Offshore sailing is a universal discipline including racing and cruising in waters ranging from inshore (but where shelter/rescue may not be available) to extended transoceanic races and passages undertaken without the expectation of outside assistance.

Doublehanded Offshore Racing is the fastest growing discipline in offshore sailing and is regarded by many as the fastest growing discipline in the entire sport of sailing. While the Paris 2024 Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat Event will have a very specific format, doublehanded offshore sailing is more broadly understood to be racing with two crew of any gender, on courses over 50 miles in length, either one-design or under any rating system.

The Offshore Special Regulations (OSR) establish uniform minimum equipment, accommodation, and training standards for monohull and multihull boats racing offshore. The OSR is a fifty-year-old living document that was originally created in 1968 by the ORC and has been maintained since 2001 by the World Sailing OSR subcommittee. In the early 1980s the OSR took on the additional responsibility for scantlings requirements. The OSR is maintained by the OSR Subcommittee to the World Sailing Oceanic and Offshore Committee which comprises members with distinctive competence in offshore safety.

Useful links:

• Double Handed Offshore
• Paris 2024 - Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat Event
• Ratings and Handicap Systems
• Offshore Special Regulations
• OSR structural plan review
• OSR sea survival
• OSR Recognized First Aid Qualifications