‘It’s win-win’: how a dangerous sailing race could reveal the ocean’s secrets

After a long hiatus, the epic Ocean Race is back - but this year, as well as dodging icebergs, cracking masts and suffering the occasional hull sandwich failure', the teams are gathering crucial data from places even research vessels rarely reach

The Southern Ocean is not somewhere most people choose to spend an hour, let alone a month. Circling the icy continent of Antarctica, it is the planet's wildest and most remote ocean. Point Nemo - just to the north in the South Pacific - is the farthest location from land on Earth, 1,670 miles (2,688km) away from the closest shore. The nearest humans are generally those in the International Space Station when it passes overhead.

But on 21 March, four sailing teams came through here - part of a marathon race round the bottom of the Earth, from Cape Town in South Africa to Itajai in Brazil.