The Ocean Race is an international sailing race around the world that's been held every three or four years since 1973. It's a 6-month, 36,000-mile journey. Teams start in Spain and then head east, making several stops along the way.
They navigate the Southern Ocean below Australia and South America, then across the Atlantic Ocean up to Denmark, with the finish in Italy.
This year's winner of The Ocean Race was 11th Hour Racing, a team headquartered in Rhode Island, and co-founded by Punahou graduate Mark Towill.
“It’s a competition, but it’s also an adventure,” Towill said of the race. “You're pushed to the extremes of what's physically — but almost more importantly, mentally — possible.”
He said he feels “so blessed” to have been raised on Oʻahu and to have had access to the Polynesian Voyaging Society growing up.
The 11th Hour Racing team aims to raise awareness about climate change and ocean conservation.
Towill is the grandson of noted local civil engineer Richard Towill. He was also one of several young sailors featured in the 2008 Disney documentary, Morning Light.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 28, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
