A three-part documentary featuring a deep dive into the lives of the sailors and teams competing in The Ocean Race 2022-23 will be released on Friday 3rd November on Eurosport. It will also be distributed within the USA on Max at a future date, with further global distribution to come.
“A Voyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race”, produced by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), follows key sailors from the five IMOCA teams racing around the world, including the skipper of the winning 11th Hour Racing Team, the American sailor Charlie Enright.
Viewers are taken behind the scenes and given ‘all access’ to live the drama of the toughest fully-crewed race in the world, experiencing all of the highs and lows as the best sailors in the world take on this iconic offshore challenge.
“This year was the first WBD took on the role as host broadcaster, content creator and news distribution partner of endurance sailing’s pinnacle event, which gave us unprecedented access to the crews and athletes competing,” said Scott Young, SVP Content & Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe.
“Our objective beyond the live coverage was to create the human story within the race. We have taken fans on the journey, to meet the people who have a passion for their sport that is matched with their commitment. Our cameras were permitted access on board and on shore to places they couldn’t ordinarily reach, telling the stories of the athletes competing to capture a more authentic experience of what the crews face during their inimitable six-month challenge. There is no better testament to this than our new A Voyage of Discovery documentary.”
All five race teams feature in the documentary, which takes a close look at the event through the lived experience of four sailors:
Charlie Enright – Skipper of 11th Hour Racing Team
Annie Lush – Crew member on GUYOT environnement – Team Europe
Paul Meilhat – Skipper of Biotherm
Rosalin Kuiper – Co-skipper of Team Malizia
“I’m super excited about the documentary,” said Rosie Kuiper, co-skipper on Team Malizia. “It was very special to be part of it and I shared my feelings and thoughts with the producers like I would with my family and that was special. I’m excited to see it as I had no filter and really shared everything from my heart. It’s a really cool way to go behind the scenes and dive into a sailor’s brain. I hope we can continue this in the future, to allow us to show the human adventure in addition to the sporting side.”
“A Voyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race” is the latest television output from the 50th anniversary edition of The Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain on 15 January, 2023 and finished at the Grand Finale in Genova, Italy on 30 June.
“We’re proud to have a long-term partnership with The Ocean Race which enables us to further elevate the level of storytelling possible from this incredible sport, helping sailing reach new audiences between Olympic cycles,” Young concluded. “By investing in unprecedented levels of production and bringing its stars to centre stage, we are confident we can continue to support the growth of the sport beyond a traditional sailing audience.”
“A Voyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race” will be aired exclusively in three parts by WBD across Europe at 21:00-22:00 CET on Friday 3, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 November on Eurosport’s channels. Streaming of all three episodes will also be available on discovery+ and the Eurosport App in Europe, and Eurosport Extra in Poland. A Voyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race will also be available on Max in the USA at a future date.
The three-part series was produced and directed by Robert Bevan and edited by Steven Douglas Blake.
In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery agreed a ground-breaking production, live coverage and distribution partnership with The Ocean Race to further expand its audience by harnessing the full scale of WBD’s portfolio of global brands, channels and platforms. The organisation’s passion for storytelling across all aspects of the Race, including the natural world, ocean health, sustainability, technology, science and world-class sport, have contributed to coverage of the race, the climate and ocean health throughout 2023.
