Hong Kong may be the only Asian stop on the next Ocean Race after the city hosted a successful stop on the 2017-18 edition of the world’s most challenging round-the-world boat race.
Hong Kong hosted the fleet after leg four of the previous race, with celebrations taking on added significance with the victory of Hong Kong-owned Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag, skippered by David Witt.
Tong Yui-shing, president of the Hong Kong Sailing Federation (HKSF), said his body, along with the government’s Home Affairs Bureau (HAB), are in discussions with Ocean Race organisers for the 2021-22 event.
“Ocean Race is negotiating with HAB and HKSF about [the] 2021-22 Ocean Race,” Tong said. “They are keen to stop [in] Hong Kong as the only one in Asia.”
Hong Kong was the main stop during the Asian swing of the 2017-18 Ocean Race with the fleet making a brief trip to Guangzhou for an inshore race. It started in Alicante, Spain, and finished in The Hague, Netherlands, covering a distance of 45,000 nautical miles.
The stopover exceeded expectations with more than 100,000 people attending over three days with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor saying “We want it back”.
According to Tong, however, it appears Hong Kong may be the only Asian city to host boats next time around. Ocean Race organisers had initially planned to finalise the route for 2021-22 by the end of June but the announcement is delayed because deals with many cities are yet to be finalised.
“We’re in the final stage on the host city procurement process and expect to be making our announcement in the next few weeks,” said Peter Rusch, of the Ocean Race’s communications team.
The HAB also confirmed that “discussions are ongoing”, emphasising that there are no updates.
In an interview with Sail-World.com, race director Richard Mason said the 14th edition of the race will feature a shorter route with fewer stops.
“We are looking at a European start and then heading south through the South Atlantic and then up to Asia,” he was quoted as saying. “Of course, we are looking at Australia and New Zealand and then back around South America and North America and then into Europe.”
The seven crews in the previous race all used Volvo Ocean 65 boats, designed by Farr Yacht in the United States. China-owned Dongfeng Race Team, skippered by Frenchman Charles Caudrelier, won the overall title after 11 legs after finishing third in the 2014-15 event.
Scallywag finished last out of seven boats but suffered a tragedy on leg seven from Auckland, New Zealand, to Itajai in Brazil when crew member John Fisher was lost overboard in the Southern Ocean.
Spain’s Mapfre finished second ahead of Team Brunel, Team AkzoNobel, Vestas 11th Hour Racing and Turn the Tide on Plastic, which also performed the role of a research boat gathering information on plastic pollution on the world’s oceans.
The next race will feature two classes of boats – the super fast Imoca 60s, and the one-design VO65s used in the previous race.
Rusch said teams will be making their own announcements once they have decided to join the race.
“We have several teams who have registered with us, but they haven’t announced publicly at this point,” said Rusch. “We allow the teams to control their own timeline on announcements and expect most of them to do so over the next 12 months.”
Offshore Team Germany has already launched a campaign to take part in the next race. It would be the first German-flagged boat in the race since Illbruck Challenge won the 2001-02 race.
France’s Paul Meilhat, winner of the last Route du Rhum race, has also confirmed his registration for the race, saying he has the triple objective of winning the Ocean Race, the Route du Rhum in 2022 and the Vendee Globe in 2024.
The Mirpuri Foundation has also indicated that it may compete in the VO65 class and use its participation to spread an environmental message.
No Hong Kong owner has yet to announce their participation in the next race, which again starts from Alicante, Spain, in October 2021.
