Neighbourhood News Update: The Mcintyre Ocean Globe Races To Cape Town!

The 14 iconic yachts racing in the McIntyre Ocean Globe are racing to Cape Town. The Ocean Globe Race (OGR) is a fully crewed retro race in the spirit of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original event.

Credit: Gary Cross / OGR2023

But this is way more than just a ‘round-the-world’ race. It’s a recognition of sailing history, a unique opportunity to race simple traditional yachts, a nod to seafarers’ past. These sailors, hailing from 23 different countries are a rare breed, ranging in age from 17 to 73 years, united by a passion to live a life less ordinary.

It’s an eight-month adventure for ordinary sailors with no GPS and no high-tech materials. Sailing like it’s 1973 with sextants, paper charts and books, music cassette tapes, team spirit and raw determination, in the great traditions of ocean sailing. This is a truly human endeavour. These sailors are real heroes pushing each other to the limit and beyond – in a real race!

Among them are five amazing South African sailors, three on board the South African yacht Sterna / All Spice Yachting, a purveyor of sailing adventures around the Cape of Good Hope. Sailing home towards Cape Town are skipper Rufus Brand, first mate Melissa Du Toit and team director Gerrit Louw.

Credit: Team Sterna / OGR2023

“To achieve your goals and dreams, you have no other choice than to step far outside of your comfort zone and into the adventure,” said Sterna skipper Rufus Brand.

Vuyisile Jaca, from KwaZulu-Natal, is sailing on board the UK entrant Maiden, which made history in 1989 when Tracy Edwards MBE entered the first-ever all-female crew in the Whitbread. On board Australian entrant Explorer, is Capetonian Cameron Schmidt (23). He was recruited from a number of applicants as part of the McIntyre Adventure Sponsored Youth Opportunity Scheme.

Sailing into Cape Town will cement the city’s rich and vibrant Whitbread history – being a stopover for the first four Whitbread races.

“We are very excited about sailing into Cape Town. It has a very special connection with the Whitbread, being the first stopover in 1973, so it’s like we’re coming full circle. We’re happy to be with our hosts the Royal Cape Yacht Club and having the yachts in the centre of the city provides the perfect vantage point for locals to come a see these amazing yachts and meet some of the crew who are living their dream of adventure. And of course, having a South African team, Sterna, as part of the race makes it even more interesting. They’re a great crew and great adventurers, who know how to live life to the full” said Race Founder and Sponsor, Don McIntyre.

The eight-month adventure is split into four legs, sailing around the three great Capes, Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin, and South America’s notorious Cape Horn.

The teams, hailing from eight different countries, France (5), Finland (2), Australia (2), Italy (1), UK (1), Spain (1), USA (1) and South Africa (1) sail on production yachts, or ex-Whitbread yachts from the first three editions and are split into three classes. The three classes are Adventure Class 46-55ft, Sayula Class 56-65ft and Flyer Class – comprising ex-Whitbread yachts from the first three editions.

• LEG 01: September 10th – UK to Cape Town, South Africa
• LEGS 02: November 5th – Cape Town to Auckland
• LEG 03: January 14th – Auckland to Punta Del Este
• FINISH: Aril 5th – 15th

The first yacht predicted to arrive into Cape Town is between 13th-16th of October. You can follow the yacht’s progress on the oceangloberace.com/livetracker

The OGR is hosting a Press Conference at 2:00 PM – 3.00 PM in the V&A Amphitheatre. This is the perfect opportunity to meet the skippers and crew.

Public Farewell 11.00 AM – 1.00 PM in the V&A Amphitheatre. MEET ALL THE CREWS, A GREAT chance for the public to say goodbyes to their favourite teams. To arrange an interview with skippers or crew please email jac@oceangloberace.com

There is also the opportunity for accredited media to conduct an exclusive interview with a yacht. For further information contact jac@oceangloberace.com. For media accreditation go to oceangloberace.com/media

For more information on the race go to oceangloberace.com. Enjoy the adventure!