WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY EMBARKS ON NEW VOYAGE WITH FIRST GLOBAL PRODUCTION OF THE OCEAN RACE

One of the toughest team tests in sport will embark on a new voyage of discovery this week as live coverage of key moments from all seven legs of The Ocean Race will be produced and screened by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe (WBD) for the first time in its illustrious history.

Every leg start of the six-month odyssey plus the series’ in-port races will be shown live through linear television coverage on Eurosport 1 with streaming available on discovery+* and the Eurosport App across 50 markets in Europe. As part of WBD’s commitment to bring the race to the widest possible international audience as official partner and exclusive global rights holder, it will also offer free-to-air highlights coverage through its channels in Denmark (6’eren), Sweden (Kanal 9) and Finland (Kutonen) and for fans in Germany through additional sublicense partnerships.

Anchoring WBD’s coverage is Niall Myant Best alongside reporter Natasha Gonzalez with endurance sailing star Samantha Davies providing her on-site expertise, experience on competing at sea and analysis of the action to benefit fans watching across the continent.

Supplementing the live action, offshore highlights content between legs and regular features about life onboard will be broadcast across WBD’s channels and platforms offering unique insights to life at sea and the athletes competing. In its role as news distribution partner, WBD will also offer breaking news and world-class reporting to tell the stories from the boats and competing teams across its Eurosport.com sites available in 19 languages.

Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “The Ocean Race is one of the toughest team tests in sport that stretches the athletes’ skill, endurance and mental strength to the absolute limits. To showcase their endeavours, as host broadcaster we are excited to undertake this unique challenge of producing coverage at sea by utilising our technology, production expertise and storytelling ability to bring these athletes the recognition they deserve on a global stage.

“The popularity of sailing continues to grow and we will harness the full scale of our linear, streaming, digital and social platforms to dive into The Ocean Race like never before to help it reach new fans. In tandem, endurance sailing spotlights two vital themes of our time, climate change and ocean health, and by partnering with The Ocean Race, we will raise even greater awareness of these topics among broader audiences.”

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, the 14th edition of The Ocean Race sets sail on 15  January with 32,000 nautical miles (60,000 km) ahead of each team. Sailing’s ultimate team test departs from Alicante, Spain traversing 1,900 miles of sea to reach Cabo Verde for 22 January. Some of the world’s most recognisable coastlines including South Africa, Brazil, USA, Denmark, The Netherlands and Italy will host stopovers with an additional fly-by planned in Germany. The punishing expedition in 2023 includes the longest ever leg of The Ocean Race, which takes in 12,750 nautical miles across the Southern Ocean between Cape Town, South Africa and Itajaí, Brazil.

Five teams will battle it out in the seven-leg round-the-world IMOCA 60 series, which pits customisable 60-foot foiling monohulls against each other with a crew of 4-5 on each boat. The VO65 class features 6 teams of 10 crew racing on identical 65-foot vessels at each of the European legs of the race in the Sprint format. 

Mixed crews will gain points during each leg with the winning team accruing the most points overall. Tied teams will be separated by points won as part of the 7-race in-port series. As a precursor to the main race, the in-port series kicked off on Sunday 8 January in Alicante, providing local fans with an up-close preview of the exhilarating competition that will play out over the next six-months.

The Ocean Race 2022-2023 is the first under Warner Bros. Discovery’s long-term partnership that will tell stories from sailing, sustainability and the ocean to unlock the power of the sport for WBD viewers in Europe in addition to utilising its sports rights expertise to scale coverage globally through additional broadcast partnerships.   

The Ocean Race 2022-2023 features the following cities and leg start dates:

Leg 1 - Alicante, Spain to Cabo Verde - 15 January

Leg 2 - Cabo Verde to Cape Town, South Africa - 25 January

Leg 3 - Cape Town, South Africa to Itajaí, Brazil - 26 February

Leg 4 - Itajaí, Brazil to Newport, RI, USA - 23 April

Leg 5 - Newport, RI, USA to Aarhus, Denmark - 21 May

Leg 6 - Aarhus, Denmark to The Hague, The Netherlands - 8 June

Fly-by - Kiel, Germany - 9 June

Leg 7 - Grand Finale - The Hague, The Netherlands to Genova, Italy - 15 June

The in-port race schedule includes:

• Alicante, Spain – 8 January

• Cape Town, South Africa – 24 February

• Itajaí, Brazil – April 21

• Newport, Rhode Island, United States – 20 May

• Aarhus, Denmark – 4 June

• The Hague, Netherlands – 13/14 June

• Genova, Italy – 1 July

The teams competing include:

IMOCA

• 11th Hour Racing Team

• GUYOT environment – Team Europe

• Team Malizia

• Biotherm

• Team Holcim - PRB

VO65

• WindWhisper Racing Team

• Team JAJO

• Ambersail 2

• Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team

• Viva Mexico

• Austrian Ocean Racing powered by Team Genova