2027 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race is looking for crews

The 2027 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race is calling for adventurous sailors ready to take on one of the most demanding and life-changing challenges in ocean racing.

 Nine teams are currently preparing for the second edition of the fully crewed, retro round-the-world race. Seven yachts have announced participation, while two further entries—one British and one French—remain confidential ahead of their formal announcements. Organisers expect the fleet to continue growing, with up to 14 yachts anticipated on the start line.

 Four confirmed campaigns—Italian Swan 65 Translated 9, Finnish Swan 55 Galiana, Australian Swan 57 Explorer and Australian Baltic 55 Outlaw—are now recruiting sailors for individual legs or the complete circumnavigation.

Ordinary sailors, extraordinary challenge

 The inaugural 2023 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race was the first fully crewed retro round-the-world race of its kind in nearly 30 years and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the original 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race.

 Fourteen teams and approximately 220 sailors set out aboard classic production yachts and historic Whitbread veterans. Without GPS, satellite routing or computers, they experienced an emotional, physical and psychological rollercoaster that pushed crews to their limits—and sometimes beyond them—just as the original Whitbread had done half a century earlier.

 The 2027 edition will once again give amateur sailors the opportunity to race through the world’s great oceans, cross the equator and the doldrums, confront the Southern Ocean and round Cape Horn.

 Translated 9 opens worldwide crew selection

 The latest team to join the 2027 McIntyre OGR is Translated 9, the Italian Swan 65 owned by Translated founders Marco Trombetti and Isabelle Andrieu.

Translated 9 became one of the outstanding teams of the 2023 race, winning the opening two legs on IRC and leading on handicap towards Cape Horn before suffering serious structural damage. Although the yacht was retired from the official ranking after hull damage, the crew repaired her twice, continued the voyage and completed the circumnavigation in Cowes on 3 May 2024.

 For 2027, Translated 9 has one clear ambition: to win. American sailing legend Paul Cayard is supporting the team’s training programme.

 “In 2023, we dominated the race. We broke the boat. We learned. We never gave up. Now we’re going back,” the team says in its 2027 crew call.

 Applications are open worldwide until 26 July 2026. The selection process places as much importance on character and mindset as it does on sailing experience, with applicants assessed on motivation, resilience, teamwork, humility, coachability and their ability to contribute to the whole crew. 

 The 2027 crew will be composed of one-third professional and two-thirds non-professional sailors, in line with the race rules. Previous ocean-crossing experience is not required for every role; experience and eligibility requirements vary by position.

 Participation aboard Translated 9 is free for those selected, with the team covering expenses during the race. Professional sailors will receive a salary and insurance. Applicants are responsible for their own travel costs during the initial trial phase. 

Galiana, Explorer and Outlaw also recruiting

 Three 2023 OGR entrants are also offering sailors the opportunity to join them again in the  2027 race.

 Galiana, the classic S&S-designed Swan 55 hull number two, will again be led by Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen. A veteran of the 1981–82 Whitbread Round the World Race and two Golden Globe Race campaigns, Lehtinen will be undertaking his fifth race around the world.

 Galiana finished eighth overall in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race and is now undertaking an extensive North Atlantic training programme through the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda, returning to Finland via Greenland and Iceland. Crew places are available on a contribution-to-cost basis. Details: tapiolehtinensailing.fi

Galiana, Tapio Lehtinen’s 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
Australian entry Explorer will return with a new skipper and new crew following a major refit. The Swan 57 was officially recorded as DNF after Leg 2 in 2023, but continued and completed the full circumnavigation, crossing the Cowes finish line on 13 May 2024.

 Explorer will sail with 11 people aboard and is offering positions to both individual-leg sailors and full circumnavigators. Participating sailors contribute towards the costs of the campaign. Details and applications: McIntyre Adventure

The third returning campaign currently recruiting is Outlaw, the Australian Baltic 55 skippered by Campbell Mackie.

 Originally built in Finland as Equity & Law for the 1985–86 Whitbread Round the World Race, Outlaw was extensively rebuilt before the 2023 Ocean Globe Race, in which she finished seventh overall. The campaign’s cooperative model allows prospective participants to explore buying a share in the yacht.

 Outlaw is entered for 2027 and is recruiting to complete its crew line-up for a third circumnavigation. Details: Spirit of Adelaide
 
 An international fleet with purpose

 Seven yachts from the 2023 edition are returning, some with their original campaigns and others with new owners and crews. Two entries are new to the OGR.

 French skipper Tanneguy Raffray returns with Neptune, the legendary 60-foot aluminium André Mauric design that competed in the second Whitbread Round the World Race in 1977. Neptune finished sixth overall in the 2023 Ocean Globe Race and will again campaign in support of people living with Parkinson’s disease, raising both awareness and funds through its “Winning with Parkinson’s” project.

 White Shadow, the 1978 Nautor Swan 57 hull number four that raced as a Spanish entry in 2023, is returning under new French ownership. Charles Lambert will skipper the yacht, with Sarah Polomack-Vinckel as first mate, and the campaign will sail under the French flag.

Finland’s second announced entry is Panacea, an S&S Nautor Swan 57 built in 1981 and launched in 1982. Owner Tuomo Meretniemi and his family lived aboard Panacea while sailing around the world between 2016 and 2024.

 He will be joined by first mate Hilla Paananen, who brings previous Ocean Globe Race experience from her 2023 circumnavigation aboard Spirit of Helsinki. With strong links to Finland’s Sea Scout community, Panacea also plans an educational and scientific programme developed with three Finnish universities.

 Racing around the world as it was in 1973

 The 2027 McIntyre Ocean Globe Race starts in Europe on 12 September 2027 and covers approximately 27,000 nautical miles over four legs.

 The route is planned to take the fleet south across the equator to Cape Town, east through the Southern Ocean to Auckland, around Cape Horn to Punta del Este in Uruguay, and then across the Atlantic to a European finish in April 2028. The final European start and finish ports are still to be announced.

 Crews will compete aboard classic production yachts and historic Whitbread designs, navigating without GPS or electronic charts and without outside weather routing. Sextants, paper charts, celestial observations, barometers and traditional forecasting will remain central to the experience. Routine communications remain tightly controlled, with SSB/HF radio central and limited monitored Starlink sessions permitted for approved media and other specified purposes.

The regulations retain mixed-gender crew requirements and require every yacht to carry at least one sailor under 24 years of age, ensuring that a new generation of young offshore sailors is given the chance to participate.

 “You do not need huge budgets to enter,” said race founder and chairman Don McIntyre. “You simply need passion, a good team of sailors and the will to make it happen.”

 Sailors interested in applying should consult the 2027 entrant and individual team information on the Ocean Globe Race website. Translated 9 applications close on 26 July 2026, while recruitment timelines, experience requirements and financial arrangements for Galiana, Explorer and Outlaw vary by campaign. Details: OGR 2027 entrants