1993–1994 Whitbread Round the World Race


The 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race was the sixth edition of the around-the-world sailing event.
The race was won by Grant Dalton the maxi 'New Zealand Endeavour'.
As with prior races, the 1993-1994 Whitbread was run to "mixed class" rules. However a new purpose built Whitbread boat—the W60 was introduced. As with previous years a handicap was applied to different boats based on their race rating. Some W60 competitors were not keen on running both Maxis and W60s together once it became evident some of the old Maxis were only as fast as the W60 class. Some W60 competitors wished to ban Maxis, however this was never realistic given the large investments the Maxi owners had made in the expectation of being able to race. There were also concerns over whether enough new W60 boats would be ready.
Despite the closeness of the finishes, some W60 skippers claimed to be in a 'completely different boat race' to Grant Dalton skippering a maxi.

Participants

EventStart dateStartFinishDistance Winner
Leg 125 September 1993 Southampton Punta del Este5,938NZ Endeavour
Leg 213 November 1993 Punta del Este Fremantle7,558Intrum Justitia
Leg 38 January 1994 Fremantle Auckland3,272NZ Endeavour
Leg 419 February 1994 Auckland Punta del Este5,914NZ Endeavour
Leg 52 April 1994 Punta del Este Fort Lauderdale5,475Yamaha
Leg 621 May 1994 Fort Lauderdale Southampton3,818Tokio

Results

Maxi yachts

Fortuna broke its mast twice in the first 24 hours of the race, and ended up retiring.

Whitbread 60