The multinational from Santa Catarina WEG delivered customized solutions for the Regatta Village in the city of Itajaí, where the competitors of The Ocean Race 2023 will stay, an event that brings together the best sailors in the world on a route around the globe.

The competition began in January in the Spanish city of Alicante, continued to Cape Town (South Africa) and expected to dock in the city of Itajaí, state of Santa Catarina, starting in April. The Brazilian city is the only one in Latin America included in the route and will receive five competing IMOCA class boats at the Ocean Live Park, the name given to Regatta Village, where the sailors will stay for 22 days until they move on to their next destination, in New Port, in USA. In total, the boats will visit nine countries in six months.

Complying with the directives of a totally sustainable event, the company developed, with its team of engineers, an electromagnetic variable frequency drive that allows the participating teams to use electricity sustainably during their stay in Brazil. The solution makes it possible to reduce the Brazilian standard frequency of 60Hz to the European standard of 50Hz. The company also supplied three transformers and four charging stations of the WEMOB line for electric mobility in the city.

In addition to the electromagnetic frequency drive, the WEG solutions available ensure that the Ocean Live Park uses clean energy, avoiding the burning of fossil fuels and, consequently, satisfying the competition's demand for sustainability.

“It is a pleasure for us to contribute to an event on the scale of The Ocean Race, which, like WEG, has a keen eye for sustainability. Initiatives like this put into practice our commitment to contribute to the construction of an increasingly efficient and sustainable world”, states Daniel Marteleto Godinho, WEG’s Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Director.

During the voyage, events called Ocean Summits are organized, an initiative that analyzes ways to improve the quality of the oceans, using the vessels themselves in scientific research on their quality. In this edition, the One Blue Voice campaign takes place, which aims to collect signatures for an online petition that will be presented in collaboration with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in September 2023.

For the first time in 25 years, The Ocean Race will feature two classes of boats. The first is the new IMOCA 60 class, composed of five high-performance boats, which compete for The Ocean Race trophy and will circumnavigate the world, in a total of 32,000 nautical miles. The second class is the six VO65 one-designs, which will fight for the Ocean Challenge trophy, a shorter voyage, held only in Europe.