Seeking adventurers

The 2027 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race is opening opportunities for professional and amateur sailors to join a 27,000-nautical-mile circumnavigation inspired by the original Whitbread Round the World Race.

Photography by McIntyre Ocean Globe Race

30 July 2026

Nine teams are preparing for the second edition of the fully crewed retro race, the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race, with organisers expecting the fleet could grow to as many as 14 yachts before the start.

Crew opportunities have been announced aboard the Australian yachts Explorer and Outlaw, Finland’s Galiana and Italy’s Translated 9, with positions covering individual legs and the complete circumnavigation.

The four-leg race is scheduled to start in Europe on 12 September 2027, before visiting Cape Town, Auckland and Punta del Este and returning to Europe in April 2028.

The final course closely following the original 1973 Whitbread is expected to be announced in the weeks ahead. Portugal is in the running as a starting port after a European prologue, then to Cape Town, most likely Auckland and around Cape Horn to Yacht Club Punta Del Este then home! 28,000 miles with a human steering all the way ! Credit: OGR2027-28

Could this be you in 2027? Explorers crew celebrates rounding Cape Horn during the 202324 Ocean Globe Racea moment that captures the teamwork, resilience and shared joy of racing around the world. Explorer is returning for OGR 2027 and is looking for new crew. Credit: Team Explorer / OGR2023

Translated 9 sails among the 13-yacht fleet departing Auckland for Punta del Esteanother powerful demonstration of teamwork, determination and traditional ocean racing. Credit: OGR2023/ Marco Ausderau

Translated 9 owners Marco Trombetti and Isabelle Andrieu celebrate with their team at the Ocean Globe Race prize-giving in Rome, where they received the McIntyre Adventure Spirit of OGR 2023 Award in recognition of their exceptional resilience, teamwork and determination to complete the circumnavigation despite two hull breaches. Those same values now drive their return to OGR 2027. Credit: Rob Havill / OGR2023

Competitors will race aboard classic production yachts and historic Whitbread designs, navigating without GPS or electronic charts. Sextants, paper charts, celestial observations and traditional weather forecasting will remain central to the race.

Australian teams recruiting

Australian Swan 57 Explorer will return with a new skipper and crew following an extensive refit.

The yacht was officially recorded as a DNF after the second leg of the 2023–24 race but continued the voyage, completing the circumnavigation at Cowes on 13 May 2024.

For 2027, Explorer plans to carry 11 sailors and is offering places to competitors interested in individual legs or the complete race. Participants will contribute towards campaign costs.

The second Australian campaign recruiting sailors is the Baltic 55 Outlaw, skippered by Campbell Mackie.

Originally built as Equity & Law for the 1985–86 Whitbread Round the World Race, Outlaw was extensively rebuilt before finishing seventh overall in the inaugural Ocean Globe Race.

The campaign has retained a core group for 2027 and is recruiting additional sailors to complete its crew for the yacht’s third circumnavigation. Prospective participants may also explore purchasing a share in the yacht through the campaign’s cooperative structure.

Galiana prepares for fifth lap

Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen will again lead Galiana, the Sparkman & Stephens-designed Swan 55 hull number two.

A veteran of the 1981–82 Whitbread Round the World Race and two Golden Globe Race campaigns, Lehtinen is preparing for his fifth circumnavigation.

Galiana finished eighth overall in the 2023–24 Ocean Globe Race and has since embarked on an extensive North Atlantic training program through the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Greenland and Iceland.

Limited crew positions are available on a contribution-to-cost basis.

Galiana, Tapio Lehtinens Finnish Swan 55, powers through the Caribbean during her 2026 Atlantic training campaign. Following Antigua and the 120th-anniversary Newport Bermuda Race, the returning OGR yacht continues preparing for the 2027 Ocean Globe Race, with limited crew places still available. Photo credit: Tapio Lehtinen Sailing

The Ocean Globe Race fleet leaves Cape Town beneath Table Mountain for the Southern Ocean passage to Auckland, accompanied by the French Navy frigate Floréal. Credit: OGR2023/ Marco Ausderau

Explorer and Translated 9 sail with the Ocean Globe Race fleet off Punta del Este of the final leg to Cowes on 5 March 2024. Credit: Aïda Valceanu/ OGR2023

White Shadows crew celebrate completing their 202324 Ocean Globe Race circumnavigation. The 1978 Swan 57 will return for OGR 2027 under new French ownership, with Charles Lambert as skipper and Sarah Polomack-Vinckel as first mate. Credit: Aïda Valceanu/ OGR2023

The 137 sailors of the 2023 Ocean Globe Race gather outside Yacht Club Punta del Este for the traditional fleet photograph before starting the final leg. Will you be one of them next year? Photo: Image Credit: Pierre Maxime © pierremaxime.com - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pierremaxime.mory

Translated 9 returns

Italian Swan 65 Translated 9 is also preparing to return after becoming one of the standout campaigns of the inaugural race.

The team won the opening two legs on IRC and was leading on handicap towards Cape Horn when serious structural damage forced it to seek shelter in the Falkland Islands.

Despite two hull breaches, the crew repaired the yacht and continued around the world, completing its circumnavigation at Cowes on 3 May 2024.

The yacht will undergo a comprehensive rebuild before the 2027 race, with owners Marco Trombetti and Isabelle Andrieu planning another international campaign.

The initial worldwide application period for Translated 9 closed on 26 July 2026.

Racing like it is 1973

The McIntyre Ocean Globe Race recreates the spirit of the first Whitbread Round the World Race, giving amateur sailors the opportunity to cross the equator, tackle the Southern Ocean and round Cape Horn.

Crews will not be permitted to use GPS, electronic charts or external weather routing. Communications will also be restricted, with SSB and HF radio remaining central to onboard operations.

Race regulations require mixed-gender crews, while every yacht must carry at least one sailor aged under 24, creating opportunities for the next generation of offshore sailors.

“You do not need huge budgets to enter,” race founder and chairman Don McIntyre said.

“You simply need passion, a good team of sailors and the will to make it happen.”

The publicly announced 2027 fleet currently includes Translated 9, Galiana, Explorer, Outlaw, Neptune, Panacea and White Shadow, with two additional campaigns yet to be formally revealed.

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