Ronnie Simpson Racing launches new Class 40 campaign for the Global Solo Challenge
by Ronnie Simpson 15 Jul 05:10 NZST
1Koloa Maoli sea trials © Ronnie Simpson
American sailor Ronnie Simpson has launched a new ocean racing campaign to compete in the Global Solo Challenge race; a singlehanded, non-stop around the world sailing race that begins and ends in Vigo, Spain in 2027.
After sailing close to 80% of the 2023-24 edition in third place out of sixteen yachts, Simpson dismasted far off the coast of Argentina and was unable to finish. Undeterred, the resident of Portland, Maine has acquired the Class 40 racing yacht Koloa Maoli and launched a new campaign for the 2027-28 edition of the race. Launching Koloa Maoli at Maine Yacht Center in late June, the sailor and his team have conducted a successful round of sea trials off of Portland during the first weeks of July.
A 40 year old professional sailor who has sailed more than 175,000 miles at sea, Ronnie Simpson aims to become the first American to ever win a singlehanded, non-stop around the world race. In the 2023-24 edition of the Global Solo Challenge, Simpson sailed the Open 50 racing yacht Shipyard Brewing more than 20,000 miles - rounding all three of the great capes including the infamous Cape Horn - before dismasting some 700 miles offshore of Argentina.
Sailing in third place out of sixteen boats, Simpson was forced to retire after 106 days at sea and having covered about 80% of the course. A combat-wounded and retired US Marine who served in Iraq, Ronnie Simpson is determined to finish what he started and make another attempt to win the Global Solo Challenge race.
Acquiring the Class 40 racing yacht Koloa Maoli - a veteran of the Global Solo Challenge - Ronnie Simpson believes that he has a good platform with which to base a competitive campaign for the Global Solo Challenge.
"I feel really good about the boat, and how she has performed during our first sea trials over the course of the past week and a half", Simpson said. "Koloa Maoli is a really special and unique boat that is well prepared, very strong, and still in great shape having just raced around the world in the last Global Solo Challenge. I'm really grateful to be able to base the boat at Maine Yacht Center, and to have such a great partner in preparing a boat like this for the Global Solo Challenge."
With the boat now on the water and sailing, Ronnie Simpson plans to conduct more sea trials and offshore training before sailing in the Monhegan Island Race, doublehanded, in early August. In mid-August, Ronnie will embark on a Maine based and then east coast tour to spread awareness for his Global Solo Challenge campaign, including stops up and down the Maine coast and then down to Newport, Rhode Island and eventually Annapolis, Maryland for the boat shows in September and October.
"Finding commercial partners to work with for this campaign is absolutely essential to getting to the starting line in 2027 as a viable contender to win the Global Solo Challenge. The GSC has quickly become a major international race with a lot of worldwide visibility, and the next edition should be incredible, with a number of good boats and sailors from all over the world competing. Portland has such a special and storied legacy in solo sailing and around the world racing, and I'm excited to represent Maine on a global stage. Koloa Maoli is a great platform for this race, and the support and experience that exists within this community is incredible and truly inspiring. It was great to work with an iconic Maine brand like Shipyard Brewing during my last campaign, and I'm truly excited to see how this campaign develops over the next two years as I make the long journey from Portland, to Spain, and all the way to Cape Horn and back", Simpson said on the docks at Maine Yacht Center just after the first sea trials of Koloa Maoli.