PRESS RELEASE

On 11 June 2022, the competitors in the 1st edition of the GLOBE40 left the PEN MEN headland off the NW tip of the Ile de Groix to port and set a course for the open ocean. For those out on the water on this glorious sunny day, with Fabrice Loher President of LORIENT AGGLOMÉRATION taking a front row seat, it was still hard to imagine that 9 months later, on 15 March 2023, the first of these competitors would round the PEN MEN headland once again, but this time leaving it to starboard… having circumnavigated the planet. 

Already well established as a highly successful offshore racing hub at LORIENT LA BASE, managed by SELLOR, a reference in the training up of all manner of classes with LORIENT GRAND LARGE, as well as a focal point for countless competitions on the European circuit, LORIENT AGGLOMÉRATION started out from a blank page with SIRIUS EVENEMENTS, creator and organiser of the GLOBE40, in a world barely recovered from the health crisis and already plunged into the maelstrom of the conflict in Europe. Within a difficult context, the GLOBE40 managed to hold its course and offered up a planetary circumnavigation, an extremely demanding competition and an extraordinary human adventure. And the emotion which gripped all the locals from Lorient on 19 March 2022 in the presentation of the film finale at the Cité de la Voile spoke volumes about the popularity of this event. Indeed, the GLOBE40 is an experience, which not only embraces sporting commitment, but extends way beyond that to make it an experience of a lifetime. 

As a result, LORIENT AGGLOMERATION is once again signing up with SIRIUS EVENEMENTS, in partnership with LORIENT GRAND LARGE, to put together a second edition which, whilst retaining the original spirit, aims to take the event to another level in terms of the participation numbers, the quality of the line-up with some of most modern Class40s and skippers from right across the European circuit joining the fray, and above all in terms of its ability to share the adventure with everyone that makes up the Lorient Agglomeration. The prologue is scheduled for late August / early September 2025 with the race finish in mid-April 2026.

The Notice of Race sticks to the fundamentals whilst taking onboard any feedback (www.globe40.com – skipper area)
Following on from the Pre-Notice of Race published on 2 May 2023, the Notice of Race issued today drives the point home with regards the event’s fundamentals: a double-handed Class40 race, the opportunity to switch one or both crew members at every stopover under certain circumstances, a course geared around World Sailing category 1 race rules, a more extensive list of safety equipment designed for a round the world race without any major transformation of the boats, a points ranking with coefficients allocated to legs according to difficulty, plus technical assistance arranged by the organiser to support the teams. 

The feedback from the 1st edition has also prompted some developments: within the overall ranking, those teams who have sailed all or the maximum number of legs will be favoured over the points amassed, a ‘precise’ ranking will be implemented to enhance the status of the different generations of boats and a minimum stoppage time of 24 hours in the event of a pit-stop has been removed to avoid any compromise between safety and competition. Furthermore, the operating framework for technical assistance and the distribution of the organisation / teams is more detailed, the additional list of safety equipment is slightly different, the rules for managing sails have been formalised with the aim of ensuring greater clarity and fairness and the conditions laid out for checking work on the boats during the stopovers have been stepped up. Finally, full registration has been opened up at the same time as the accompanying pre-registration procedure through until 30 June 2024.

Course schedule and participation levels progressing well 2 years before the start
The evolution of the format announced back in May is playing out nicely with an overall duration of 8 months instead of 9 and 6 legs instead of 8. The start is scheduled for late summer 2025 and the finish for April 2026. The geographical setting for the legs has been decided on and will be announced as the contracts for the different legs are formalised: a prologue (Lorient) / Race start in France / Europe, a 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 (Lorient). A course spanning around 30,000 miles for this circumnavigation of the globe via the 3 capes, an average of 5,000 miles per leg and around 150 days at sea for the first finisher, that is still in line with a category 1 race in that it limits the time spent in the more hostile latitudes. 

Ten or so serious projects have been put forward since March, from all manner of backgrounds and a variety of nationalities, plus several Class40s have been purchased with a view to the next edition. What is more, with Lorient announcing today that it will be a key player in the event, the first of the beautiful – new – destinations of the southern hemisphere, are set to be revealed shortly…