Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Ocean Cruising Club Charitable Trust NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Ocean Cruising Club Charitable Trust will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams at 1400 GMT on Monday 9 February 2026. For further information and to register for attendance please enquire to: hvs.

The yacht that Deirdre Sibly was sailing made a distress call Wednesday evening and was later found with two deceased people on board. Deirdre “Cookie” Sibly, 67, from Port Lincoln, had departed from Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, in June. She was travelling with her friend, Pascal Mahe, a French national, on his yacht and the pair had intended to sail to South Africa.

The RIN have kindly made their webinars available to OCC Members including Ella Hibbert’s talk on 13th January. Ella, an OCC member, traversed the NW Passage solo last summer. Ella’s ambition is to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Arctic alone via both North West and the North East Passages.

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will probably be remembered mainly for Hurricane Melissa and the devastation it caused across Jamaica and Cuba. Despite an initially quiet start, 2025 became an unusually intense season, producing three Category 5 hurricanes—Erin, Humberto and Melissa—only the second time on record this has happened.

A stunning photograph of divers freeing an endangered humpback whale from an entangled chain has been announced as the Grand Prize winner of The Nature Conservancy's 2025 Oceania Photo Contest. A humpback whale was cut loose from a chain in the Ha’pai Goup, Tonga.  Read the full story in the link below: 

Andrew Ritchie, an OCC member for 14 years, is intending to sail alone around the world as part of the Golden Globe Race 2026. Andrew, from Arrochar in Argyll, is planning to enter the next Golden Globe Race. He will be competing aboard S/V Symphony which is a Saltram Saga 36. At the moment there are only two British sailors signed up to compete in the 2026 race.

The International Association of Cape Horners have recognised Sir Robin’s extraordinary contribution to the world of sailing over six decades. Congratulations to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston KB CBE RD, who has been presented with the Pindar Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Association of Cape Horners.

The daring rescuers of an injured yachtsman have been recognised with a prestigious award. The Lydd-based Coastguard rescue helicopter team and crew of the RNLI Newhaven lifeboat are the worthy recipients of this year's International Ocean Safety Award for the hazardous joint operation to rescue an injured sailor stranded aboard his yacht as it broke up on rocks during a storm off Newhaven Harbour UK on 4th June 2024.

This site uses cookies to make it work, enhance your user experience, and to track usage of the site. If you are happy to consent to this use please click the Accept All Cookies button and you will not see this message again. If you click on the Choose Cookies you will be able to choose what cookies are used. Learn more about how we use cookies For full details of any of the events listed below, including event organiser, contact details and booking forms, OCC Members should log into the Members Only section. The Club does not accept any responsibility for any injury sustained or property damaged in the course of participation in social events or rallies. Event Location 05 Dec 2025 Opua NZ Pot Luck The Kiffery, 30 Broadview Road, Opua 11 Dec 2025 OCC Webinar: ‘Downwind blue water sailing for cruisers’ Zoom 18 Dec 2025 OCC Webinar: by Charlie Young Zoom 08 Jan 2026 OCC Webinar: ‘Japan to Pacific Northwest via the Aleutian Islands’ Zoom 15 Jan 2026 OCC Webinar: ‘Cruising to Japan’ Zoom 22 Jan 2026 OCC Webinar: ‘Emergencies at Sea’ Zoom 29 Jan 2026 OCC Webinar: ‘Encounters between Orcas and rudders' Zoom 05 - 07 Mar 2026 Bahamas Cruise-In-Company Exumas 14 Apr 2026 OCC Annual General Meeting Zoom 17 - 19 Apr 2026 OCC Annual Dinner & Awards Weekend The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh 08 - 10 May 2026 Solent Rally RSYC Gins Clubhouse, Beaulieu & RORC, Cowes 22 Jun - 01 Jul 2026 Long Island Sound Cruise Long Island Sound: Oyster Bay to Newport RI Events Sponsored by other Organisations to which OCC Members are invited Dates Event 24 Jan - 07 Feb 2026 CCA Grenadines Cruise 2026 Grenadines 04 - 15 Jul 2029 Irish Cruising Club Centenary Celebrations Northern Ireland TBC

New Zealand’s Northland is buzzing with long distance cruisers at this time of year and 45 members attended the Ocean Cruising Club supper in Whangarei tonight. Many thanks to David Vogel, Helen Shrewsbury and Port Officer Mary Berg for putting on a great evening for the OCC in Whangarei. Lots of new faces and many familiar ones too.

Voluntary Reporting Regime with U.S. Southern Command to Enhance Safety for Cruising Vessels in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean Many thanks to the Ocean Posse for their news release (below). The Ocean Posse, a community of over 1,500 long-distance cruising sailors, today announced a new cooperative voluntary reporting arrangement with U.

The LIS Cruise will begin in Oyster Bay, New York on 22 June and end in Newport, Rhode Island on 1 July, where the Southern New England Cruise will pick up.

Three cheers for the crew of S/V Seamer who had been relaxing in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands after arriving from Fiji. When they heard that a fellow cruiser needed help they sailed 200nm to help. In mid November a 37’ French boat, S/V Tiboulen, lost its rudder on passage between Fiji and New Zealand with 390 miles  to go.

The Neoliner Origin set off on its inaugural two-week voyage from France to the US with the aim of revolutionising the notoriously dirty shipping industry An environmental journalist, Michaela Cavanagh, describes her passage on board the Neoliner Origin from France to Baltimore.

Having crossed the Indian Ocean, Jasmine sat down for a YouTube interview with Mini Globe Race organiser, Don McKintyre. Jasmine, a member of the Ocean Cruising Club,  was a novice sailor when she left Portugal to reach the start of the MGR in the Caribbean. She has now crossed 3 oceans in her 5.

Scientists have analysed 10,000 marine animal autopsies to understand how plastic ingestion leads to death. We all need to do our bit to keep our beaches clean and the ocean free from plastic. Helen Briggs, BBC environment correspondent, reviews research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describing wildlife mortality associated with plastic ingestion.

‘Downwind blue water sailing for cruisers’ by Bojan Michiels van Kessenich The first in our 2025/26 webinar series in ‘Downwind blue water sailing for cruisers’ by Bojan Michiels van Kessenich.

'To be confirmed' by Charlie Young The second in our 2025/26 webinar series will be hosted by Charlie Young. Charlie produces an enjoyable and entertaining podcast called 'Voyages into the Wild'.

‘Cruising to Japan’ by Behan & Jamie Gifford The fourth in our 2025/26 webinar series is ‘Cruising to Japan’ by Behan & Jamie Gifford.

‘Encounters between Orcas and rudders' by Bob Osborne The sixth and final in our 2025/26 webinar series is ‘Encounters between Orcas and rudders' by Bob Osborne.

Six wonderful speakers have lined up to share their knowledge and experiences with both the members and wider audiences.

The Ocean Cruising Club Charitable Trust is seeking a new volunteer Honorary Secretary Helen Holden, one of the founding Trustees of the Ocean Cruising Club Charitable Trust (OCCCT), is now coming to the end of her second and final term and will be stepping down in February. She has done a tremendous job and will be missed.

There is consternation in the Arctic as a pod of orcas seems to have starting attacking rudders - just like their Spanish relations. Some orcas in the Arctic appear to be changing their behaviour when encountering boats and fishing equipment.

Two Alaskan sailors, Mark and Karen Williams, have just joined the Ocean Cruising Club after arriving back in New Zealand after a full season in Fiji. Mark and Karen (S/V Chaos)  joined Jamie and SunYoung (S/V Felix le Cat) on boats (S/V Shimshal) to receive their OCC burgee when all 3 boats were anchored in Whangaruru Harbour, New Zealand.

This site uses cookies to make it work, enhance your user experience, and to track usage of the site. If you are happy to consent to this use please click the Accept All Cookies button and you will not see this message again. If you click on the Choose Cookies you will be able to choose what cookies are used. Learn more about how we use cookies For full details of any of the events listed below, including event organiser, contact details and booking forms, OCC Members should log into the Members Only section. The Club does not accept any responsibility for any injury sustained or property damaged in the course of participation in social events or rallies. Event Location 12 Nov 2025 Welcome Mini Globe Race - Durban SA Royal Natal Yacht Club 15 Nov 2025 London Dinner Zizzi's, St Katharine's Docks, EW1 1AT 17 Nov 2025 Braai (South African BBQ) at Zululand Yacht Club "Jib&Anchor" 22 Nov 2025 Scottish Dinner Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club 25 Nov 2025 Whangarei NZ Dinner Turmeric Indian Restaurant, Shop 9, 71 Cameron Street, Whangarei 05 Dec 2025 Opua NZ Pot Luck The Kiffery, 30 Broadview Road, Opua 14 Apr 2026 OCC Annual General Meeting Zoom 17 - 19 Apr 2026 OCC Annual Dinner & Awards Weekend The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh 08 - 10 May 2026 Solent Rally RSYC Gins Clubhouse, Beaulieu & RORC, Cowes Events Sponsored by other Organisations to which OCC Members are invited Dates Event 24 Jan - 07 Feb 2026 CCA Grenadines Cruise 2026 Grenadines 04 - 15 Jul 2029 Irish Cruising Club Centenary Celebrations Northern Ireland TBC