Ocean Race

The 2022-23 Ocean Race will visit nine iconic international cities over a six-month period, with one leg starting from Alicante, Spain, on January 15, 2023.

The start of the 14th running of The Ocean Race, early in the new year, follows Reyes' holiday period in Spain and sees the two racing fleets (the foiling IMOCAs and one-design VO65s) set off on a 32,000 nautical mile (60,000 mi) journey. km) race around the world in separate divisions.

The first leg is a 1,900 nautical mile sprint from Alicante to Cabo Verde, the first time the race stops in the African archipelago. Historically, the fleets have sailed past the islands as they sail south into the Atlantic Ocean. While in Cabo Verde, The Ocean Race will participate in the famous Ocean Week, with a focus on local and international sustainability issues.

Stage 2 kicks off on January 25 and sees the fleets race across the equator, south to Cape Town, the 12th time the race has stopped in the southern tip of Africa, making it the most visited stopover in this edition of the event. This is also the first of three 'haul-out' stops, where the boats are lifted out of the water for maintenance.

Next up is a record-breaking leg—the longest race distance in the event's 50-year history—a 12,750-nautical-mile, month-long marathon to Itajaí, Brazil.

In the best tradition of The Ocean Race, this leg takes the IMOCA and VO65 sailors to the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties of the Southern Ocean. Antarctica is to the right and the fleet will have to pass all three major southern Capes - Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn - to port, without stopping, for the first time.

There will be another extended stopover in Itajaí, Brazil, after this epic southern leg before the race resumes north, through the doldrums, across the equator and up to Newport, Rhode Island, on the east coast of the United States.

From there, the race will return to Europe, with a transatlantic leg to Aarhus, Denmark, followed by a fly-by from Kiel, Germany, en route to a stop in The Hague, Netherlands.

Then it's the final offshore leg - the Grand Finale - to Genoa, Italy, for a Mediterranean finish to the race.

Provisional programme:

June 11: Ocean Live Park opening
June 11: Expected arrival
June 13 and 14: In-Port Race
June 15: Leg Start