difficulties and having this great reward at the end with the finish in Pointe-à-Pitre. My objective will be to finish, to have fun. The icing on the cake would be to finish in the 'top 10'. It's nice to have so many IMOCAs on the starting line. This means that there will be a match everywhere, in front, in the middle and at the back of the fleet. It looks exciting! 

Kevin Escoffier, a previous winner of The Ocean Race, will enter his new generation IMOCA, Holcim-PRB, in the next edition beginning 15 January 2023 from Alicante, Spain.

Escoffier confirmed his entry as his rebranded IMOCA, in striking green and blue, was rolled out of the workshed in Lorient, France, and relaunched in a ceremony on Monday (22 August).

“I love racing, and The Ocean Race is an amazing race where you push 100% all the time,” skipper Escoffier said. “And you share this life with your crew. In 2014-15 it was my first race with Dongfeng Race Team and Charles Caudrelier as the skipper. In 2017-18 I was very lucky he called me back to join a winning campaign!

“Now I’m very happy to come back with my own project. It’s a short timeline. We will have to work hard. But we have a great team…

Kevin Escoffier launches his IMOCA, Holcim-PRB, in Lorient on Monday 22 August | Credit: Eloi Stichelbaut - polaRYSE/HOLCIM-PRB

“The decision to commit to The Ocean Race was only confirmed in July so it’s come just in time… We have some work ahead and it demands some effort on logistics and preparation but it’s all good news and a fantastic opportunity.

“We’re very happy with the boat, with the new branding and looking forward to getting sailing already at the end of this week,” added Escoffier, who was the subject of a dramatic rescue by fellow competitor Jean Le Cam during the Vendée Globe in the southern Indian Ocean in December 2020.

“We have a strong, all-purpose boat, very easy to handle and I think it will be a fast boat when single-handing and in fully-crewed configuration for The Ocean Race.”

Escoffier says the team will name the crew for the The Ocean Race in the coming weeks. In the meantime, he will be competing solo in the Défi Azimut in Lorient, France in September and the Route du Rhum transatlantic race in November.

Holcim-PRB joins Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team, Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia, Benjamin Dutreux and Robert Stanjek’s GUYOT environnement - Team Europe and Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm as confirmed entries in the IMOCA division for The Ocean Race 2022-23.

Boris Herrmann’s offshore sailing team launched their new IMOCA race yacht as scheduled today, Tuesday 19 July in Lorient, Race some 18 months after design began.

Designed by VPLP, Malizia - Seaexplorer was built at Multiplast in nearby Vannes over the past 12 months, using “advanced” engineering technology and craftsmanship. The yacht will get its first big test in the Route du Rhum this November, ahead of the next edition of The Ocean Race in the new year.

“Learning from our experience in the past four years and in particular the Vendée Globe 2020-21, we wanted a boat that can maintain high average speeds even in rough sea conditions,” skipper Herrmann said at today’s launch event.

“Therefore, together with the architects from VPLP, we chose softer and rounder hull lines and a curved bow. We also made the boat even more solid than the previous one and completely redesigned the [ergonomics] and living space.”

Malizia - Seaexplorer carries the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals wheel and its hull features the team’s slogan, “A Race We Must Win - Climate Action Now”, with the aim of creating awareness and inspiring ambitious climate action.

Herrmann will skipper the boat in the Route du Rhum this November across the Atlantic from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe, and his first single-handed regatta since the Vendée Globe.

Then from January, he will join co-skippers Will Harris and Rosalin Kuiper on Malizia - Seaexplorer for the round-the-world challenge of The Ocean Race — another test of the new boat, this time in the rough conditions of the Southern Ocean — with the ultimate goal of the Vendée Globe 2024-25 in sight.

Team Malizia is one of 14 IMOCA teams registered for The Ocean Race, which starts from Alicante in Spain on 15 January.

A notable feature of the new yacht is its mini-laboratory, the Ocean Pack, that will allow the team to continue to collect ocean data such as sea surface CO2 levels in remote regions like the Southern Ocean.

The boat, which sails under the flag of Monaco, will be christened during the Malizia Ocean Festival on 6-7 September in its home port Hamburg, where skipper Boris Herrmann lives and Team Malizia is based.

A new IMOCA team is confirmed to participate in The Ocean Race 2022-23, as French offshore sailor Benjamin Dutreux joins forces with Offshore Team Germany Olympian Robert Stanjek, the same combination that raced to victory in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe last summer.

Jens Kuphal and Alice Potiron will provide team management for the new partnership, GUYOT environnement - Team Europe.

“The Ocean Race Europe was a great experience for all of us working together for the first time and I think now, with a new boat, we can look forward to a great race around the world with this team,” said Dutreux, who will be racing the same IMOCA he plans to use for the next edition of the Vendée Globe.

“This race is a true international race. We have been focused on the solo races, but now we have a different story to look forward to and we are happy to begin this new challenge with a crewed race, around the world, and it will be a great opportunity to learn about each other and our boat.”

Offshore Team Germany celebrate their overall IMOCA 60 victory following the Genoa coastal race in June 2021 | Credit: Sailing Energy/The Ocean Race

Stanjek added: “I’m very motivated and keen to build on what we achieved in The Ocean Race Europe in the big one - the race around the world. Benjamin and I already know each other well from the previous race and I think that is an advantage.

“Our philosophy is to bring different sailors with different backgrounds together and merge their skills to build a strong, overall unit and I think we proved it well in The Ocean Race Europe and we want to keep this team for The Ocean Race.”

The GUYOT environnement - Team Europe IMOCA boat has a successful pedigree under the Hugo Boss banner, finishing in second place in the 2016-17 edition of the Vendée Globe and leading the most recent Route du Rhum fleet all the way to Guadeloupe.

More recently, the boat has been equipped with new foils and used as a training vehicle for the 11th Hour Racing Team as it prepared its own project for The Ocean Race.

“This boat is already well-developed and prepared for racing at the front of the fleet,” said Dutreux, who was able to race a 15-year old boat to an impressive ninth-place finish in the last Vendée Globe. “We are starting with a reliable, fast boat and that is important as we prepare for the race.”

GUYOT environnement - Team Europe is the fourth IMOCA campaign confirmed to be on the start line in Alicante, Spain on 15 January 2023, along with Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team, Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia and Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm. The VO65 side has also grown with the recent addition of Dutch entry Sailing Team NextGen, featuring Carolijn Brouwer who crewed the 2017-18 winner Dongfeng Race Team.

“It’s fantastic to see Benjamin and Robert come together to build on what they achieved in The Ocean Race Europe,” said Phil Lawrence, race director for The Ocean Race. “We now have four competitive IMOCA teams confirmed for the race and we continue to engage with other IMOCA and VO65 projects who are working to join us in Alicante in January for the start of the race.”

French skipper Paul Meilhat will fulfil a lifelong dream in January 2023 when he leads Biotherm across the starting line of The Ocean Race on the waters off Alicante, Spain.

Meilhat and his team will be racing one of the newest IMOCA boats in the fleet, a Verdier design that is expected to compete for the title in The Ocean Race 2022-23, before Meilhat will go on to sail in the next edition of the single-handed Vendée Globe.

“I am very happy to officially announce our participation in The Ocean Race with Biotherm,” Meilhat says. “I have been working to be at the start of this event for the last three years.

“Everything about The Ocean Race excites me. It’s about the sport, but it’s also about travelling around the world and being able to discover other countries and create links with new people; all of this is great and I’m keen to feel the full story of one of the great events in our sport.

"We are lucky to have a great boat to participate in the entire IMOCA Globe Series programme. I am thrilled that we have secured our participation in The Ocean Race, which adds a new, even more international dimension to our campaign.

"This opportunity is important to both the sporting side of the project, with the sailing team hungering to take on this incredible challenge, as well as for our title sponsor Biotherm, an international skincare brand in the L’Oréal Group. Biotherm has been dedicated to ocean protection for over 10 years and the brand’s values are​ very much in line with The Ocean Race, committed to bringing people together to protect the health of the ocean.”

Like many IMOCA sailors, Meilhat is well known for his ability competing short-handed. He is a winner of the Route du Rhum and the Fastnet Race as well as being the IMOCA Globe Series champion in 2021. But he also has experience and an ambition to race in a crewed format, and says the two disciplines complement each other.

Paul Meilhat and Richard Brisius shake hands at Race Control in Alicante | Credit: Alexander Champy-McLean/The Ocean Race

“From a sporting standpoint, it's great to have the opportunity to race around the world, to test our boats and to compete with the best with a full crew on board. It’s a different culture with a lot of engagement on board between the sailors,” he says.

“The crew brings a real dynamic. On The Ocean Race Europe, we clearly saw that there was good energy on the boats and notable progress over the rest of the season.

“Racing with a crew also allows us to sail more than we do alone. During The Ocean Race we will sail almost more than on the entire IMOCA solo or double-handed programme over the next three years. This volume of racing is very beneficial, with the stopovers allowing for development, restarting, and so on.

“The new format of The Ocean Race matches perfectly with our current IMOCA programme and schedule. It's one of the great races which is consistent with what we do and which has the advantage of taking us to the Southern Ocean, sailing in difficult and challenging conditions, which helps us develop our boats and ourselves as sailors.”

The new Biotherm is expected to be launched in August and will compete in the Route de Rhum this autumn before returning to Alicante, Spain for the start of The Ocean Race on 15 January next year.

“It’s fantastic to have Paul and his Biotherm team confirm they will join The Ocean Race,” Johan Salén, managing Director of The Ocean Race said. “Paul was among the first IMOCA skippers to signal his ambition and intention to compete and we know he worked very hard over the past three years to bring this project to the start line. We’re looking forward to seeing him race.”

Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm joins skipper Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia and skipper Charlie Enright’s 11th Hour Racing Team as confirmed IMOCA campaigns for The Ocean Race 2022-23. The full list of registered teams in both the IMOCA and V65 classes can be found on the official race website, and The Ocean Race promises further team announcements shortly.

At least four IMOCA teams are planning to compete in the Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race: Sam Davies with Initiatives-Coeur, Pip Hare with Medallia, Ollie Heer with Oliver Heer Ocean Racing and James Harayda with Gentoo 2. So far, 29 teams are among the early entries and expressions of interest for the race which is scheduled to start from Cowes, Isle of Wight on the 7th of August 2022.

The 1,805 nautical mile race around Britain and Ireland is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club every four years and is considered to be one of the toughest challenges in the sport of yacht racing. The Round Britain & Ireland Race Race Record for monohulls 60ft and less was set in 2014 by Artemis-Team Endeavour, skippered by Brian Thompson: 5 days 14 hours and 54 seconds.

MEDALLIA - PIP HARE

Pip Hare Photo: Mark Lloyd

Pip Hare shot to fame in the 2020-21 Vendée Globe, completing the solo round the world race in one of the oldest boats in just over 95 days. Pip is back with a newer generation IMOCA Medallia; the foiling 2015 VPLP/Verdier design won the 2016-17 Vendée Globe and was the second boat to cross the finish line in the 2020-21 edition. Just last week, after a major winter refit, Medallia went for a first big sea trial from Gosport to Portugal.

“It has been a really hard push to get the boat ready for the sea trials, but what a ride! 25-30 knot reaching conditions,” commented Pip Hare. “On trial with Jack Bouttell and Olly Young we had a blistering sail down to Portugal, beating the shore team who went by road! We got a real taste of what is to come and it is so exciting.”

Pip Hare competed in the 2018 Round Britain & Ireland Race with Chris Frost and Elin Haf Davies in the Class40 Aparito. “As friends, we wanted to do this race together, but it was a pretty old Class40 to be honest!” admitted Pip. “We did race Aparito really hard and at times we were ahead of some of the modern Class40s, which was really amazing. But we were sticking the boat back together as we were going round!”

“For the 2022 race I have an incredible boat and I am racing with a really great crew: Jack Bouttell, Ben Schwartz, Paul Larsen and Nick Bubb. Their incredible knowledge and hunger for racing will mean we can push the boat in race conditions. This will enable me to become a better sailor with the new Medallia.”

INITIATIVES-COEUR - SAM DAVIES

Sam Davies Photo: Initiatives-Coeur

Sam Davies has three Vendée Globe attempts in her impressive racing CV, including fourth in 2008-09. Sam Davies is the most experienced of the early expressions of interest and has a new Sam Manuard designed boat in build, hoping to be ready for the Round Britain & Ireland Race.

Sam’s first Round Britain and Ireland was in 2009 on board AVIVA, skippered by Dee Caffari, setting an all-women team course record. Sam’s last appearance in the race was as skipper of the VO65 Team SCA in 2014, setting a new outright women’s record for the course and the race: 4 days 21 hours 00 minutes and 39 seconds.

OLIVER HEER OCEAN RACING - OLLIE HEER

Ollie Heer Photo:  PKC Media

Ollie Heer has competed in two previous editions of the Round Britain & Ireland Race. In 2018 as boat captain for Giles Redpath’s IRC Lombard 46 Pata Negra, Ollie was on the team for the overall win. The 2022 edition will be Ollie’s debut race in his 2007 Farr-designed IMOCA Oliver Heer Ocean Racing. The boat will have four crew composed of south coast UK sailors, yet to be announced. Ollie is no stranger to the IMOCA class having sailed over 60,000nm as boat captain for Alex Thomson’s HUGO BOSS.

“Right now, the biggest challenge is managing my time correctly and having the funding to reach a level that I aspire to,” commented Ollie Heer. “In the whole world of offshore racing there isn’t a start and finish line with a bigger history than the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, and there is a logistical advantage in starting and finishing in the Solent. This year’s race is all about reliability for me and the Round Britain & Ireland Race gives the perfect platform to test the boat: 2,000 racing miles with all kinds of conditions, where we can put the foot down and try to keep the boat in one piece. There will definitely be some challenges on the race course. For an up-and-coming IMOCA team this is the perfect race; we can’t wait to hit the start line.”

GENTOO 2 - JAMES HARADYA

James Harayda Photo: Felix Diemer

Racing with a crew of four, James Harayda will be taking part in his first Round Britain & Ireland Race in his 2007 Group Finot designed IMOCA Gentoo 2. At 24 years old James is currently the youngest IMOCA skipper in the race. James has competed in many of the world’s largest offshore races and is a two-time British Double Handed National Champion with Dee Caffari.

“This is a big challenge on so many different levels; it is a massive step up and very exciting,” commented James Harayda. “The Round Britain & Ireland Race will deepen my knowledge of the boat and I am a competitive person so would also like to do well. Ollie (Heer) is a great guy and we get on really well. We intend to support one another over the next two years, but this is a race. Once we get started the gloves will be off and we will be in full-blown racing mode.”

Pip Hare commented on the new British based IMOCAs competing in the Round Britain & Ireland Race: “It is exciting to have more IMOCAs in the UK and on the start line for this race. This race is not just about who has got the most up-to-date boat. Racing around Britain and Ireland is massively tactical and hugely challenging. I have been that under-dog and I remain humble and respectful to my competitors; nothing is for granted.”

The Round Britain & Ireland Race is scheduled to start from Cowes on Sunday 7th of August 2022. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, the fleet race east through the Solent, past the headlands of the South West of England and into the Celtic Sea and the West Coast of Ireland. The Atlantic racing continues past St Kilda, up to the most northerly point of the course, Muckle Flugga on the 61st parallel. Turning south through the North Sea, then along the English Channel and then the Solent, the race finally finishes back in Cowes.