New Warner Bros. Discovery documentary goes behind-the-scenes of sailing's toughest team test

The toughest challenge in team sport is set to be documented like never before as Warner Bros. Discovery announces its new exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary, AVoyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race.

From spending 38 consecutive days traversing the world’s more remote offshore locations on a record-breaking Southern Ocean leg, to broken masts and being stranded at sea in a damaged boat, the lives of the world’s greatest sailors and most daring athletes will be uncovered like never before.

Premiering on November 3, the three-part series charts the journeys of the sailors and IMOCA teams battling the elements and each other in the ultimate round the world voyage during The Ocean Race’s 50th anniversary edition in 2023.

WBD was granted an access-all-areas ticket to the 32,000 nautical mile seven-leg odyssey that took in nine iconic cities over a gruelling six-month test of endurance.

Embedded within the crews competing, WBD’s cameras captured their unique perspectives of life at sea while following sailor’s personal lives at home including leading protagonists:

Scott Young, SVP Content & Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “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. 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.

“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. 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.”

Rosie Kuiper, Co-skipper on Team Malizia, said: “I’m super excited about the documentary. 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.”

Annie Lush, crew member on GUYOT environnement – Team Europe: “It’s a unique, amazing race. The fact we can now bring more people to see it is incredible because we sometimes take it for granted when we’re part of it. Sailing is something that can be very distant, which can be a shame because we see some amazing things. People can learn a lot from the documentary and I’m excited to see it.”

Episode one introduces the key characters from the five teams as the race sets sail from Alicante, Spain to Cabo Verde before crossing the equator ahead of an epic sprint finish to Cape Town, South Africa. Crews endure ripped sails, severe sea sickness and hospitalisations as Team Holcim-PRB set the benchmark by winning the first two legs.

Episode two charts the mammoth journey across the Southern Ocean, a mythical voyage that has long been a badge of honour for the world's best sailors, forming The Ocean Race’s longest ever and most challenging leg - crossing 12,700 nautical miles from Cape Town to Itajai, Brazil. With double points at stake, the fleet must conquer biblical storms, enormous waves and near critical damage to their vessels which left some forced to make emergency repairs at sea to make it safely to port.

Episode three sees a hero’s welcome for home favourite Charlie Enright as the race reaches Newport, USA before setting sail to Europe where Roslin Kuiper and Team Malizia are greeted to a royal welcome from the King and Queen of the Netherlands. A world record is broken for the greatest distance sailed in 24 hours, one team is forced to seek emergency assistance from a passing ship and the leaders face jeopardy after a collision with their rivals as the race reaches its thrilling conclusion.

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 be available from 06:00 CET on discovery+* and the Eurosport App in Europe, and Eurosport Extra in Poland. A Voyage of Discovery: The Ocean Race will 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.