Translated 9 successfully completes the Ocean Globe Race 2023
by Translated s.r.l. 3 May 16:44 BST
3 May 2024
Winning the first two legs and dominating the subsequent two until sustaining hull damage, and managing to restart twice, Translated 9 provided everyone with unique emotional experiences and demonstrated the value of determination and resilience.
Early this morning, the crew of Translated 9 arrived at Cowes (UK), successfully completing the Ocean Globe Race 2023, one of the most adventurous yacht races and the most human-centric ever. The Ocean Globe Race is a round-the-world sailing competition with limited use of technology, mostly comprising amateur crew members. The event was organized by Don McIntyre to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Whitbread Round the World Race.
Starting as underdogs, Translated 9 won the first two legs of the race, in both the main category (IRC) and also in Line Honours for the second leg, and was leading in the other two legs before being forced to abandon due to hull damage, which, by the race rules, resulted in retirement from the IRC ranking. However, the ingenuity and resilience of the crew allowed Translated 9 to return to the water to complete the race. Having restarted from Punta del Este for the final leg in one of the last positions, Translated 9 managed to move to the front within three weeks. The repair, however, did not hold up to Cowes, forcing the crew to stop in Madeira for further repairs. After securing the boat, the crew set off last week to finish the regatta.
From a sporting perspective, Translated 9's achievement is unique for Italy, which had never before won any leg of a round-the-world crewed sailing race.
The repair of the hull, which broke after navigating Cape Horn while Translated 9 was leading the race with a five-day advantage over the rest of the fleet, was an adventure within an adventure. Forced to dock in the Falklands/Malvinas to repair the hull, the crew led by co-skippers Marco Trombetti and Simon Curwen had to fully utilize their problem-solving skills to get the boat back in the water. Thanks also to the skills and positive attitude of the locals who supported them, the crew was able to convince a nearby cargo ship to use its crane to lift the boat; they found in Chile the repair materials that were missing on the island; and they brought them to the Falklands/Malvinas by flying around Argentina in a small plane, in which they installed an extra tank connected to the wing tanks, thus bypassing the ban on flying over Argentina to reach the Falklands/Malvinas due to tensions between the states. In this way, Translated 9 was able to set off again for Punta Del Este.
The crew of Translated 9, 70 percent of whom are non-professionals, was assembled by Translated through an open selection of navigators from around the world, chosen based on values such as resilience, optimism, courage, commitment, and their never-give-up attitude. Under the leadership of co-skippers Marco Trombetti, Nico Malingri, Simon Curwen, and Vittorio Malingri, individuals from seven different nations (Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Belgium, Germany, and the United States) participated. The crew members are: Isabelle Andrieu, Pietro Luciani, Niccolò Banfi, Riccardo Serranò, Maretta Bigatti, Deniz Derin Binaroglu, Marco Borgia, Baptiste Gillot Devillers, Sophie Fontanesi, Emiel Joye, Paul Marshall, Teresa Marshall, Ezgim Mistikoglu, and Connie Stevens.
"This operation has already gone down in history as an example of what motivated humans with great values can achieve," said Marco Trombetti, founder of Translated and thus owner of Translated 9 as well as co-skipper. "For everyone, the feat of Translated 9 is proof that by focusing on the right human values, nothing is impossible."