There’s an awful lot going on over in IMOCA world
It’s time for us all to tune back into the IMOCA class – where there has been more going on recently than the America’s Cup and SailGP put together.
If, like me, you had slightly lost track of France’s flagship offshore class, here’s a handy update to get you all caught up…
The IMOCA world has been a hive of activity in 2026 with a multitude of top-flight campaigns currently on the go in and around the epicentre of the development class – the bustling port city of Lorient on the northwest coast of France. The next edition of the Vendée Globe – IMOCA’s pinnacle solo nonstop around the world race – does not start until the winter of 2028, but the key campaigners are very well-advanced with their preparations.
The 2026 season has already seen two IMOCA Globe Series singlehanded races: May’s 1000 Race, which saw a seven-boat fleet race a diamond-shaped course from Concarneau and back and was won by British skipper Sam Goodchild (ninth in the Vendée Globe 2024-25) on MACIF Santé Prévoyance, and June’s action-packed Vendée Arctique - Les Sables d’Olonne, whe…