Open 60s to China

IMOCA class association announce new race from London to China, organised by Mike Golding

The Open 60 monohull class association, IMOCA, has announced the result of a three-way bidding contest for the rights to run the proposed Europe-China race in 2006.

All three bids, from Monaco, Brest and London were of excellent quality and the decision was a difficult one for the Executive of the Class. Finally the bid of Extreme Sailing, a company associated to skipper Mike Golding, was awarded the rights to run the 2006 inaugural event, which will see the Open 60s race short-handed from London to Shanghai, with possible stopovers in Brittany and Qingdao (site of Olympic sailing in 2008).

The race will include over 17,000 miles of hard ocean racing on a completely new track. Although the course is new for the Open 60s it isn't when it comes to maritime history. The course has been a very important trade route, including the famous 19th century Tea Clippers, the fastest sail boats of their day. With rapid economic growth in China, a key market for many global brands, this inaugural race to the Far East is an innovative step by the international Open 60 fleet.

“All of the dossiers were excellent, which is a great indication of the attractiveness of the world’s largest ocean racing class to event organisers and sponsors” commented IMOCA President Luc Talbourdet. “The calendar looking forward to 2009 is already of excellent quality, and very attractive for boat sponsors - international, competitive and rich in variation, sailing on almost every ocean of the planet.”

The IMOCA Class is increasingly present around the world. This coming weekend, 14 Open 60s will race in the classic Rolex Fastnet Race, and a fleet of up to 25 IMOCA Open 50s and 60s is expected to race this November in the Transat Jacques Vabre, from France to Brazil. These boats will head back to Europe in time for Christmas before preparing for the race to China that should depart late March, arrive in China by the end of May, and see the yachts shipped back to Europe in time for sponsor activities in the summer. IMOCA skippers and projects will then choose between the Route du Rhum in November 2006, or the 5-Oceans race (formerly the Around Alone/BOC Challenge).