Navigating New Frontiers: Transformative Ocean Science, Data Collection and Action through The Ocean Race

The Ocean Race, known as one of the world’s most challenging round-the-world sailing competitions, has evolved into a significant platform for ocean science, advocacy, and innovation. Through its Science Program, The Race leverages its global presence to drive environmental awareness and promote ocean conservation, collaborating with scientists, sailing teams, industry, and international organizations. The 2023 edition of The Race equipped all competing boats with advanced scientific instruments to enable extensive data collection, especially across under-sampled regions like the Southern Ocean. Throughout the 32,000-mile course, teams gathered over four million data points, capturing key ocean parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and CO₂ levels. The program also utilized the deployment of surface drifters, marine plastic samplers, eDNA collection devices, trace element samplers, and a phytoplankton imaging device, positioning these racing boats as “vessels of opportunity” to collect data in otherwise unreachable areas, thereby filling critical gaps in ocean monitoring. Following the 2023 event, The Ocean Race continued its Science Program by re-deploying its instruments on additional sailing vessels, facilitating data collection across multiple transatlantic races. Data has also been gathered from private expeditions in the Southern Ocean and the Arctic’s Northwest Passage. The Race plans to sustain this initiative through upcoming events, including The Ocean Race Europe in 2025, a transatlantic race from Barcelona to New York in 2026, and its next global edition in 2027.

Collaborating with leading research institutes and programs (including GEOMAR, NOAA, NOC, Ifremer, VLIZ, MPI, CNRS, ICM-CSIC, MeteoFrance, Citizens Of The Sea, OceanOPS, GOOS, EU MINKE, E-SurfMar, GOOD, and SOOP), The Race and its industrial partners co-developed compact, reliable instruments to meet the demanding conditions of racing. By installing redundant devices across the fleet, The Race enhanced data reliability and enabled direct comparisons between boats. The innovative design, which includes water inlets on the keel, allowed teams to collect data autonomously without impacting performance—demonstrating the synergy between sport and science.

 In parallel with its Science Program, The Ocean Race has launched a global learning initiative to educate young audiences about ocean health and sustainability. The educational materials cover essential topics like climate change, plastic pollution, and marine biodiversity, inspiring youth to understand and protect the ocean. This program, aligned with the UN Decade of Ocean Science, aims to foster inclusive, science-based learning and engage future generations in ocean stewardship.

Beyond science and education, The Ocean Race advocates for improved ocean governance through its support of the Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights. This ambitious policy initiative seeks to recognize the ocean’s intrinsic right to thrive and to establish a global framework for its protection. Together, the Race’s science, education, and policy efforts highlight how sport can inspire environmental responsibility across diverse sectors, demonstrating the essential role all industries can play in conserving our natural world.

This presentation will outline The Ocean Race’s contributions to the objectives of the UN Ocean Decade, showcasing the Race’s science program and educational initiatives as models of impactful collaboration, resilient data collection, and actionable ocean stewardship.