St. Pete-Clearwater, Fla., will serve as the North American stopover of The Ocean Race 2027, race organizers announced Wednesday, with Sail Newport confirming it chose not to pursue the bid.<\/p>\n
Sail Newport, Rhode Island\u2019s Public Sailing Center \u2014 which hosted the race in 2015 and 2018 under the Volvo Ocean Race name and again in 2023 as The Ocean Race \u2014 decided in late 2024 not to pursue the 2027 edition following a review of its nonprofit mission, community priorities, and the financial demands of hosting the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud of the legacy we\u2019ve built with The Ocean Race, but we are also mindful of our responsibility to host a financially sustainable event for the city and state,\u201d said Brad Read, Sail Newport\u2019s executive director. \u201cDeclining to bid for the 2027 edition has allowed us to focus our energy and resources on initiatives that directly serve these goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sail Newport\u2019s mission centers on public access to sailing, sustainability, and marine education.<\/p>\n
\u201cNewport had an immensely successful experience with the race, and we fully support the St. Pete team in making this a wonderful event,\u201d Read added.<\/p>\n
The Ocean Race also announced a new transatlantic leg for the 2027 edition, departing from St. Pete-Clearwater and arriving in Cascais, Portugal \u2014 the first time in the event\u2019s 54-year history that Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast will serve as a race departure port. The crossing spans approximately 4,500 nautical miles of open Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ocean Race has always been defined by the cities and communities that embrace it,\u201d said Richard Brisius, Race Chairman of The Ocean Race. \u201cFlorida has welcomed this race five times before; now it does so in a way that will bring the event to a whole new audience on the Gulf Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The race will be based at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, along the downtown waterfront, from May 4-16, 2027. The University of South Florida, home to one of the nation\u2019s leading marine science programs, is among the event\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n
The 15th edition of The Ocean Race departs Alicante, Spain, on Jan. 17, 2027. The fleet will travel to Auckland, New Zealand; then Itaja\u00ed, Brazil; before heading north to St. Pete-Clearwater. The race will also finish on the Red Sea for the first time<\/a>, concluding at AMAALA.<\/p>\n The edition will again feature foiling IMOCA 60 race boats and will require each team to include at least one female sailor at all times.<\/p>\n Charlie Enright, the Bristol, R.I., skipper who won the 2023 edition with Newport-based 11th Hour Racing and now serves as CEO of US Sailing, called the new leg \u201ca fantastic initiative.\u201d \u201cSt. Pete-Clearwater is a sailing and sporting community with real energy,\u201d Enright said, \u201cand launching a transatlantic leg from the Gulf Coast is going to be something special.\u201d<\/p>\n Newport hosted the race three consecutive times<\/a>. The 2015 and 2018 stopovers drew more than 200,000 visitors to Fort Adams State Park and generated tens of millions of dollars in economic impact for Rhode Island, according to state officials. The 2023 stopover<\/a>, co-hosted by Sail Newport, the State of Rhode Island and 11th Hour Racing, included a nine-day public festival and ocean education programming for thousands of students.<\/p>\n