World Odyssey 25 Underway: Three years sailing around the world

by Grand Large Yachting 11 Dec 2025 23:07 NZDT

On Saturday 29 November at 12:00, after a two-week technical stopover, the crews of the World Odyssey 25 crossed the start line in scattered order for their first major passage. This stage marks the official start of the second edition of the three-year round-the-world rally, organised by the Grand Large Yachting group for the owners of its Allures, Outremer, Garcia, Gunboat, RM and ORC brands.

Under bright sunshine and well-established trade winds, the crews of the World Odyssey 25 left Lanzarote on Saturday, 29 November to begin one of the most symbolic legs of their circumnavigation: the Atlantic crossing. This major stage marks their commitment to this adventure of a lifetime. After years of dreaming about it, months of preparation and several weeks of sailing from their home ports to reach Lanzarote, they are now setting off together on this new passage, which will take them to Barbados in mid-December.

This second edition of Grand Large Yachting Group's round-the-world rally is already remarkable for the variety of profiles and experience among its participants:

• 11 nationalities are represented, including, for the first time, sailors from Mauritius, Bulgaria, Argentina, Venezuela, Finland...
• Recent yacht models are joining the adventure for the first time as well, including the Outremer 52 and the Garcia Explocat 52, Alofi, which will follow the southern route
• Several participants are coming straight from the Nordic Odyssey and are continuing directly with this circumnavigation. This is the case for Yolo (Outremer 55), Kairos (Outremer 55) and Franny (Outremer 52) which, after the cold northern European seas, will now experience warmer waters
• The Garcia 52 Salavida will join the fleet in Polynesia, after completing half a circumnavigation with the GLYWO 500. The crew therefore naturally creates a link between the first and second editions of this rally.

The crews should benefit from stable trade winds throughout the crossing, which can be followed by everyone on theYellow Brick app. The organising team will welcome the fleet in Barbados from 12 December to celebrate this first major stage of the rally, before a period of free cruising in the Caribbean.

The World Odyssey will then continue on its route across the oceans, with the following highlights over the coming months:

• The Panama Canal in March
• For Alofi, committed to the southern route, rounding Cape Horn at the beginning of 2026
• The Galapagos in April, then the Marquesas and Tahiti in June 2026.

World Odyssey 25: Preparation Over Several Months

The crews taking part in the World Odyssey 25 are supported in their dream of a round-the-world sailing adventure by the Grand Large Yachting teams over several months. Most of them registered for the rally two years ago and have followed a dedicated training programme:

• Webinars: Led by the rally team, these regular webinars were designed to guide participants through the key stages of their preparation and help them pace it. Topics included boat preparation, the spare parts list to take on board, crew preparation, and how to find additional crew members.
• World Odyssey University: For one week last April, the crews gathered in Lorient to discuss safety at sea, boat maintenance and life on board. It was an opportunity to get to know each other and to benefit from the valuable advice of those returning from a similar adventure.
• Meetings with participants of the first rally, the GLYWO 500: In addition to their presence in Lorient, the crews from the first World Odyssey were actively involved and took part in every stage of this preparation. They were also in La Grande-Motte for the pre-departure, for some final, much-appreciated exchanges and to reassure the departing crews.
• Additional training with Escale Formation Technique: Finally, most of the World Odyssey 25 crews chose to refine their preparation by attending training sessions with Escale Formation Technique, the Grand Large Yachting Group's training centre. "Engine maintenance", "Safety and survival at sea" and "Blue-water medical training" are among the most popular modules within the community.