solo around the world sailboat race

You are using a very outdated website browser. Upgrade your browser or install Google Chrome to better experience this site.

Latest News: €213 Million Golden Globe Race 2022 Media Value

days hrs mins secs

"I think this Golden Globe Race is a wonderful idea. Why dream of it and never do it. This is a challenge that has been created to achieve that dream." Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Race Patron

The 58th Anniversary edition of the first Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968/69

The 2026 Golden Globe Race

21 sailors… 30,000 miles… non-stop… alone… no outside assistance, like the original sunday times event, the 2026 golden globe race is very simple: depart from les sables-d’olonne, france on september 6th, 2026 and sail solo, non-stop around the world, via the five great capes and return to les sables-d’olonne..

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 the 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 or 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.

Bringing back the Golden Globe Race and thus the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing is to celebrate the original event, the winner, his boat and that significant world-first achievement.

Once again competitors in this 2026 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 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 250 days at sea in little boats, challenging themselves and each other.

The 2026 Golden Globe Race will be another fitting tribute to the first edition.

Don McIntyre, Race Founder and Chairman – about the 2026 Golden Globe Race:

I was first exposed to the inaugural 1982 BOC Challenge Around Alone Race during the Sydney stopover, working on Aries wind vanes used by competitors. I spent time with them all. We laughed together and I heard their stories. I met my boyhood champion, Robin Knox-Johnston and was hooked. I decided to compete in the 1986 event, but with a part built boat, I ran out of time, so had to be content in the role of Sydney BOC Race Chairman that year. Competing in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge was one of the highlights in my life. On reflection, I always considered myself lucky as, in my opinion, it was the last of the ‘adventure events’. Each future race became increasingly performance orientated, sailed by elite sportsmen and women in ever more extreme yachts, focused on winning at all costs. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it was and still is incredibly exciting, but it was simply a lot more of an adventure in 1990. My dream to sail solo around the world was borne of inspiration gained while following the solo voyages of Francis Chichester, Robin Knox-Johnston and Bernard Moitessier, and reading about Chay Blyth, Blondie Hasler and others from the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing. That was an exciting period! In 2008, I saw Sir Robin Knox-Johnston speaking on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his record setting 1968 non-stop circumnavigation. Referring to the current space-age building materials, high tech satellite systems and computers supporting today’s solo sailors, he simply said (by comparison to his own expe­rience back then) ‘This takes the spice out of it!’. Well, just like the 2018 and 2022 editions, the 2026 Golden Globe Race very definitely puts the spice back into it and, by world standards, offers a very unique and demanding challenge to any sailor who’s up for it. That same year, Robin was asked: ‘What would you say to sailors thinking of circumnavigating?’ His response: ‘My advice to them would be quite simply this. If you’ve got the idea, and you want to do it, then do it. Don’t let ANYTHING get in the way. Far too many people sit in yacht clubs talking about it but then never do it. DO IT! You’ll never regret it.’ He’s right of course. Over the years I have personally supported many young solo sailors, men and women, to achieve their dreams. I hope this event will let many more – and maybe you! – achieve theirs! The 2018 and 2022 races were incredibly exciting and the 2026 GGR edition once again will venture into the unknown – watch this space!

Aims & Objectives

• To create a unique ‘RETRO’ non-stop solo around the world yacht race, in the image of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe that draws sailors back to the Golden Age of ‘one sailor, one boat’ facing the great oceans of the world.
• To organise a race where the adventure takes precedence over winning at all costs.
• To professionally manage an event where the sailor’s skill and traditional seamanship alone, rather than modern technology or support crews, gets them home and where the achievement truly belongs to the skipper.
• To give sailors of all ages an opportunity to race solo around the world safely, in a fleet of similar and affordable yachts in the spirit of Suhaili.

All historic video footage and photos of the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race are the exclusive copyright of PPL PHOTO AGENCY and may not be reproduced in any format for any purpose under any condition and may not be retransmitted at any time without the written permission of the rights holder. For video or image licensing, please email:  [email protected]  or visit  www.pplmedia.com .

The Race in Numbers

"When I first heard about the 2018 GGR I thought it was a great idea, why not do it, reach out to people who have the ambition to do something special with their lives." Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Patron of the Golden Globe Race

That was the time Sir Robin Knox-Johnston took to complete the first solo non-stop circumnavigation. The winning yacht in this race can be expected to complete the same distance in 260 days.

The number of individuals to have sailed solo around Cape Horn and other Great Capes in the Southern Ocean. This compares to almost 700 astronauts who have been shot into space!

Title Partner

Major partners, premium partners, technical partners, les sables-d'olonne host port partners.

Associations

• Share full article

Alone on the Ocean, With 400,000 Friends

As Cole Brauer sped to the finish of a solo race around the world, she used Instagram to blow up sailing’s elitist image.

Before she could begin the Global Solo Challenge, a nonstop solo race around the world, Cole Brauer had to sail First Light, a 40-foot yacht, from Rhode Island to Spain. Credit... Samuel Hodges

Supported by

By Chris Museler

• Published Feb. 29, 2024 Updated March 7, 2024

Video dinner parties, spa days, stuffed animals, favorite hoodies and cozy, colorful fleece blankets. Cole Brauer’s Instagram feed hardly feels like the work of someone racing a 40-foot sailboat around the world in the Global Solo Challenge. But Ms. Brauer, 29, is not an average ocean racer.

In 2022, Ms. Brauer had tried out for another competition, the Ocean Race, which is considered the pinnacle of professional ocean racing. Sailors in that race are highly trained, wear matching foul weather gear and have corporate sponsors. And most of them are men. Ms. Brauer, who had sailed thousands of miles on high performance ocean racing boats, felt she was ready to join their ranks.

But after competing in trials in France, Ms. Brauer was told she was “too short for the Southern Ocean” and was sent on her way.

In spite of her small stature — she stands 5 feet 1 inch — Ms. Brauer rounded Cape Horn, Chile, on Jan. 26, the last of the three great capes of her journey to finish the Global Solo Challenge. It is a feat most of the Ocean Race sailors picked instead of her have never even attempted. And despite being the youngest competitor in the race, she is ranked second overall, just days away from reaching the finish line in A Coruña, Spain.

Along the way, her tearful reports of breakages and failures, awe-struck moments during fiery sunrises, dance parties and “shakas” signs at the end of each video have garnered her a following that has eclipsed any sailor’s or sailing event’s online, even the Ocean Race and the America’s Cup, a prestigious race that is more well known by mainstream audiences.

“I’m so happy to have rounded the Horn,” Ms. Brauer said in a video call from her boat, First Light, after a morning spent sponging out endless condensation and mildew from its bilges. “It feels like Day 1. I feel reborn knowing I’ll be in warmer weather. The depression you feel that no one in the world can fix that. Your house is trying to sink and you can’t stop it.”

Shifting gears, she added, “It’s all getting better.”

Ms. Brauer’s rise in popularity — she has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram — has come as a surprise to her, but her achievements, combined with her bright personality, have struck a chord. And she has set a goal of using her platform to change the image of professional ocean sailing.

“Cole wants to prove you can go around the world and watch Netflix every once in a while and wear your pajamas,” said Lydia Mullan, Ms. Brauer’s media manager. “As for her mental health, she’s really creating a space in her routine for herself, to create that joy she hasn’t seen in other sailors.”

Four months after she began the Global Solo Challenge, a solo, nonstop race around the world featuring sailboats of different sizes, Ms. Brauer is holding strong. Sixteen sailors began the journey and only eight remain on the ocean, with the Frenchman Philippe Delamare having finished first on Feb. 24 after 147 days at sea.

Ms. Brauer, who was more than a week ahead of her next closest competitor as of Thursday morning, is on track to set a speed record for her boat class, and to be the first American woman to complete a solo, nonstop sailing race around the world.

Her Authentic Self

Ms. Brauer has been happy to turn the image of a professional sailor on its head. Competitors in the Ocean Race and the America’s Cup tend to pose for static social media posts with their arms crossed high on their chests, throwing stern glares. Ms. Brauer would rather be more comfortable.

She brought objects like fleece blankets on her journey, despite the additional weight, and said solo sailing has helped give her the freedom to be herself.

“Without those things I would be homesick and miserable,” she said of her supply list. “We need comfort to be human. Doing my nails. Flossing. It’s hard for the general public to reach pro sailors. People stop watching. If you treat people below you, people stop watching.”

Other female sailors have noticed the same disconnect. “The year I did the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux didn’t mention that anything went wrong,” Dee Caffari, a mentor of Ms. Brauer’s who has sailed around the world six times, said of that race’s winner. “Then we saw his jobs list after the finish and we realized he was human.”

Ms. Brauer, as her social media followers can attest, is decidedly human.

They have gotten used to her “hangout” clothes and rock-out sessions. Her team produces “Tracker Tuesdays,” where a weather forecaster explains the routes Ms. Brauer chooses and why she uses different sails, and “Shore Team Sunday,” where team members are introduced.

“In the beginning I looked at what she was doing, posting about washing her knickers in bucket and I was like, ‘No! What are you doing?’” Ms. Caffari said. “I’ve been so professional and corporate in my career. She’s been so authentic and taken everyone around the world with her. Cole is that next generation of sailor. They tell their story in a different way and it’s working.”

Finding a Purpose

Ms. Brauer was introduced to sailing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Those days of casual racing on the turquoise waters of Kaneohe Bay informed her vision of an inclusive sailing community. That image was shattered when she came to the mainland to try her hand at professional sailing.

“When I came to the East Coast it was so closed off,” she said of those early experiences. “I couldn’t get a job in the industry. Pro sailors were jaded. They didn’t want anyone to take their job. It’s a gig-based economy. Competition, we’re pinned against each other, especially women in high-performance sailing since there are fewer of us.”

“This whole process of being a pro sailor over the past five years, I feel mentally punched in the face and my legs kicked out from under me,” she added. “I screamed and I cried. Without those experiences I wouldn’t be as mentally tough. It made me callused.”

A big break happened when she landed a gig as boat captain for Michael Hennessy’s successful Class40 Dragon. The boat was a perfect platform to hone her ocean sailing skills as she ripped up and down the East Coast delivering it to races, often alone, pushing Dragon to its limits. Her Instagram posts of those adventures drew attention, and she was invited to tryout for the Ocean Race, a fully crewed race around the world in powerful 65-footers.

“I was crushed,” Ms. Brauer said of being rejected after the trials.

Ms. Brauer, though, found a new purpose. After months of living in her van and working on Dragon, she found a benefactor in F.K. Day, the president of World Bicycle Relief and the executive vice president of SRAM Corporation, who, along with his brother Lincoln, agreed to buy a boat and fund a massive refit for the Global Solo Challenge, which was only three months away.

Conducting the hurricane of activity last summer in Newport, R.I., Ms. Brauer knew this was her moment to shine. But representatives for her new sponsors had reservations about her bold social media experiment.

“I got a massive pushback: ‘How can you be so vain. This isn’t important. We don’t want to pay for this,’” she said. “I said none of this is going to matter if the world can’t see it.”

Her boat was covered with cameras her shore team could monitor, with technology allowing for constant recording that could be used to capture unexpected twists. Ms. Brauer got some immediate traction, but nothing prepared her for the numbers she would hit once the race began.

“We were taking bets in Spain,” said Ms. Brauer, who had to sail First Light nearly 3,000 miles from Newport to Spain as a qualifier for the race. “There was a photo of me excited we hit 10,000 followers. Ten thousand for a little race? That’s massive.”

A few months later she has 40 times that count.

A Dangerous Journey

Only a handful of solo ocean racers have been American, all of whom being male. Now Ms. Brauer has a larger following than any of them, pushing far beyond the typical reach of her sport.

“This is a really good case study,” says Marcus Hutchinson, a project manager for ocean racing teams. “For me she’s an influencer. She’s a Kardashian. People will be looking for her to promote a product. She doesn’t need to worry about what the American sailors think. That’s parochial. She has to split with the American environment.”

Unlike her peers, Ms. Brauer is happy to do some extracurricular work along the way toward goals like competing in the prestigious Vendée Globe. “I’m part of the social media generation,” she said. “It’s not a burden to me.”

The playful videos and colorful backdrop, though, can make it easy for her followers to forget that she is in the middle of a dangerous race. Half her competitors in the Global Solo Challenge have pulled out, and ocean races still claim lives, particularly in the violent, frigid storms of the Southern Ocean.

“She was apprehensive,” Ms. Caffari said of Ms. Brauer’s rounding Cape Horn. “I told her: ‘You were devastated that you didn’t get on the Ocean Race. Now look at you. Those sailors didn’t even get to go to the Southern Ocean.’”

The question now is how Ms. Brauer will retain her followers’ desire for content after the race is over.

“She will be unaware of the transition she went through,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “She’s become a celebrity and hasn’t really realized it.”

Ms. Brauer, however, said she received as much from her followers as she gave them.

“They are so loving,” she said. “I send a photo of a sunset, and they paint watercolors of the scene to sell and raise money for the campaign. When I start to feel down, they let me stand on their shoulders.”

Explore Our Style Coverage

The latest in fashion, trends, love and more..

What Is a Sundress?: A heated discussion about one of the summer's most ubiquitous garments grapples with questions of femininity, tradition and sexuality. Weigh in on the debate .

Facing Hateful Comments: Ignore vitriol, or turn it into content? Creators like Kacie Rose and Drew Afualo share their tips for dealing with harsh comments on TikTok and Instagram .

A Red-Carpet Star Is Born: Cole Escola is dressing the part of fashion plate  after achieving a new level of fame with the play “Oh, Mary!”

Cindy Crawford Is Here to Stay: Three decades ago she invented the modern playbook  by which the current generation of professionally beautiful people flourish.

How Short Should Men’s Shorts Be?: Thanks in part to widely circulated photos of the actor Paul Mescal in thigh-baring shorts, there’s a clear answer .

Advertisement

After sailing around the world, Cole Brauer says she's more grounded than ever

Cole Brauer's adventure put her in the history books and in the heart of the most isolated and dangerous places on Earth. Not to mention Instagram .

The southern oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific that Brauer endured alone in her 30,000-mile sailboat voyage brought her face-to-face with bigger waves and storms than most people will ever see."It's like going to Mars and hoping that you can breathe," says Brauer, who became the first American woman this month to sail solo nonstop around the globe . "It's not made for humans."

She's now a seafaring celebrity who has been deluged with more questions about aquatic travel and surviving the dangers of the deep than Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau. That's because Brauer's social media followers now total half a million, and many are asking about her journey and how she did it.

"With this newfound fame, I want to keep my feet on the ground," says the 29-year-old from Long Island. She's looking to chart a new course in the sailing industry, which has historically been a bastion of elitism and exclusivity, she said.

Brauer used Starlink − the low-orbit satellite network owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk − to get an internet signal on her voyage so that she could talk to her team, FaceTime with her mother and post videos to Instagram from her 40-foot Class40 sailboat, First Light.

She departed from A Coruña, Spain, on Oct. 29 and was at sea for 130 days. She competed against 15 male sailors, eight of whom had to drop out. Sailors set off at staggered times, depending on the speed of their boat. Brauer finished second in the race, behind France's Phillipe Delamare.

"Cole put in a tremendous effort to achieve a tremendous result," said Marco Nannini, who organized the Global Solo Challenge race.

Treacherous conditions in the Southern Hemisphere

Because the race took Brauer around the world, she had to endure scorching temperatures near the equator and near-freezing cold in the globe's southern oceans − where waters are more choppy and dangerous to sail, she said.

"I always had respect for the ocean, but this was an absolute different level," Brauer said. "It's beautiful. It's uninhabited. It's just untouched by humans."

Stronger winds and underwater currents in the Indian, South Atlantic and Pacific oceans often react to form bigger waves and "crazy storms," Brauer said, making those areas "some of the most dangerous places to be on the planet."

Unlike the part of the Atlantic Ocean stretching between North America and Europe, the southern oceans have a lot less traffic, Brauer said. During the two months she sailed there, she said, she saw only one other boat. The weather was colder and grayer, and the nights were much shorter.

The scariest moment came about two weeks from the end of race, when over just a couple days a fellow competitor had to abandon his ship because it started to sink and another had to do the same after his boat lost its mast.

It caused Brauer to feel paranoid, she said, even imagining noises coming from her own boat, which was also going through normal wear and tear.

"I just felt like, 'Oh my gosh, what's going to break next?'" she said. "Is the boat going to break in half?"

Alone in the middle of the ocean, Brauer felt homesickness, then zen

Brauer made it all the way around the world the same way any sailor goes from one point to another: staying out of direct wind and tacking from one direction to the next until she finally got to the finish line.

"You want to go straight, but you can't," she said. "You can't sail directly into the breeze; you have to tack back and forth at a 45-degree angle. I went around the world tacking, and jibing, and eventually you make it there − but there's a lot of twists and turns."

Brauer also had to constantly check the weather and change sails while also maintaining the boat.

"Everything has the possibility of breaking," Brauer said.

Brauer slept on a pile of bedding on the boat's floor for two to four hours at a time. She boiled water and used a warm wash cloth to bathe, she said. She packed 160 days' worth of freeze-dried food, including a peaches and cream oats mix that became her favorite.

Despite the technical challenges of sailing around the world, homesickness was by far the biggest challenge, she said. In Spain, before she set off on the race, nightly family-style dinners with teammates and group outings in A Coruña created intense personal bonds that she longed for on the ocean.

"All of a sudden I had a family of like 12, and you get very used to being surrounded by all these boisterous and loud people," she said.

But then, something clicked one evening when Brauer was in the boat's bow watching the colors of the sunset bleed through a massive sail.

"My body and my mind finally got used to being out there and and knowing that this was like where I was supposed to be," she said.

Brauer said she saw dolphins, sea turtles, plenty of fish and even a whale as big as her boat.

"It's just so magical," she said.

Pitch-black night skies were another highlight, Brauer said, especially when she was sailing through hot areas and the darkness brought cooler temperatures.

Brauer documented every moment on Instagram

Brauer shared details of her journey with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram. At the start of the race, her Instagram account had 10,000 followers and now boasts nearly 500,000.

Creating and posting more than 150 original videos from the boat allowed Brauer to stay connected with other people even when she was in the middle of the ocean.

Many of Brauer's videos showed her raw emotions up close, like in one post from early in the race when she angrily vents about the moment she realized she'd have to fix several boat parts on her own.

"Right now I've been feeling just broken," she says in the video.

That vulnerability is what's allowing Brauer to chart a new course in the sailing industry, she said.

"I've shown a good piece of me. I've put my heart and soul out there and I think a lot of people are really afraid to do that," she told USA TODAY. "If you want to judge me for changing or molding myself a different way, you don't have to follow me."

Race win was a team effort

Brauer surrounded herself with a team of sailors and experts who helped guide her from ashore. There were medical staff, a weather router, an expert rigger, an electronic systems manager, a sailmaker and many other team members.

Next, Brauer and her behind-the-scenes team are preparing for the Vendée Globe in 2028, another around-the-world race with stricter rules and a bigger cash prize. She won 5,000 euros (about $5,430) for finishing second in the Global Solo Challenge.

That race will be far more difficult, Brauer said, because the sailors have to race on their own and cannot receive any verbal assistance from their teammates on land.

Almost two weeks since reaching dry land, Brauer said, she now craves being out on the ocean more than ever and even feels a sense of pain when she's not able to see the water or look up to see a sky covered in white, fluffy clouds.

"The fear used to be about the boat, when I was on the boat. Now the fear is not being out there," she said. "I'm not afraid of the ocean − I'm afraid of not being on the ocean."

As for her goal of sailing around the world?

"I did everything that it took to get here, and now I can bask in it. I made the biggest dream that I could possibly think of doing and then did it."

Recommended

Ny skipper cole brauer overcame broken ribs, deteriorating boat to become first us woman to sail solo around the world.

• View Author Archive
• Email the Author
• Follow on X
• Get author RSS feed

Contact The Author

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

She sailed her way into the history books. 

A 29-year-old skipper from New York has become the first US woman to sail solo around the world.

Cole Brauer, from Long Island, tearfully reunited with her family in A Coruña, Spain, on Thursday after a gruelling 30,000-mile journey that took 130 days.

The 5-foot-2 trailblazer placed second out of 16 in the daring Global Solo Challenge, which kicked off in October off the coast of the port city, located in northwestern Spain.

“I can’t believe it guys. I sailed around the world,” Brauer said as she approached the finish line in an Instagram live video. “That’s crazy. That’s absolutely crazy. This is awesome. Let’s just do it again. Let’s keep going!”

She was the only woman in the event and also the youngest competitor. She sailed into A Coruña to a cheering crowd just a day before International Women’s Day on March 8.

“It would be amazing if there was just one girl that saw me and said, ‘Oh, I can do that too,’” Brauer  told NBC  of her history-making effort. More than half of the other competitors has dropped out as of Thursday.

Brauer’s  sailing profile on Global Solo Challenge’s website  said her goal has always been to be “the First American Woman to Race Around the World.”

“With this goal, I hope to show that this very male-dominated sport and community can become more open and less ‘traditional,'” it reads.

The East Hampton native didn’t even take up sailing until she decamped to the University of Hawai’i for college in 2014, her profile explained.

“I grew up on a nature preserve, wandering through the tall grass of the creek and playing in the mud watching the tide come in,” she said of her childhood in Suffolk County.

“When I moved to Hawaii for university, all I wanted was to get out on the water. Feel at home. Accessing the sailing community in Hawaii was the logical step,” she added.

Brauer turned pro after college, and started seriously chasing the idea of a round-the-world race after her mentor, Tim Fetsch, sent her a book by record-setting female skipper Dame Ellen MacArthur.

By the time she set sail on her global adventure on Oct. 29, Brauer was already a record-setter: Last summer, she became the first woman to win the Bermuda One-Two race, the Providence Journal reported at the time.

Brauer documented the treacherous Global Solo Challenge for her 459,000 Instagram followers from aboard her beloved 40-foot monohull racing boat, First Light.

Like her pint-sized, 100-pound owner, First Light has a quicksilver edge – and is only large enough to typically hold a one- or two-person crew.

The race path took Brauer down the western coast of Africa before she sailed into the Southern Ocean in early December, where she’d cement second place in the challenge.

She often showed fans her peaceful mornings and on-board workout sessions in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Cole wants to prove you can go around the world and watch Netflix every once in a while, and wear your pajamas,” her media manager, Lydia Mullan,  told the New York Times  of the realistic look at boat life.

“As for her mental health, she’s really creating a space in her routine for herself, to create that joy she hasn’t seen in other sailors,” Mullan added.

But even Brauer’s tenacious outlook at times gave way for the hardships of living at sea.

In December, she suffered a rib injury when she was violently thrown across her boat because of broaching — when a boat unintentionally changes direction toward the wind — in the rough waters near Africa. 

Despite the injury, Brauer said she had no other choice but to power through the pain and keep sailing.

“There’s no option at that point. You’re so far away from land that there’s no one who can rescue you or come and grab you,” she told the “Today” show Thursday. “You kind of just need to keep moving along and keep doing everything.”

Brauer’s grit during the journey recalled her time in Hawaii, when she borrowed from her background as a varsity soccer player, track and field runner, and cheerleader to thrive on the UH team — all while juggling her studies in nutrition science and a full-time job. 

“It’s more strategy than anything,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in May 2016, when she captained the four-time national championship-qualifying team.

Brauer told NBC on Sunday that solo sailors “have to be able to do everything.”

“You have to be able to get up even when you’re so exhausted and you have to be able to fix everything on the boat.”

She reached the Pacific Ocean on December 29 and traveled past the southernmost point of South America and back into the Atlantic on January 27.

As she missed the holidays back home, Brauer decorated First Light with decorations fit for the occasion — pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween, a small felt Christmas tree, and broke out a dress and champagne for New Year’s Day. 

Brauer also told the outlet that she started to feel the boat “deteriorating” and “starting to break down” as she made her final push through the Atlantic. 

She then deliberately slowed her arrival time near the finish line to coordinate with the “first light” — when light is first seen in the morning — in honor of her boat’s namesake.

“I’m glad that out of all times, I’m coming in at first light,” Brauer said. “It’s only necessary.”

As she crossed the finish line, Brauer held two flares above her head to signal an end to her over four-month-long campaign.

“Amazing finish!!!! So stoked! Thank you to everyone that came together and made this process possible,” she wrote on Instagram.

Following her second-place finish, Brauer received a fresh cappuccino and croissant, the breakfast she had been craving for months while at sea, she said.

French skipper Philippe Delamare, who started the race a month before Brauer, won the Global Solo Challenge on Feb. 24. Start dates were staggered based on performance characteristics.

A highlight of Brauer’s return to dry land will be reuniting with her mom, dad, and younger sister.

“They think I’m nuts,” Brauer told the Providence Journal of her parents’ response to her big sailing dream.

“I think that they’re much more proud of me now, especially because they’re starting to realize that this 10-year adventure I’ve been on isn’t just me gallivanting around the world…not really fulfilling what my mind and body was made to do, which is what my parents always wanted me to do,” she added.

Now, Brauer is joining a storied lineage of esteemed female skippers who came before her.

Polish skipper Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz was the first woman to sail solo around the world, traveling almost 36,000 miles from 1976 to 1978. 

British sailor Ellen MacArthur became the fastest solo sailor to sail around the world in 2005 when she traveled over 31,000 miles in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds.

Brauer hopes to serve as the same inspiration as the sailing pioneers. 

“I push so much harder when someone is like, ‘you can’t do that.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, watch me,’” she told NBC. “It would be amazing if there was one other girl who saw me and said, “Oh, I can do that too.”

Advertisement

Around The World Solo In a Sailboat: What Does It Take?

It takes stamina, humor, planning—not to mention hanging from a line 60 feet up, over waves the size of a house, in gale-force winds

Wendy Mitman Clarke

Imagine being alone on the ocean for five or ten weeks, sailing in snow, ice and spray cruel as needles. The wind belts you like a prizefighter. The boat is your only haven, yet it throws you like a bronco. Amid all this you must eat, sleep, navigate, find the quickest route and handle every problem yourself, from sprained wrist to snapped mast. This is the endurance test facing the 20 competitors in the BOC Challenge — a single-handed, round the world race that takes place every four years. The sailors began in Charleston, South Carolina, and after stops in three ports along the 27,000-mile route, they will end up in Charleston next month.

One of the racers, Steve Pettengill of Middletown, Rhode Island, gives a nearly day-by-day account of what it takes to prepare for and sail one leg of the race, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Sydney. We're "on board" as he stocks his boat, Hunter's Child, with freeze-dried meals and favorite cassettes, fine-tunes his computerized navigation station, battles freezing rain and stomach churning storms while making repairs and learns the sometimes sad fate of his competitors.

Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.

Wendy Mitman Clarke | READ MORE

Wendy Mitman Clarke is director of media relations for Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and a lifelong sailor obsessed with the ocean and all the wonder and weirdness that lives within it. Besides Smithsonian, her non-fiction stories have appeared in Preservation , and Chesapeake Bay Magazine . She's also a published poet.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

This race is a nonstop sail around the world. Cassette tapes are allowed, but no GPS

Scott Neuman

South African sailor Kirsten Neuschafer, the only woman in the 2022 Golden Globe Race. All but three of her 15 competitors in the grueling months-long competition have been forced to drop out. Aida Valceanu/GGR/2022 hide caption

South African sailor Kirsten Neuschafer, the only woman in the 2022 Golden Globe Race. All but three of her 15 competitors in the grueling months-long competition have been forced to drop out.

Somewhere in the Southern Pacific Ocean, Kirsten Neuschafer is alone on her boat, Minnehaha, as she tries to outmaneuver the latest storm to cross her path as she approaches Cape Horn.

Instead of sailing directly for the tip of South America, she's spent the past day heading north in an effort to skirt the worst of the oncoming weather. The storm is threatening wind gusts up to 55 miles per hour and seas building to 25 feet.

Her plan, she explains over a scratchy satellite phone connection, is to get away from the eye of the storm. "The closer I get to the Horn," she says, "the more serious things become, the windier it becomes."

But there's no turning back. That's because Neuschafer is battling to win what is possibly the most challenging competition the sailing world has to offer — the Golden Globe Race. Since setting off from the coast of France in September, Neuschafer, the only woman competing, has left all rivals in her wake. Of the 16 entrants who departed five months ago, only four are still in the race, and for the moment at least, she's leading.

The race is a solo, nonstop, unassisted circumnavigation, a feat first accomplished in 1969, the same year that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon. Since then, more people have traveled to space than have done what Neuschafer is hoping to accomplish.

The race is a throwback in most every way. Unlike its more famous cousin, the Vendée Globe solo nonstop race with its purpose-built vessels made for speed, Golden Globe entrants sail low-tech boats that wouldn't look out of place in any coastal marina. And they do so without modern electronic aids — no laptops or electronic charts, radar or sophisticated weather routing. To find their position at sea, participants instead rely on navigating by the sun and stars and simple speed calculations.

Racers don't do it for the money. The prize of 5,000 pounds (about $6,045) is the same as it was in the 1960s and is not even enough to cover entry fees. The real lure is the challenge.

"The single-handed aspect was the one that drew me," Neuschafer, who is from South Africa, says of her decision to enter.

"I really like the aspect of sailing by celestial navigation, sailing old school," she says, adding that she's always wanted to know "what it would have been like back then when you didn't have all the modern technology at your fingertips."

Satellite phones are allowed, but only for communication with race officials and the occasional media interview. Each boat has collision-avoidance alarms and a GPS tracker, but entrants can't view their position data. There's a separate GPS for navigation, but it's sealed and only for emergencies. Its use can lead to disqualification. Entrants are permitted to use radios to communicate with each other and with passing ships. They're allowed to briefly anchor, but not get off the boat nor have anyone aboard. And no one is allowed to give them supplies or assistance.

The race motto, "Sailing like it's 1968," alludes to the fact that it's essentially a reboot of a competition first put on that year by the British Sunday Times newspaper. In it, nine sailors started, and only one, Britain's Robin Knox-Johnston , managed to complete the first-ever nonstop, solo circumnavigation, finishing in 312 days. Despite leading at one point, French sailor Bernard Moitessier elected to abandon the race in an effort, he said, to "save my soul." Yet another, British sailor Donald Crowhurst , died by suicide after apparently stepping off his boat.

Bringing the race back in 2018 for its 50th anniversary was the brainchild of Australian sailor and adventurer Don McIntyre, who describes the competition as "an absolute extreme mind game that entails total isolation, physical effort ... skill, experience and sheer guts."

"That sets it apart from everything," he says.

For sailors, it's the Mount Everest of the sea

Neuschafer, 40, is a veteran of the stormy waters she's presently sailing, having worked as a charter skipper in Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Although she's been around Cape Horn before, this time is different, she says.

Previously she's been around "the Horn" when she could choose the conditions. But nonstop from the Pacific, with limited weather information, "I'd say, it's a notch up on anxiety. It's almost like ... trying to reach the peak of Everest," she says.

Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen's boat sank in November off the southern tip of Africa. He was rescued with the help of fellow racer Kirsten Neuschafer. Aida Valceanu/GGR2022 hide caption

Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen's boat sank in November off the southern tip of Africa. He was rescued with the help of fellow racer Kirsten Neuschafer.

Probably the most harrowing moment so far in this year's race came in November, when Neuschafer sailed 100 miles, staying at Minnehaha's helm through the night to rescue Finland's Tapio Lehtinen — one of the finishers in the 2018 race. She plucked him from a life raft some 24 hours after his boat, Asteria, sank in the southern Indian Ocean.

For the rescue, race officials broke protocol and allowed her to use GPS and gave her a time credit on the race. "I basically sailed throughout the night and by morning I got within range of him," she says.

Spotting Lehtinen's tiny life raft amid 10-foot waves was far from easy, Neuschafer says. "He could see ... my sail [but] I couldn't see him, not for the life of me." She later managed to transfer him to a freighter.

That incident reinforced for her how things could change at any moment. In the Golden Globe, she says, "a large proponent of it is luck."

The days can be serene, but also isolating

The drama of such days at sea is offset by others spent in relative peace. A typical day, if there is such a thing, starts just before sunrise, she says, "a good time to get the time signal on the radio so that I can synchronize my watches," which she needs for accurate celestial navigation.

"Then ... I'll have a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal, and then I'll wait for the sun to be high enough that I can take a reasonable [sextant] sight." A walk around the deck to see if anything is amiss and perhaps a bit of reading — currently it's The Bookseller of Kabul by Norwegian journalist and author Asne Seierstad — before another sight at noon to check her position.

Or perhaps some music. It's all on cassette, since competitors aren't allowed a computer of any kind. As a result, she's listening to a lot of '80s artists, "good music that I ordinarily wouldn't listen to," she says.

The isolation was more difficult for American Elliott Smith, who at 27 was the youngest entrant in this year's race. He dropped out in Australia due to rigging failure.

Elliott Smith, a 27-year-old originally from Tampa, Fla. A rigging failure forced him to quit in Australia. Simon McDonnell/FBYC hide caption

Elliott Smith, a 27-year-old originally from Tampa, Fla. A rigging failure forced him to quit in Australia.

Reached in the Australian port city of Fremantle, the surfer-turned-sailor from Florida says he doesn't entirely rule out another try at the race in four years. But for now, he's put his boat, Second Wind, up for sale. He seems circumspect about the future.

"It was really obvious that I stopped enjoying the sailing at some point," he confides about the rigors of the race. "There were moments ... where I found myself never going outside unless I had to. I was like, 'I'm just staying in the cabin. I'm just reading. I'm miserable.' "

Smith says there were days when he would see an albatross, but was too mentally exhausted to appreciate the beauty of it. "I was like, 'This is so sad, you know?' Like, I've become complacent [about] something that most people would never even try, you know?"

Neuschafer, too, has had her share of frustrations. The latest was a broken spinnaker pole, which keeps her from setting twin forward sails on the 36-foot-long Minnehaha — her preferred setup for running downwind.

She's looking forward to finishing in early spring. But first, she still has to traverse the entire Atlantic Ocean from south to north.

"I'll get off and enjoy feeling the land beneath my feet." After that, she says, "the first thing I'd like to do is eat ice cream."

• around the world

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Solo Ultim World Tour confirmed for 2023

Related Articles

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Sailing Solo Around The World: Adventures on a 27-foot Boat

Related Articles

Published on July 21st, 2024 | by Editor

Final stage for the 2023-24 Clipper Race

Published on July 21st, 2024 by Editor -->

The fourteenth and final race of the epic 40,000nm Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race got underway July 21 from Oban, Scotland. The 11 teams got underway in the forecasted 12-14 knot southwesterly wind which initially gusted up to 20 knots.

The Perseverance team powered across the line first, just ahead of PSP Logistics with Our Isles and Oceans hot on its heels as they headed south through the Firth of Lorn.

For Dutch Skipper Ineke van der Weijden and her Perseverance team, they currently sit second overall, three points off the top spot. “We have everything to still play for, and that pressure is very real,” notes the skipper.

With just seven points between the first and third placed yachts, this last race will decide which of the top three teams – Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, Perseverance, or Zhuhai – will lift the coveted Clipper Race trophy at the Grand Finale in Portsmouth, UK on July 27, 2024.

The matched fleet of Clipper 70s takes on the final stage of 920 nm, or about six days, to complete the eleven month circumnavigation. The route will see the fleet head out of Oban and then down the west of Ireland, heading south until it rounds Lands’ End and arrives back in the home waters and fleet’s training ground of the English Channel.

“The conditions for the fleet look really good,” said Dale Smyth, Deputy Race Director. “There’s a low-pressure system approaching the west of Ireland over the next couple days, which will give the crews a couple of days of upwind sailing. But as they get round the western side of Ireland, they’ll be able to bear away and actually have a really fast run down to the South Coast.

“Unfortunately, at the moment, it looks like a high-pressure ridge will overtake the fleet as they get near the finish, but that is still a while away so we will hope for the best there.”

The 2023-24 edition has seen over 700 race crew from 55 nations take part.

Race details – Team list – Race route – Tracker – Facebook

2023-24 edition will take the following route (updated):

Leg 1 Race 1. Portsmouth, UK – Puerto Sherry, Spain (1200nm) – 3 Sept Race Start, arrive 9 Sept Race 2. Puerto Sherry, Spain – Punta del Este, Uruguay (5300nm) – 15 Sept Race Start, arrive 12-16 Oct

Leg 2 Race 3. Punta Del Este, Uruguay – Cape Town, South Africa (3555 nm)- 22 Oct Race start, arrive 6-10 Nov

Leg 3 Race 4. Cape Town, South Africa – Fremantle, Australia (4750 nm) – 18 Nov Race Start, arrive 8-13 Dec

Leg 4 Race 5. Fremantle, Australia – Newcastle, Australia (2510nm) – Race Start 19 Dec, Arrival 1-4 Jan 2024 Race 6. Newcastle – Airlie Beach, Australia (985nm) – Race Start 10 Jan, Arrive 16-17 Jan

Leg 5 Race 7. Airlie Beach, Australia – Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam (4515nm) – Race Start 28 Jan, Arrive 21-26 Feb Race 8. Ha Long Bay – Zhuhai, China (645nm) – Race Start 2 March, Arrive 6-7 March

Leg 6 Race 9. Zhuhai, China – Qingdao, China (1370nm) – Race Start 12 March- Arrive 21-22 March Race 10. Qingdao – Seattle, USA (5580nm) – Race Start 27 March, Arrive 21-26 April

Leg 7 Race 11. Seattle, USA – Panama Canal (4200nm) – Race Start 5 May, Arrive Panama 27 May-1 Jun Race 12. Panama-Washington, DC, USA (1990nm) – Race Start 5 June, Arrive 17-19 June

Leg 8 Race 13. Washington, DC, USA – Oban, Scotland (3340nm) – Race Start 25 June, Arrive 12-16 July Race 14. Oban – Portsmouth, UK (815nm) – Race Start 21 July, Arrive 27 July

About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race: The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors.

Held biennially, the Clipper 2023-24 Round the World Yacht Race got underway September 3 for the fleet of eleven identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s. This 13th edition has 24 crew aboard each yacht, coming from 63 different nationalities (105 sailors from the USA) for the 40,000 mile circumnavigation of the world.

The course is divided into 8 legs and 14 individual races, with some of the crew in for the entire circumnavigation while others will do individual legs. The team having the best cumulative score over the entire course will win the Clipper Race Trophy.

Source: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Tags: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Related Posts

Clipper fleet arrives in Scotland →

Clipper Race: The race to Scotland is on! →

Clipper Race: Preview of race to Scotland →

Clipper Race back in the USA →

© 2024 Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Inbox Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. made by VSSL Agency .

• Privacy Statement
• Advertise With Us

Get Your Sailing News Fix!

Your download by email.

• Your Name...
• Your Email... *
• Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

World champion sailor 'only worried about missing dogs' ahead of solo sail around the world

• North Yorkshire
• Record Breaker
• Friday 19 July 2024 at 5:21pm

A record-breaking world champion sailor from Thirsk in North Yorkshire has said she is "more worried" about missing her dogs than any challenges she will face while sailing the world solo.

Jasmine Harrison became the youngest solo female to row the Atlantic in 2021 - aged just 21 - and two years later became the first woman to swim the length of the UK.

She is now preparing to take on her next challenge in 2025 but she is not daunted by the prospect.

"I'm more worried about missing my dogs, to be honest," she told ITV Tyne Tees. "I know for a fact I'll miss them."

However, Jasmine still has some hurdles to overcome before setting sail, needing to raise funding for the challenge. She had her boat on display in Whitby to help gain publicity for the adventure.

"I'm here today to show my boat and hopefully it will raise awareness for what I'm doing. And I could do with some money to make my sail happen," Jasmine told ITV Tyne Tees.

The Around the World race, which she plans to take part in, begins in Antigua in February 2025. A total of 18 boats will then sail around the globe, before doing a complete loop and finishing back in Antigua months later.

Jasmine will pass Panama, Mauritius, St Helena, and South Africa, and the weather is the most pressing challenge she will face: "The waves - because it's a little boat and you get some massive waves out on the oceans, you can't really prepare for that.

"I'm out sailing as much as I can. In Hartlepool yesterday, here [Whitby] today, just getting used to it and living aboard."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know... 

• AROUND THE SAILING WORLD
• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Email Newsletters
• America’s Cup

St. Petersburg

• Caribbean Championship
• Boating Safety

Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series

February 16 – 18, 2024

May 3 – 5, 2024

May 31 – June 2, 2024

June 7 – 9, 2024

July 25 – 28, 2024

October 19 – 26, 2024

In 1988,  Sailing World   magazine created a national one-design regatta series that was an immediate success with its unique concept of racing in larger production boats, unrivaled post-racing social experiences and professional race management. Now named the Helly Hansen  Sailing World Regatta Series, the events are the most popular racing weekends in the United States and encompass more than the larger one-design boats. Embracing popular fleets at each location, fleets now include dinghies, multihulls, and keelboats that all compete under established handicap systems for both buoy and distance races. Sponsors and partners continue to engage and grow the sailing community at regatta socials with race videos, games, food and cocktails for all ages at the host yacht club every day after racing.

All Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series events are supported by premier host yacht clubs in renown sailing venues. At the conclusion of each regatta, one top-finishing team is selected to compete in the overall season championship, held in the British Virgin Islands in October. The Regatta Series is owned and managed by  Sailing World , a  Firecrown Media, Inc . property.

Follow and share about the Series: #SailingWorld #RegattaSeries #HellyHansenSailing #HellyHansen #RaceWithUs

Click the button below to sign up for updates on the Regatta Series races and news.

For additional updates, follow us on Facebook , Instagram and Youtube , or Contact Us directly.

Countdown to Marblehead

Sailing world regatta series.

2024 - Chicago Highlights

2024 - Detroit Highlights

2024 - Annapolis Highlights

2024 - St. Petersburg Highlights

2023 - Season Recap

2023 - Caribbean Championship Competitors

2023 - Marblehead Highlights

2023 - Chicago Highlights

2023 - San Diego Highlights

Featured story, widnall prize announced for helly hansen sailing world regatta at marblehead.

Special Thanks To Our Sponsors

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

Clipper sailors hail ‘warm welcome’ in Oban after Atlantic crossing

S ailors competing in this year’s Clipper Round the World yacht race have praised the “warm welcome” they received when the event came to Scotland for the first time in its 27-year history.

The penultimate seventh leg of this year’s race, which started in Portsmouth last September, saw the boats racing 3,500 miles from Washington DC in the USA to Oban in Argyll and Bute.

For skipper Ineke Van Der Weijden, whose boat Perseverance won the leg in a time of 15 days and seven hours, crossing the finishing line late on Friday was a “magical” experience.

“For the last two hours, we were already sailing inside the islands. As we got there the sky lifted almost, because it was very foggy beforehand, and the sun started shining through and it was seven, eight o’clock in the evening.

“It was peaceful. It was beautiful. Then slowly, some small boats started coming out to see us in, which is absolutely wonderful. We all loved it. We just enjoyed it.

“We have a former crew member that has a seaplane so he came out to fly over us. It was absolutely one of the best runs I’ve ever had. Magical is exactly what it was.”

It was not the first visit to Oban for the professional sailor, who used to work as an international consultant before her first Clipper race in 2017-18 inspired her to change career.

“I have been to Oban before, I’ve done sailing out here before. I love it. Scotland is some of my most favourite sailing,” she explained.

“It’s beautiful. First of all, have you seen the landscape? But what I really like is it isn’t as overrun and overdeveloped as a sailing community. I like that it’s really sailors that want to be sailing.”

Paddy Moran from Galway, sailing on the Ha Long Bay Vietnam, said the approach to Oban was “spectacular”.

He added: “Even though we came in in the middle of the night, it was one of the most spectacular approaches that we had.

“We’ve had some pretty spectacular approaches to cities like Cape Town, Seattle, Washington up the Chesapeake Bay, but coming into Oban through the islands and up the channels was absolutely gorgeous, even at night.

“The warm welcome was as good as any we’ve got anywhere around the world. It was obvious that everybody was happy to see us, loads of people stayed up till two and three in the morning to welcome us in, so that was lovely.”

Sailing in specially designed 70ft racing yachts, the 11 crew are competing over an eight-leg course that sees them circumnavigate the world across six oceans and travel some 40,000 nautical miles.

The Clipper 70s, which can reach speeds of around 35 knots, are built for stability as well as speed, with Ms Van Der Weijden explaining that “when you’re out at sea in heavy weather you’ll feel that the boat is not the problem, the boat will do fine”.

Each crew, which can be up to 22-strong, do four to six-hour shifts on deck, which slopes steeply when under sail.

Below deck the sailors take turns to cook in a cramped kitchen using a gimbal-mounted oven, and they sleep using a “hot bunk” system, which sees them take it in turns with another crew member to use the compact beds.

It is difficult to miss the fact the race has come to Oban, where the fleet will remain until the final leg begins on Sunday.

The town’s curving harbour is lined with race-branded banners and bunting, and the colourful yachts are moored at pontoons next to the fanzone on the North Pier.

Oban is hosting a number of tie-in events, with the fleet’s arrival coinciding with the town’s Festival of the Sea.

Mr Moran said Oban is “buzzing right now” with the presence of the crews plus their families, friends and supporters.

He added of the race’s impact on the town: “I think it’s just put it on the map. I think that for myself it’s made a point of saying, you know, the west coast of Scotland is absolutely beautiful.

“I think it’s put it on a lot of people’s radar.”

Argyll and Bute Council leader Jim Lynch said: “It has been a great honour for Oban to host this fantastic sporting event.

“Our communities and businesses have given international Clipper race crews such a warm welcome.

“Tourism is a key industry for Argyll and Bute and the race has provided a welcome boost to the local economy, with many businesses reporting increased footfall.

“We thank everyone involved for showcasing the best Argyll and the isles has to offer, including marine tourism opportunities, wonderful local produce and a rich Gaelic culture.

“We wish all the Clipper race adventurers the best of luck with their grand finale.”

David Adams McGilp, VisitScotland regional director, said: “While it is too early to understand the full impact, the event has undoubtedly helped attract more visitors to the town and wider region, as well as raising the profile of the marine tourism offering in Argyll & Isles.”

The end of the race in Portsmouth on July 27 is a bittersweet prospect for many sailors, some of whom will have been away from home for nearly a year.

Jade Golder, a 24-year-old student from Surrey who took two years out of university to take part in the race, said: “I’m trying not to think about it. It hasn’t really hit me yet that we’re almost here.

“You start counting your last. So I’ve done my last galley [cooking shift], and this is our last stopover and things like that, but it doesn’t really hit home that it’s almost over.”

Meet the only sport in the world awarding competitors for sustainability

SailGP, in which 50-foot catamarans race at more than 60 mph in seas and bays around the world, is a grand prix sport comparable to Formula 1 but on water. One big difference: It is seeking to make a positive impact on issues of sustainability.  

In addition to vying to be the fastest, teams also compete to have the biggest impact on the league and in host cities. An entirely different scoreboard, called the Impact League, measures teams' impact on things such as sustainability, commitment and strategy; their use of new technologies and innovation; their promotion of clean energy; and their ability to avoid waste and single-use plastic. 

The champion for this season on positive impact is the Emirates Great Britain team, the league shared first with NBC News.

The team partnered with a bespoke renewable energy provider to incorporate solar panels on its team base that not only powers its base, but a number of other nation’s team bases.

“I’d be lying if I said that it doesn’t get just as competitive as it is on the water,” said Ben Ainslie, CEO of Emirates Great Britain SailGP team. “But at the same time we also get points for collaboration. And of course that’s the right thing to do when you’re looking at tackling issues around climate change. … Collaboration is key.”

Grand Prix races that burn fossil fuels are currently trying hard to figure out how to curb their carbon emissions. According to Formula 1, with 10 teams, 20 cars and 23 races in different countries, F1 emits approximately over 256,000 tons of carbon dioxide every season, the same amount as a small nation. Meanwhile, travel for players and fans, in addition to stadium power use, contributes to high emissions by the NFL, MLS, NBA, NHL and MLB.

Which is why SailGP, a sport powered by the wind, tries to take it a step further. At each race around the world, teams undertake an impact project to leave the environment in the area better than they found it. Those projects range from engaging youth in climate education and literacy to beach and ocean cleanups.

These events bring together leaders, sustainability champions, partners, industry leaders and athletes to promote, and educate on, climate action and inclusivity through sailing. Since its initial launch in 2021, the impact league has hosted 14 events across 11 cities, nine countries and four continents.

“It’s something that we’ve found has been really inspiring, both for the teams, and also for the fans,” said Ainslie.

Fiona Morgan, the league's Chief Purpose Officer, joined in 2020 to spearhead SailGP’s sustainability and impact agenda both within the league and through external partnerships. The goal is to transition the league to net zero carbon emission and use sport to inspire global change. 

“Sport has this power to talk to fans like no one else. And if we can educate them to be kind of imperfect climate activists, or even understand their carbon footprint, or even do one thing differently, we will help change the world,” she said. “Sometimes people look at sport (and) criticize where you race or who you sponsor. It’s like our superpower is engaging our consumers, and we have billions of them globally. So that’s what I think I really want sport to kind of lean into that talk to its fans.”

Although the catamarans are powered by nature, the league still relies on dozens of chase boats that burn fossil fuels. Morgan said the general lagging of decarbonization solutions within the maritime industry leave the league no other options.

“I think what’s really cool about our sport is that our playing field is the ocean,” said Mike Buckley, CEO and member of the United States SailGP team. “No other sports property in the world can say that.”

Ainslie encouraged other sports with large fan bases to start making more of an impact in the sector. 

“Some of the more established sports, imagine the number of people that they could reach,” he said. “A really great thing about sport is it’s so inspirational, particularly for younger generations. So I think it’s on all of us as sports people to be good role models and set the examples to, and that’s where the impact league really is really standing out.”

The push from SailGP comes as much of the U.S. has already dealt with extreme weather fueled by human-caused climate change this summer. Due to high ocean water temperatures, the tropics saw its earliest ever major hurricane in Beryl and, according to Climate Central, the recent heat wave in the West was five times more likely due to climate change, with the city of Las Vegas currently in its seventh day of over 115 F temperatures.

Lucas Thompson is a producer for the NBC News Climate Unit.

Ariel Weil is an intern on the NBC News Climate Unit.