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2 January 2025


Happy New Year, SOLers all, and, here, without further ado is an early outline for your sailonline.org racing programme 2025, and as always the title of SuperSOLer will be determined by the best 42 results from the usual four annual series: the Sprint Championship, the All-Round Championship, the Ocean Championship, and the TIMED Championship. Click on the buttons to discover more about these always fiercely contested annual contests.

In previous years we have raced circumnavigational series around Australia regularly and North America a few times, and across the many seas of Asia also, but Africa has been less explored. So, this year we will explore ‘Africa by Sea’, finishing with a transit of the Suez Canal, but, as there will be two discards, it can be ‘chickened out of’.

It is arguable that our long-standing Sprint Series, featuring short races of just a few hours, does not give enough ‘bang for our high-resolution bucks’ from our unique wrfems weather, so this year, additionally to the Sprints, we will race a hires series of races of 24 hours duration - the ‘Red Eye’ - which to win may require a certain amount of sleep management.

In 2016 we introduced our version of the DN ice yacht to an unsuspecting online sailing public. On good ice and in good wind it skates at up to 50 knots, tacking and gybing at will without performance loss. Racers loved it, so much so, that every northern hemisphere winter since we have organized a four-race series. In 2025 we will again host an Ice Series, but straddling the entire year, which means trips to the southern Andes and the Himalayas will be required.

Apart and entirely different to the DN, we have one other highly unusual craft in our boathouse. Although it floats in a fluid, it is not a boat either, but a balloon buoyed by the air, and this year, in response to public demand, we will race our SOL Balloon in a proper series. ‘Sinbad by Balloon’ will, like his seven online voyages of three years ago, take you to the four corners of the Indian Ocean.

In recent years, and in years gone by as well, within our Ocean Championships, we have also raced a Round the World (RTW) series, and we will do so again in 2025, but this year it will be a RWW 'Round Our Water World' eight-race series, in other words races that, again responding to demand, will avoid land as much as possible, by going from lonely island to lonely island à la Kevin Costner in the eponymous epic movie, in a mixed bag of ocean greyhounds.

     

The other four ocean races will be: 1/ a race from Cape Horn to Sables d'Olonne in a tuned-up foiling IMOCA 60, which hopefully will be able to match this year's Vendee fleet on their way home up the Atlantic, 2/ a race from Valparaiso to San Francisco inspired by Isabel Allende's terrific read 'Daughter of Fortune' , 3/ a second literature-inspired race from Cape Town to Java (lesser-known 'Mountains More Ancient' by Isna Marifa about the indentured Cape Malays of the 18th C), and of course 4/ our great and festive annual Christmas to Christmas race, back E to W.

There will be one other ocean race, which because of its great length in a comparatively slow yacht, to best match the real-life competitors we will be racing against, will not count towards the Ocean Championships; the Melbourne Osaka Cup .

Finally, as always, we will be partnering with numerous real-life race organizations and many of these partnerships will be in the form of short series. Click on any of the buttons below for further details about any of these.



       

       

Fair winds from SOL to all!

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Races

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Current Races:

SSANZ Round North Island Race 2026 - Leg 3

Leg Three of our Round North Island Series, in partnership with SSANZ, keeps the pressure on! From Cook Strait, the fleet turns north for a 187 nautical mile passage up the east coast to Napier. It may look like a quick overnighter, but shifting coastal winds and the ever-lively Cook Strait demand sharp focus. In our responsive Sun Fast 3600s, a proven short-handed racer and powerful downwind performer, tactical decisions and precise timing will make all the difference!

The start time for this race may change at short notice to align with the real race. The confirmed start date and time will be announced via an in-race “L” flag message — Please monitor race communications closely.
Race #2013
INFO by brainaid.de
Sun Fast 3600 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RNI - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Mar 08th 21:00 Registration will open soon
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Dyer Dhow Derby 2026


Most winter weekends, SOLer wsguerin and his friends at the Mamaroneck Frostbite Association venture forth on Long Island Sound to race Dyer Dhows, originally designed as WWII tenders. Indestructible little boats, great comradeship and serious short sharp races of 10 to 20 minutes duration. Sailonline now invites you to experience the joys of the Dhow in winter, virtually, by way of a slightly longer 14nm race: from Mamaroneck to Execution Rocks, over to the Gong Buoy and back to Mamaroneck. And if the wind pipes up to 20kn and beyond, you'll find SOL's customized polar will plane, rather than nosedive!
Race #2017
INFO by brainaid.de
Dyer Dhow PARTICULARS
NAM_AWIP WX Updates:
0245 / 0845 / 1445 / 2045
Ranking: SPQ1 - SPCH - SYC
Race starts: Mar 07th 13:00 Registration will open soon
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South China Sea Race 2026


Welcome all to the South China Sea and a virtual chase in Cookson 50’s of the Rolex South China Sea fleet, racing 650nm – as the local red-footed booby flies – from Hong Kong to Subic Bay on the southern tip of The Philippines’ Luzon Island. Chances are it will be a fast downwind ride, so see how you can keep up with the real-life fleet which we hope to be able to follow on our monitors.
Race #2016
INFOby brainaid.de
Cookson 50 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Mar 04th 03:20 Registration Open!
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SSANZ Round North Island Race 2026 - Leg 2

Leg Two of our Round North Island Series is where the real challenge begins. After Mangonui, our SOLers face a demanding 491nm passage around the top of the North Island and down the rugged west coast toward Cook Strait. Long miles, exposed waters, and relentless tactical choices will test every SOLer. In our powerful Sun Fast 3600s, a proven short-handed performer and true downwind flyer, endurance, timing, and smart routing will be key to success!

The start time for this race may change at short notice to align with the real race. The confirmed start date and time will be announced via an in-race “L” flag message — Please monitor race communications closely.
Race #2012
INFO by brainaid.de
Sun Fast 3600 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RNI - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Mar 02nd 21:00 Registration Open!
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Iceland to the Falklands 2026

Welcome to an all-new route, the first of three Round the 'Old World' of Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. To give each leg of the ROW a bit of length we'll try to hug the coasts as little as possible, so starting in Iceland our first leg of the series, which will also be the final leg of our Quarter 1 Ocean Championships takes us 7200nm to the Falklands, the full length of the Atlantic end to end. To make sure we'll get it done within the month we'll be sailing our Maxi Trimaran.
Race #2010
INFO by brainaid.de
Maxi Trimaran PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ1 - ROW - OCCH - SYC
Race starts: Mar 02nd 11:00 Registration Open!
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SSANZ Round North Island Race 2026 - Leg 1

Welcome to Leg One of the Round North Island Series in partnership with SSANZ. The four-leg circuit of New Zealand’s North Island is a true test of short-handed skill, and it begins with the 150nm passage from Auckland to Mangonui. This year, our SOLers will be racing the dynamic Sun Fast 3600 – Jeanneau’s renowned racer-cruiser and a proven flyer downwind. A gentle opener on paper… but coastal tactics and shifting breezes will demand focus from the start!
Race #2011
INFO by brainaid.de
Sun Fast 3600 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RNI - SUPBUD - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Thursday,
March 5 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Feb 28th 21:00 Registration Closed
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San Diego to Puerto Vallarta 2026

Welcome to California! Established in 1953 this 1000-mile run from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta on the Mexican Riviera has become a tradition and online as well the tradition strengthens with this the fourth time Sailonline is making the race available to virtual sailors. Let's see how our virtual SC70s perform against the real fleet!
Race #2015
INFO by brainaid.de
Santa Cruz 70 Particulars
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Feb 28th 20:00 Registration Open!
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Beketov by Balloon 2026 - In Siberia


Way-back-when France and England, and Spain as well, were squabbling about who should control what of North America, only to lose the most of it to their own insurging colonists, their eastern European neighbour empire, Russia, was quietly assimilating vast, thinly nomadically populated territory of its own – Siberia! Amongst the many explorers and adventurers that served Russia so well in these conquests was the Cossack hetman Pyotr Beketov. Let’s pretend we’re he and eschewing horseback, let’s travel by balloon from Yekaterinberg to Krasnoyarsk – just a short 2000km (1100nm) section of the Trans-Siberian Express’ 9289km!
Race #1972
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: BOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Wednesday,
March 4 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Feb 03rd 13:00 Registration Closed
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