IMOCA

11th Hour Racing announced today it will join forces with the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) to drive sustainable innovation and support opportunities for female sailors within competitive sailing. Image credit: © Marin Le Roux / polaRYSE / IMOCA
IMOCA logo

11th Hour Racing joined forces with the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) to drive sustainable innovation and support opportunities for female sailors within competitive sailing.

11th Hour Racing supports several initiatives spearheaded by IMOCA, focused on reducing the marine industry’s environmental impact by collaborating with boat builders and material experts to source alternative materials, promoting gender equality in sailing, and developing solutions to mitigate collisions between racing yachts and marine mammals in offshore races.

 

Visit the IMOCA website

Julien Champolion - polaRYSE / IMOCA

Initiatives supported by 11th Hour Racing:

  • Marine Mammals Advisory Group (MMAG) – the members of which include IMOCA, 11th Hour Racing, World Sailing, and The Ocean Race – to equip IMOCA boats with Hazard Button technologyenabling skippers to instantly alert each other and race directors to the presence of marine mammals on the racecourse.
  • RISE (Reduced Impact Sail Evaluation) defined as a sail crafted to reduce emissions by 30% per kilogram compared to standard sails – requires every participating IMOCA to carry at least one RISE Certified sail in its onboard inventory.
  • An impact reduction rule for all new IMOCA boat builds between 2025 and 2028 to reduce harmful emissions by 15% — or approximately 60 metric tons of CO2 (60tCO2e).
  • Empowering females in key roles in sailing, through the Female Leadership Development Program, in partnership with The Magenta Project.
  • The Team Engagement Program promotes the use of the Sustainability Toolbox for planning and education, offering resources such as GHG emissions tracking templates, materials on offsetting and insetting practices, and team sustainability charter templates.
  • Expand IMOCA’s onboard science program by encouraging each team to use onboard science equipment and software to collect data, such as eDNA and atmospheric data, and contribute it to the Global Cooperation Program.
  • Manage Lorient’s carbon fiber recycling pilot project and expand it to Port-La-Forêt, developing a Recycling Case Study to be shared with the IMOCA class, World Sailing, and other sailing classes, all while focusing on increasing the yield of recycled materials year over year.
  • Facilitating research and testing of alternative materials in boat construction, including hosting a workshop on materials like flax or recycled carbon, and making the findings open source to promote industry-wide collaboration.
  • Analyze energy consumption and needs onboard IMOCA class boats in 2025 to identify opportunities for integrating renewable energy methods into boat design and construction.

Background

Founded in 1991 and officially recognized by World Sailing (International Sailing Federation) in 1998, the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) governs the class of 60-foot (18.28 meters) Open monohulls. Members of IMOCA seamlessly blend competition with the relentless pursuit of human adventure. Moreover, they establish rules to ensure fair play and safety, while fostering innovation around these oceanic monohulls, now the fastest in the world.

The primary objective of IMOCA is to develop the fleet of monohulls and provide its skippers with an attractive and coherent sports program. In 2018, IMOCA launched the IMOCA Globe Series, a four-year championship including the two most prestigious round-the-world races, the Vendée Globe and The Ocean Race.

In its evolution, IMOCA pays particular attention to the development of collective reflection and innovation concerning environmental issues. This is to adapt its rules and practices for increased sustainable performance. As the first offshore racing class to vote on technical rules favoring the transition to a lighter and more positive footprint, while retaining the essence of competition, IMOCA demonstrates its commitment to sustainability. Additionally, the Class has partnered with the IOC-UNESCO since 2015, thus supporting the collection of oceanographic data in isolated regions of the globe.

 

Image credit: Marin Le Roux / Julien Champolion / polaRYSE / IMOCA