The Ocean Race 2027, the world’s top fully-crewed offshore sailing competition, has revealed the North American stopover will be in St. Petersburg, Florida. This is the first time in the event’s 54-year history that Florida’s Gulf Coast will serve as a race port.

The St. Pete-Clearwater stopover is scheduled for May 4-16 with the race village based at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, located along the downtown waterfront and in partnership with the University of South Florida (USF). The 60-foot foiling IMOCA yachts will be berthed at the USF St. Petersburg campus on Tampa Bay during the stopover.

The race village will be open to the public with free events including:
• Team boat viewings and dock walks
• Sailing and ocean-themed exhibits
• STEM and ocean science programming
• Sustainability and ocean conservation showcases

The past three editions of The Ocean Race had the North American stopover in Newport, RI. Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center, along with city, state, and community stakeholders renowned as advocates for the marine community, decided together in late 2024 not to pursue the 2027 event (see statement).

Florida previously hosted the event five times – Fort Lauderdale (1989–90, 1993–94, 1997–98) and Miami (2001–02, 2011–12). St. Pete-Clearwater will be the finish port for the third leg of the around the world race, with the fleet arriving from Itajai, Brazil.

Following the restart from St. Pete-Clearwater, teams will embark on the 4,500-nautical-mile crossing to Cascais, Portugal. The fleet should arrive in late May before racing resumes in early June.

The 15th edition of The Ocean Race departs on January 17 from Alicante, Spain, sending the fleet on the longest opening leg in race history with an epic 14,000 nautical mile passage to Auckland, New Zealand.

The route continues to South America via Itajaí, Brazil before heading north to the USA and then Portugal. The race concludes with a sprint down the Red Sea to AMAALA, marking the first time in race history that sailors have competed on the waters of the Red Sea.
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Editor’s note: It was previously stated that the penultimate leg would finish in the Mediterranean Sea off Port Said, Egypt, and then the fleet would transit together through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea for the start of the final leg – approximately 135 nautical miles – to the finish line just off AMAALA. However, additional options in the Med are now being considered to consolidate the fleet before the Suez.
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This will be the second edition to feature the IMOCA 60 with each team required to include at least one female sailor at all times.

No teams have been announced for The Ocean Race 2027, but it is anticipated that many will participate in The Ocean Race Atlantic 2026 from New York to Europe.

Details: https://www.theoceanrace.com/en/home

The 15th edition of The Ocean Race around the world will start from Alicante, Spain on January 17, 2027. It will be the sixth consecutive time the race has started from this venue which is home for both Race HQ and The Ocean Race Museo.

Racing the IMOCA 60-footer, teams of four will include at least one female and comprise of at least two nations.

Race Route:
• Alicante, Spain (start)
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Itajaí, Brazil
• St. Petersburg, USA
• Cascais, Portugal
• Port Said, Egypt (tentative)
• AMAALA, Saudi Arabia (finish)

Source: The Ocean Race