‘Southern Swell’ limited-edition wall print / €895

When professional sailors set out to be the fastest around the world, anything can happen…and usually does. Since 1973, The Ocean Race has been giving sailing many of its wildest action images. Now, a selection of the best shots from the last 50 years are giving fans and collectors a piece of race history – on an actual piece of race history.

In ‘Southern Swell’, Team Brunel’s crew braces for impact as they round Cape Horn during the race’s 2014-15 edition. While the Dutch distance specialists sat out the 2022-23 race, sails from their 2017-18 campaign are still hard at work – recycled into high-impact, limited-edition wall prints by artisanal workshop, Resail.

Used race sails can be hard to come by. Teams involved in the race are subject to strict equipment limits, and those sails that make it home intact arrive battered from thousands of miles at sea. But thanks to the rise of upcyclers like Resail, Oceanum Vela and 727 Sailbags, sails are getting a new lease of life after their racing days are over.

The carbon-fibre 3Di sails that Resail uses are tactile and gritty, with an authenticity unlike regular canvasses. Repairs, reinforcements and general wear and tear are imperfections that tell a bigger story, and make each print unique.

Resail developed a special digital printing technique to work around these features, and spans each rigid section of printed sail onto a tensioned, heavy-duty aluminium frame. For ‘Southern Swell’ – and other images from Resail’s Legends Series – European and US race fans can score themselves a piece of sailing history at the link below.

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