2026 Offshore Double Handed World Championship results of Repechage Race
The repechage race 2026 Offshore Double Handed World Championship has just finished and provisional results show that NOR01 (Karl Otto Book & Maren Magda Book) have won booking the last ticket for the final. The repechage is the ?golden ticket? race for the teams who did not qualify in their first race to have another chance, with just one winner getting a place in the final.
The course was the longest so far at 124NM. It started with a beat to Cap Croisette then a beat South East to the beautiful limestone cliffs of the Riou islands. Then the course turned West for a downwind leg to ODAS buoy before a VMG downwind leg North West to Baronnets just off the coast of the Camargue. Through the night it was a 60M beat back along the coast to the Planier lighthouse, the Frioul Islands and the finish off Marseille.
The race started at 11:00 in 10-12kts of South Easterly breeze. ESP1 (Hugo Ramon Froye & Gráinne Costigan) were first over the line followed by NOR01 and IRL01 (Richard Bretherton & Inka Lührs). An offset mark had been added 1NM to windward and ESP01 were first round followed by NOR01 and IRL01.
On the beat to Cap Croisette IRL01 were more left and found a lift from the coast, ESP01 were more right and dropped back to 2nd behind NOR01. Most boats went for the 70m wide gap between Cap Croisette and île Maïre, a tricky passage with 2-4m depth and high cliffs creating gusty winds funnelling directly through the gap. NOR01 tacked through first followed by IRL01 in second as ESP01 found a wind shadow under the cliffs that delayed them to third. USA01 (Adj Lee & Cade Morris) were the final boat to gain the advantage given by this difficult channel as CAN01 (Michael Egberts & Catherine Kierans) and JPN01 (Yoshihiko Murase & Nanami Iguchi) choose to go around the outside of île Maïre.
Beating to the Easterly turning mark there was a choice of routes between the mainland shore and various offshore islands. NOR01, still in the lead, ESP01, NOR02 (Lars-Fredrik Moe-Helgesen & Gina Lillemork Nilsen) and USA01 all benefitted from the flatter water behind île Riou whilst IRL01 choose to go North of île Plane and lost ground to fifth place.
NOR01 were first around Grand Conglue Island, the Easterly turning mark, and with a clean hoist of the A2 spinnaker they accelerated from the fleet. ESP01 were second again with a clean hoist but NOR02 struggled for a short while with their spinnaker allowing USA01 who had rounded very close to the cliffs to move up into third place.
At the ODAS buoy the course was VMG downwind and the fleet split with ESP01, now in the lead, staying on port tack along with NOR01 second and NOR02 fourth. USA02 third and IRL01 fifth gybed away onto starboard. The right-hand side of the course paid off handsomely with higher pressure and a hotter angle on the spinnaker. USA01 powered into the lead and by nightfall at the most Westerly point (Baronnets) USA01 had a 1.5NM lead on ESP01 in third and NOR1 in fourth. IRL01 following the same course at USA01 had moved up into 2nd place.
On the beat back to the finish NOR01 had the better upwind mode and with their higher boat speed they started to move up the fleet. By midnight the lead was swopping between IRL01 and NOR01 with ESP01 just behind, all three mostly within 0.1NM of each other. The final leg from Planier
lighthouse was a reach in 15kts. NOR01 were in the lead, IRL01 were second and throwing everything at trying to get past deploying the code zero in marginal conditions as a last attempt to find speed however it was too little too late and NOR01 crossed the line first at 09:37:20 closely followed by IRL01 and ESP01.
The final starts on Wednesday 30th September 11:00 and is expected to last 48hrs. Eleven boats have qualified: AUS01, BEL01, FRA01, FRA02, GER01, GER02, NED01, NOR01, SWE01, SWE02, URU01. The finalists include Simeon Tienpont (NED01), a veteran of three Volvo Ocean Races and a two-time America's Cup winner. Federico Waksman (URU01) was winner of the 2023 Mini Transat. Djemila Tassin (BEL01), holds the Class40 24-hour distance record set during the 2025/26 Globe40 round-the-world race and recognised by the World Sailing Speed Record Council sailing with Jonas Gerckens (BEL01) four-time Belgian Sailor of the Year.
Doublehanded trophies this year include Lina Rixgens (GER02) who won her class in the Race to the Arctic and Lena Having and Eivind Bøymo-Malm (SWE02) who finished third in the same event. Clara Witthinrich (GER01) won her class in the Baltic 500. Thomas André (FRA01), won this event in 2025 and Karl Otto & Maren Magda Book (NOR01) were fourth.
