Events
Countdown to Alicante: a sixth consecutive start for The Ocean Race
The fleet leaves Alicante on 17 January and, from 8 to 18 January, the Ocean Live Park takes over its waterfront. Our office is right behind it — book a meeting.
After the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic, all eyes are now on Alicante. On 17 January 2027 the city will start the 15th edition of The Ocean Race, the round-the-world race with stopovers — for a record sixth consecutive edition.
The IMOCA sailors count down to the Alicante start.
Video: © The Ocean Race
The opening leg, from Alicante to Auckland (New Zealand), will be the longest in the race's 54-year history: 14,000 nautical miles, nearly 26,000 kilometres. In all, the IMOCA crews will take on the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans, with stopovers in Itajaí (Brazil), St. Pete-Clearwater (United States) and Cascais (Portugal), a potential new stop in the Mediterranean and a final sprint down the Red Sea to AMAALA. Alicante will also host Race Control, the operations centre that will track the boats around the clock all the way around the world.
As an opening leg, this has everything: the Mediterranean departure from Alicante, a descent of the Atlantic Ocean, including the doldrums, and then a good stretch in the Southern Ocean before coming up to Auckland.
The teams preparing for the start include Mariana Lobato and Paul Meilhat's United by the Ocean Team, winners of The Ocean Race Atlantic; Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia and Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi's DMG MORI Global One, both with new boats; and Swiss skipper Oliver Heer's Embrace the Challenge, a first-timer in the race around the world. New Zealander Conrad Colman, who skippered MSIG Europe in The Ocean Race Atlantic, dreams of racing into his home country: "something you would dream of as a kid".
Ocean Live Park, 8 to 18 January
Alicante Puerto de Salida is preparing an unprecedented set-up on the Muelle de Levante. From 8 to 18 January, the Ocean Live Park — the race village, beside Race Headquarters and The Ocean Race Museum, a short walk from the Paseo de la Explanada — will turn the waterfront into a celebration of sailing, adventure and ocean culture. Visitors will be able to get close to the boats and sailors while the teams finalise their preparations, discover the science and technology behind the race and learn why protecting the ocean matters, with a programme combining racing and entertainment for families, schools and visitors.
The start in Alicante is always a special moment. You have the crowds, the teams, the families and all the excitement of Ocean Live Park, but you also know what is waiting for you beyond the start line.
See you in Alicante
For those days, Alicante will be — in the words of Valencian regional minister Marián Cano — "the global centre of ocean racing". And Nowtica is on home ground: our office is in Marina Alicante, on the same Muelle de Levante, right behind the Ocean Live Park. If you have a Lagoon sailing project in mind — your first catamaran, a step up in length, shared ownership or a charter programme — make the most of your visit to the race to drop by and talk it through with us. Write to us and we will book your meeting.