The Ocean Race 2027: "Pushed by the Wind and Charged by the Sun" - Part 1
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 2 May 22:53 AEST
Conrad Colman (NZL) - MS Amlin - Training - September 27, 2024 - Lorient, France - © Thomas Deregnieaux / Qaptur
"Pushed by the wind and charged by the Sun" is the mantra the newly formed Aotearoa Ocean Racing team is taking into the upcoming edition of The Ocean Race 2027.
The new team led by Conrad Colman and Rowan Gyde aims to carry the banner for a self-sustained planet into the high-profile crewed round-the-world race, which is now into its second half-century of competition.
Conrad Colman watched Peter Blake's Steinlager 2 sail into Auckland to win the second leg of the 1989-90 Whitbread after a bow-to-bow match race with Grant Dalton's Fisher and Paykel, which was only won and lost in a rain squall 20nm from the finish in Auckland.
The then 6-year-old Colman was sold on round-the-world racing and has since competed in four round-the-world races, the last two as a single-hander in the French-dominated Vendee Globe.
In a feat unique in offshore racing, Colman has completed both those singlehanded races using only renewable resources – solar and hydropower, and near zero carbon emissions. Now, his ambition is to take that experience to the next level - fully crewed trans-oceanic racing – and provide further proof of the ability of the planet to be self-sustaining.
"In sailing, it makes sense that we're pushed by the wind, and we should be charged by the sun. That's the way that the world is going. And that's where we're going," Colman explains.
"We can truly be the symbol of that transition. It's something that I sincerely believe in, and I'm legitimately interested in. I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to renewable energy systems," he adds.
To give effect to these lofty ambitions, Colman, in conjunction with fellow Kiwi Rowan Gyde, launched Aotearoa Ocean Racing in Auckland in March.
Their secondary goal is to establish ocean racing bases in New Zealand and France, returning the sport to the halcyon days pioneered by Blake, Dalton and other notable Kiwi sailors and marine technology companies.
What became known as "The Whitbread" began as a concept promoted by Anthony Churchill and Guy Pearce after a series of singlehanded around-the-world races. The Royal Naval Sailing Association, keen to use a fleet of newly acquired sail training yachts, declared it was going ahead regardless of interest from private entries.
It was joined by brewer Whitbread & Co, and the four-stop, fully crewed around the world race, following the square rigger route, got underway off Portsmouth on September 8, 1973, with a 17-boat fleet.
Three lives were lost.
What began 51 years ago as an adventure cruise into the unknown has evolved into a full-on crewed race using the latest sailing technology, which continues to be a multiple leg around the three Capes of Good Hope, Leewin and Horn.
Over the intervening period, the race has passed through several iterations, beginning with custom-designed trans-oceanic yachts up to 84ft long to one design 60fters, and now the popular 60ft IMOCA class. With over 100 boats built, the restricted design IMOCA is used for both the Vendee Globe singlehanded, non-stop around-the-world race and what is now fully a crewed multi-stopover event, The Ocean Race, now in its second edition.
That multiple-use boat concept has been extended to several other European and Trans-Atlantic singlehanded, two-handed or fully crewed races. Women compete on an equal basis with men. Several of the top racing teams are skippered and managed by women.
A boat for all races
The versatility of the IMOCA concept means that teams can own a single or multiple boats and race in events that are of interest to multiple sponsors – either as a high-profile naming sponsor or a team partner.
The IMOCAs, unlike other design types, have a life covering several years and are not immediately made obsolescent by design improvements. For a team, it is always a serious decision whether they build a new boat, spend valuable time bringing it up to racing speed, and debug the onboard systems. The alternative is to upgrade to a fully reliable older boat. The longevity of the boats is a tribute to the IMOCA class organisation.
The fully foiling IMOCAs are the fastest of all offshore monohulls. They hold the world's 24-hour sailing records for singlehanded and fully crewed sailing.
Colman is expecting a good fleet of IMOCAs for The Ocean Race 2027. He says they'll have a better idea of how many when the Vendee Globe teams come together at the prizegiving on May 10 and chat for the first time since the race finished.
"I know that there are lots of teams that are building new boats with the intention of doing the race and are fully committed to that program," he says.
When the IMOCA was first announced for The Ocean Race 2023, the idea was that boats still in the design and planning process could be configured to be singlehanded, double-handed, or fully crewed.
"There are at least six new builds on the way. Whether they do The Ocean Race or not is obviously up to them," Colman explains.
"We have also re-signed my sponsorship deal with my existing partners and the international insurance company MS Amlin. That is very good news, and it's a huge pat on the back."
"We're ticking the box in terms of demonstrating that we did a good job in the Vendee Globe, and the people who are already in the project want more."
"So that's very encouraging."
"MS Amlin is a European insurance company that wants visibility through Europe, which matches up well with The Ocean Race. That's why they're keen that we do that.
"But then they also wanted their boat, and we're doing the transition events later this year."
A two boat team
That works well with Aotearoa Ocean Racing's plan to build a new IMOCA, giving the team a two-boat program for racing and promotional work.
As well as working their own network of contacts, the pair, who are both based in Europe, also have an agent working on their behalf and are looking for a second.
Colman says they have two options regarding the new boat design.
One is that we can build using existing tooling and build a slightly updated version of the two best 2024 edition boats. Those moulds are available, and some build slots are still available."
"Or, there is a new design that hasn't yet been built, and it also has an associated build slot."
"But for either option, it's 12 months of build time between pushing go and having a boat ready for the water. That means we need to get at least the promise of financing or money to hand to do The Ocean Race by July.
"Otherwise, that closes the window on the two new build options, and then we're looking at being active on the second-hand market."
The launch date for a new build will be July 2026, with a commissioning and preliminary race process in the run-up to the start of The Ocean Race in January 2027.
"The later you get, then the harder it is to justify a new boat because the commissioning phase is quite intensive, and it's often better to have a fully wound up and fully reliable older boat than a brand spanking new boat - where you don't know where it's going to go ping or what's going to go wrong next. So that's where our timelines are and why they are that way."
Aotearoa Ocean Racing's current IMOCA, which competed in the 2024/25 Vendee Globe, uses two lifting daggerboards to stop leeway and provide some foiling lift. They come into play when favourable conditions permit. The long, angled boards are retracted in light winds to reduce drag.
The team's second boat – either a custom build or a used boat purchase – will be a full-foiler, with two curved scimitar-like foils protruding from each topside above the waterline. The full-foiler is generally faster, and the first daggerboarder placed 16th in the 40-boat entry in the just completed 2024/25 Vendee Globe; Colman was the 21st finisher and fourth daggerboarder.
The first foiling IMOCA finished 20 days ahead of the first foiler in the singlehanded non-stop race around the planet. As organisers need the race boats to finish in a much closer group at each stopover, The Ocean Race 2027 is open only to the faster full-foiler IMOCAs.
Going around the world again in the current boat is not an option.
"It's not an option we're pursuing. And that's because while the boat could do another lap of the planet. It's too old and too slow to participate in The Ocean Race, where they want a relatively homogenous fleet so that they can hit their arrival dates at the various ports."
"So it works for the Vendee and all other racing, but it doesn't work for The Ocean Race."
Modest investment
The budget for the four-year campaign is €15-20million or €5million of investment per year, paying for the boat, racing expenses and a shore team of 20.
While the new second IMOCA is built or modified to be energy self-sufficient, MS Amlin, the ex-Vendee Globe boat, continues with sponsor activations, including demonstration sailing and racing in European circuit events.
The beauty of having the Vendee Globe IMOCA is that it can be taken to MS Amlin's offices and VIPs for post-race sponsorship activations.
"We're shifting the boat up to The Hague and basing it there, and then having MS Amlin's guests, clients, brokers, and employees come to us from their offices in Belgium, The Netherlands, the UK and Germany – which reduces their transport time to see the boat."
"Typically, they'll come and spend the night at the port where the boat is berthed and then go for sail the next day with the company's CEO. They can see he's getting sweaty and working in the trenches with the teams. "
"It's a great experience. It breaks down barriers within the company and is something they don't get to do elsewhere. So that's special for the sponsor."
"Before the Vendee Globe started, I visited and talked about the race to all their regional offices."
"That also continues now."
"Today, I'm going to talk about the race, the lessons learned and share the adventure afterwards. And so that's a big part of it."
"We've got activation in the race village, with again people coming, seeing the boat, seeing the spectacle of the circus of the race village - much like what we've seen in Downtown Auckland in the Viaduct on previous Volvo Ocean Race stopovers.
"That circus gets created around the start of these big races. During the race, I produce lots of videos, content, and stories, which the sponsors share internally.
"We often do spot prizes around that. Also, I raced their employees on Virtual Regatta - the online sailing race and people who participate and do well internally get to come for a sail on the real boat as well."
Unique opportunity
"That's why MS Amlin signed up again. Over the years, they have tried many, many other kinds of hospitality and employee engagement strategies, and none have been as effective as what we just did with the Vendee Globe. That demonstrates our pitch - that ocean racing offers unique opportunities to get employees and clients, prospects and brokers, and so on out on the boat.
"Ideally, we would like to build in New Zealand and then have a couple of months to commission the boat and run around New Zealand, much like the Camper team did for the 2011-12 Volvo.
"But, at present, we don't have time to reconnect with New Zealand in that way."
"If we can build in New Zealand, we could put the hull straight onto a ship and go through a commissioning process in Europe."
"Then we could bring down our existing boat and do the lap of the country and it that way – sailing in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
"Our goal is to have a presence in Europe and New Zealand. We want to get as many Kiwis out on the water as soon as possible using the existing boat we sailed in the Vendee Globe."
"Our heart is in New Zealand, and that's what we want to do."
The first workout for Aotearoa Ocean Racing may come in mid-July with the Rolex Fastnet Race centenary – provided it can be worked into an ambitious racing schedule for the team.
"I'm unsure about the Fastnet because I will definitely do the Double Handed Transatlantic Race at the end of the year, and plans for that will be unveiled shortly."
"But we can say that MS Amlin will be the title sponsor."
"Obviously, I'm really keen on doing The Ocean Race Europe, but several different avenues are still coming together, so they will determine when I'm doing the Fastnet or not."