Thomas Ruyant, an internationally renowned skipper with multiple sailing victories to his name, is gearing up for an epic new challenge with his TR Racing team. Following the announcement of his participation in the Vendée Globe on November 10, 2024, the team has now revealed plans to compete in The Ocean Race Europe 2025 and The Ocean Race 2027, one of the most iconic fully-crewed around-the-world races with stopovers.
This marks a significant shift for the TR Racing Team, which has so far focused primarily on solo races. TR Racing CEO, Thomas Gavériaux, stated: “While the Vendée Globe is currently our main focus, we are actively planning the upcoming seasons. After Thomas and Sam Goodchild complete their solo circumnavigation this winter, we will transition to a fully-crewed race format, starting with The Ocean Race Europe in 2025, The Ocean Race Atlantic in 2026, and finally, The Ocean Race in 2027. We will race the Europe leg with Thomas’ current boat and are already designing and building a new boat for the 2026 edition.”
Thomas Ruyant has a long history of offshore racing success, with notable victories including the Tour de France à la Voile and Mini Transat in 2009, a Class 40 win in the Route du Rhum in 2010, and recent wins in IMOCA races such as the Transat Jacques Vabre 2021 and 2023, and the Route du Rhum 2022.
“While my main focus is on the Vendée Globe for now, we’re also excited about what’s coming next,” said Ruyant. “The three events in The Ocean Race series from 2025 to 2027 will be a big change, moving from solo racing to crewed racing around Europe and eventually around the world. I’m looking forward to sharing this challenge with the team.”
He also highlighted the unique challenge of adapting to fully-crewed racing: “We’ll need to build a strong crew and make some adjustments to the boat for this new race format. The IMOCA class allows for a wide variety of races, from single-handed to fully-crewed, and I’m excited about tapping into the full potential of these incredible machines with a team onboard.”
This exciting shift marks a new chapter for Thomas Ruyant Racing, as they prepare to tackle some of the most prestigious events in the sailing world.
