OSTAR and TWOSTAR in 2020
by Vianney Searle 23 Apr 2019 15:36 BST
Original Single Handed Transatlantic Race © rwyc.org
With the start of the next Original Single Handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and Two Handed Transatlantic Race (TWOSTAR) just a year away, entries and enquiries are flooding in.
With the scheduled start in Plymouth UK in May 2020 alongside the TRANSAT, this promises to be a very special event with both corinthian and professional racers gathering together to mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of single handed oceanic racing.
Initiated in 1960 by Blonde Hasler and the Royal Western Yacht Club of England who remain the race organising authority, the first race saw just five boats compete. This race was won by Sir Francis Chichester with the second race being won by the legendary Eric Taberly. Entries swelled to 125 boats in 1976 before the professional element of the race split to form the TRANSAT in 2004. The Corinthian element continued to race every four years in the OSTAR with the RWYC.
Today the OSTAR (now run together with its twohanded sister TWOSTAR), has received entries from the USA, UK, Poland, Switzerland. Some are first timers eager to fulfil a life long ambition to race the north Atlantic, while others are either those that have a desire to better their previous times or some that see the race as a pathway to prove themselves for a career ahead in professional short handed yacht racing.
The RWYC welcomes applicants for entry to the 2020 OSTAR TWOSTAR. Entry Forms, the Notice Of Race and further details are available on the websites at rwyc.org/ostar and rwyc.org/twostar or by email: or