Whitbread Round the World Race 1993-94 Official Film
by The Ocean Race 22 Oct 2023 13:30 UTC
Whitbread Round the World Race 1993-94 Official Film © The Ocean Race
By the 1993-94 edition, the Whitbread Round the World Race had already transformed from an adventure imbued with Corinthian spirit to a professional sport where food, bedding and clothing were being optimised for performance not comfort.
Among those leading the charge towards professionalism was Grant Dalton and his crew aboard the winning maxi yacht 'New Zealand Endeavour'.
The 1993-94 edition was also the first race to feature the new Whitbread 60 class (with 10 boats entered), which caused memorable friction between Dalton and fellow Kiwis Chris Dickson, skipper of the W60 'Tokio' (which dismasted whilst leading Leg 5) and Ross Field, the class winner with Yamaha.
The crew of US Women's Challenge all but mutinied after Leg 1. But Dawn Riley (watch leader from Maiden in the previous race) was brought in as skipper and the boat renamed Heineken from Leg 3 onwards.