THE ORIGINAL
The VELUX 5 OCEANS is the original single-handed round the world yacht race.
Run every 4 years since 1982, the race is the longest and toughest event for any individual in any sport. Single-handed around the world’s oceans in thoroughbred racing yachts represents the ultimate odyssey. The ultimate in human endeavour, only 90 people have so far finished the challenge.

THE CONCEPT – 5 Ocean Sprints
The VELUX 5 OCEANS is a series of high-pressure sprints within a marathon circumnavigation. In the course of the 30,000 mile race, the skippers cross five oceans alone:
1.Cape Town Ocean Sprint: 7,500 nautical miles from La Rochelle (France) to Cape Town (South Africa), starting October 17, 2010
2. Wellington Ocean Sprint: 7,000 nautical miles from Cape Town (South Africa) to Wellington (New Zealand)
3. Salvador Ocean Sprint: 7,400 nautical miles from Wellington (New Zealand) to Salvador (Brazil)
4.Charleston Ocean Sprint: 4,000 nautical miles from Salvador (Brazil) to Charleston (USA)
5. La Rochelle Ocean Sprint: 3,600 nautical miles from Charleston (USA) to La Rochelle (France)
The various stages and stopovers allow the skippers to push their boats harder and faster over long and diverse legs through some of the planet’s most hostile and treacherous waters. Skippers need to set up their boats for the specific challenges of each leg, such as the light and fluky conditions of the Doldrums versus the fierce winds and seas of the roaring 40’s and screaming 50’s of the Southern Ocean.

THE CHALLENGE
The solo skipper is the central character of the VELUX 5 OCEANS. These unique individuals must demonstrate determination, skill, courage, endurance and competition at the highest level in order to succeed. The skippers must face the mental challenges of being alone, tired, cold and wet thousands of miles from land. They must endure the physical, physiological and psychological challenges of seven months racing around the world. Each skipper must be navigator, weather guru, cook, sailmaker and computer wizard while racing alone at sea. Although they rejoin family and friends ashore at stopovers, they must wrench themselves away to face the vast oceans alone again.

THE HERITAGE
With a rich sporting heritage, the VELUX 5 OCEANS has been contested every four years since 1982, previously under the titles of ‘BOC Challenge’ and ‘Around Alone’. The race celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2007 when it returned to the forefront of ocean racing as the VELUX 5 OCEANS. Over 25 years, the event has created an enormous sporting heritage of endeavour and achievement, including many peaks of excitement, dramatic rescues and tragic loss of life. The race has consistently attracted competitors from diverse countries around the globe, skippers who were often little known before this event, including Philippe Jeantot (France), Bernard Stamm (Switzerland), Giovanni Soldini (Italy), Brad Van Liew (USA), Isabelle Autissier (France), Yukoh Tada and Kojiro Shiraishi (Japan), Emma Richards (UK), Bertie Reed and John Martin (South Africa) and Jose Ugarte (Spain).

THE FUTURE
The next VELUX 5 OCEANS will take place 2010-2011 and promises to reach a global audience as the dramatic stories are followed live across TV, radio, print, Internet and via mobile technology.