Sir Peter Blake skippered Steinlager 2 to a win in the 1989-90 edition of the Whitbread Round the World race. Photo / Photosport
Sir Peter Blake skippered Steinlager 2 to a win in the 1989-90 edition of the Whitbread Round the World race. Photo / Photosport
Half a century ago, 19 yachts set out from Portsmouth, England, in a race around the world.
The race featured just three stops on the way, three sailors were swept overboard and lost their lives, and the winner crossed the finish line 152 days after setting sail.
Though it hasmany known by many names since, that first Whitbread Round the World race was the start of what has become an iconic event in the sailing world.
It’s an event that particularly resonates with Kiwis, following the success of Steinlager 2 in the 1989-90 edition. Skippered by Sir Peter Blake, and featuring an all-star crew including Brad Butterworth, Tony Rae and Kevin Shoebridge, Steinlager 2 won its edition of the race and is the only yacht to claim line honours in every leg of the race. It was the first year that the race had included more stopovers, with six legs instead of four. In the previous edition, Blake skippered Lion New Zealand to second place.
Steinlager 2 won every leg of the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World race. Photo / Photosport
Kiwi successes continued in the following edition, which featured seven legs, when Grant Dalton skippered NZ Endeavour to victory. That edition also saw the arrival of the Whitbread 60 class, a smaller, purpose-built vessel, which ran alongside the maxis, and Japanese entry Yamaha, skippered by Kiwi Ross Field, was the first of the new class across the line.
This week, a race featuring boats designed before 1988 and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Whitbread Round the World event will sail into Auckland to complete its second leg. It comes at a welcome time for Auckland sailing fans, after the City of Sails missed out on hosting recent or upcoming editions of the America’s Cup, SailGP and The Ocean Race.
While The Ocean Race itself has moved with the times, the Ocean Globe Race is a tribute to its origins. Of the 13-strong fleet, seven of the vessels were raced during an edition of the Whitbread race.
The first boats are expected to arrive in the Waitematā Harbour between 8am and midday on Tuesday, with Italian entry Translated 9 leading the fleet ahead of Finland vessel Spirit of Helsinki, while the rest of the fleet is expected to filter in over the next couple of weeks.
Grant Dalton aboard the NZ Endeavour in 1992. Photo / Photosport
The Ocean Globe Race follows a similar route to that of the early four-leg editions, with stops in Cape Town, Auckland and Punta del Este (Uruguay) before returning to Southampton in what is expected to be an eight-month voyage.
It is billed as a return to the spirit of the original race, with everyday sailors relying on sextants and paper charts. Ocean Globe Race founder Don McIntyre said he wanted to put together an event that gave ordinary sailors the chance to experience such an adventure with the current iteration of The Ocean Race dominated by professionals.
“I wanted to recreate that feeling, where ‘ordinary’ sailors could experience that special adventure, denied them ever since it became fully professional as the Volvo race. They were super exciting events, but left the average sailor behind 30 years ago,” McIntyre said.
During the stopover in Auckland – with the fleet scheduled to depart on leg three in mid-January – both Lion New Zealand and Steinlager 2 will berth alongside the Ocean Globe Race yachts in Wynyard Marina.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
