Plan forming for Globe40 2025-26

The inaugural Globe40 was an eight-leg doublehanded round the world race in Class40s, with the 2022-23 race attracting seven teams to take on the challenge. Eager to maintain momentum, organizers have published the Pre-Notice of Race with a a scheduled start in the summer of 2025.

The fundamental principles behind the event are reaffirmed, which include a doublehanded race on Class40s, the option of switching one crew member at each stopover, or two under certain circumstances, a World Sailing category 1 course (the last category before category 0, which allows courses with no limits), and a complementary list of equipment suited to a round the world race without a major transformation of the boats

Scoring will have a points ranking with coefficients allocated to legs according to difficulty, technical assistance arranged by the organizer to support the teams, the same principles for qualification to take into account the geographical diversity and experience of the applicants, with consideration of the profiles and, if need be, with a request for additional miles.

The goal is for 15 entrants at the start, with a pre-registration procedure now in place while the complete Notice of Race is to be published on September 1, 2023.

For the second edition, the format has been slightly condensed so the overall length is 8 months, as opposed to 9, and 6 legs as opposed to 8, with a prologue. The start is scheduled for late summer 2025 and the finish for April 2026.

The geographical scope of the legs will be in the same vein as that of 2022-23: a prologue setting sail from France, an official start in Southern Europe or South of Europe , the first Atlantic leg, an Indian Ocean leg, a Pacific Ocean leg, a leg in the southern part of the South American continent, a second Atlantic leg and a finish in France.

The 30,000-mile course remains very full-on for this circumnavigation of the globe via the 3 capes, with an average of 5,000 miles per leg and around 150 days at sea for first finisher, but still in line with a category 1 race in that it limits the time spent in the more hostile latitudes.

The intention is to repeat the particularly attractive stopovers, as well as offer up some new destinations with the same spirit of adventure and exploration. The stopovers will be announced as and when they have been formalized by contract, a process that’s already underway for some, with the aim of concluding all of them by the end of 2023.

The GLOBE40 is neither a purely professional race nor an event reserved for ‘super-amateurs’. The evolution of the race format also aims to fit around the teams’ event schedule for the Class40’s European circuit, with whom there is contact. There will be an emphasis on a mixture of women and men too, as the organization is eager to develop the participation of women.

The Pre-Notice of Race is available here: https://www.globe40.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/PRE-NOTICE-OF-RACE-globe40-2ed-AVRIL23-GB.pdf

Additional details: https://www.globe40.com/