Heather Thomas and her all-women crew aboard Tracy Edwards’ famous 58ft yacht Maiden have won the 2023-4 Ocean Globe Race! Maiden has beaten 14 teams to win the Ocean Globe Race on IRC handicap, becoming the first ever all-women crew to win an around-the-world yacht race, it was confirmed early on Monday 22 April 2024. The international all-female crew crossed the finish line at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes at 1052 UTC on 16 April, having sailed 6599 miles from Punta del Este on Leg 4 of the Ocean Globe Race. Their only rival for IRC handicap honours, the French Swan 53 Triana skippered by ..read more

Maiden swept up the Solent before a Force 5-6 gale on Tuesday morning to take provisional overall honours in the 27,000 mile Ocean Globe Race. Maiden sweeps up the Solent to the finish line at Cowes The all-women crew crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line shortly before midday to whoops and cheers from a large crowd gathered on the parade, then quickly hoisted the spinnaker in the boisterous conditions for the benefit of photographers and film crews, reports Barry Pickthall. ‘We’ve had a great welcome. We’ve achieved our goal of showing what women can do,’ said skipper Heather Thomas o ..read more

French Whitbread yacht L’Esprit d’Equipe sailed into Cowes on Saturday 13 April to take second place in the Ocean Globe Race. Barry Pickthall reports. Lionel Regnier and his crew aboard the veteran French Whitbread Race yacht L’Esprit d’Equipe returned to Cowes late on Saturday 14 April to take second place on elapsed time for the final leg of the Ocean Globe Race from Punta del Este, Uruguay. Just over 24 hours later, the Finnish crew aboard the Whitbread veteran Swan 641 Spirit of Helsinki crossed the line in third place after sailing for 179 days. It was a stellar performance from L’Esprit ..read more

Marie Tabarly rewrote history last night, surpassing her famous father’s record by taking line honours in the Ocean Globe Race, and in the days ahead could potentially win the OGR overall. The crew celebrate Pen Duick VI FR (14), skippered by the indomitable Marie Tabarly, taking line honours and first in Leg four IRC handicap ranking. Credit: Tim Bishop/PPL ‘We did it…We have won in real time… No one can beat us…This was always our aim,” said Marie Tabarly, rejoicing with her crew aboard her father Eric Tabarly’s yacht Pen Duick VI. The black-hulled, 73-foot Bermudan ketch, crossed the Royal ..read more

Translated 9 has been forced to retire from the Ocean Globe Race as the crew onboard has reported that the boat is taking on water Translated 9, one of the leading yachts in the Ocean Globe Race, has retired from the round-the-world race with hull damage and has diverted to Portugal. The Italian yacht, the current IRC leader of Leg four, pulled out of the race after a heavy broach when 50-knot gusts slammed them down, reopening previously repaired cracks in their hull around the rudder skeg and causing the yacht to take on water. On April 5, OGR race control received a text message from co-sk ..read more

Global conflicts highlight the vulnerabilites of GPS for sailors with the potential to affect position fixing, collision avoidance, distress signalling and more Russia is suspected of launching a 63-hour-long attack on GPS signals in the Baltic region, starting on 31 March 2024, Easter Sunday, in a move that affected more than 1,600 passenger planes as well as yachtsmen The incident, which saw at least 1,614 planes affected, occurred amid rising tensions between Russia and the NATO military alliance more than two years since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While most of the ..read more

Sailors are being urged to switch their zinc anodes for aluminium ones when protected their boats this season Jobs such as accessing the bow thruster and anode could be done before the boat had fully dried out Zinc anodes have been used by sailors for decades to protect underwater metals on boats from electrolysis, but aluminium is a better option, according to a campaign being coordinated by the Clean Harbours Partnership. Using an evidence-based approach, the CHP sites new research by Portsmouth University about the impact of accumulations of metals in marine sediments on the natural environ ..read more

Yacht builder Cornish Crabbers has appointed a liquidator following a creditors meeting convened by Managing Director Peter Thomas on March 13. The Wadebridge-based group, which specialises in the design and manufacture of glassfibre gaff-rigged sailboats and powerboats, reportedly owes over £1 million in bank loans and taxes and other debts. The market is currently tough for small boats although crabbers remain popular. A notice in the government official journal of record The London Gazette on March 15 reads: At a General Meeting of the above named Partnership, duly convened, and held at On ..read more

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) officially celebrates its 200th birthday on March 4. Many sailors are truly thankful for the thousands of selfless rescues by lifeboat crew around the coast of Britain - the brave men who head out to sea when sailors turn back to port. The RNLI was founded in 1824 by Isle of Man resident Sir William Hillary, has saved a tremendous 146,277 lives in two centuries – an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years. Today, the RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland and has seasonal lifeguards on over 240 beaches. Two centu ..read more

Yacht designer Raymond Wall passed away in November at the age of 91 after a long and illustrious career After serving his apprenticeship with Robert Clark, Raymond Wall set up his own design business in the late 1950s, first in London and then in Fambridge. His first design was the 26ft sloop Tomahawk which was built in 1960 by Colne Marine in Wivenhoe, as were many of his early designs. “It became his home from home,” said his wife Pauline. In 1967, he went to work for Camper & Nicholsons as head designer. “I wanted to get somebody in who had design flair, and I had seen some very attra ..read more