ROME April 20th, 2021

Translated, a company that is pioneering a powerful combination of human creativity and machine intelligence to craft quality translations at speed, has selected a sailing craft with a storied history to be its vessel during the epic Ocean Globe Race 2023 (OGR 23).

Translated will participate aboard the Translated 9 in the around-the-world regatta in which sailors pilot vintage ships without the benefit of modern technology or equipment.

The Translated 9 previously sailed as the ADC Accutrac, and it became an icon of the seas under British skipper, Clare Francis, who led it to a fifth place finish of the 1977 Whitbread Around the World Race, achieving a milestone in both sailing and women’s history.

The craft, a Swan 65 designed by the historic New York studio Sparkman & Stephens, is currently anchored at Rome’s Port of Riva di Traiano, in preparation for the race. The OGR 23 marks the 50th anniversary of the epic competition, first held in 1973. The 2023 race will mirror the original Whitbread in both its route, primarily across the Southern Hemisphere and the skill required to navigate such a journey in a small craft.

The Swan 65 is considered to be one of the most beautiful sailboats ever made and certainly one of the most successful. A Swan 65, (the Sayula II by Ramon Carlin) won the first Whitbread race, which took place over 1973 and 1974. During the second Whitbread, three Swan 65s placed--King's Legend, Disque d'Or and ADC Accutrac--at second, fourth and fifth respectively. In the fourth Whitbread in 1985, a 651-011, Fazer Finland, finished third.

Launched in 1974, Translated 9 is almost 20 meters long by 5 meters wide. It has three cabins, three bathrooms, a galley, and a dinette and can comfortably accommodate 11 people. Its exterior and interior are made of precious wood and the craft is considered a combination of performance excellence and comfort.

The craft gained fame under Francis, who crossed the Whitbread finish line in fifth place, in 126 days and 20 hours at sea. Finishing the rigorous Whitbread at all, like the upcoming Ocean Globe Race, is considered the greatest of successes.

ADC Accutrac’s odyssey under Francis, as pictured in the book she wrote about the race, “Come Wind or Weather,” found its deck covered with snow, skimming by icebergs and its sailors clinging to the helm under enormous waves, with sails blown by gale-force winds.

While Francis left sailing and pursued a successful career as an author, the ADC Accutrac ultimately fell into disrepair. Nicola Parolin found the boat, at the time named Force 9 of London, near Gaeta, Italy, and brought it back to life and on the seas once again.

The ship changed hands once again, now as Translated 9, under the stewardship of Translated co-founders Marco Trombetti and Isabelle Andrieu. It is taken on sails up and down the coastline near Rome as it prepares to tackle the world’s oceans once again.

About Translated

Translated is a translation company that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to help professional translators. It was founded in 1999 by computer scientist Marco Trombetti and linguist Isabelle Andrieu and has always been focused on a powerful combination of human creativity and machine intelligence to craft consistent quality translations at speed. Today, it is one of the most successful online translation companies in the world, with 180,000 clients, offering translation in 177 languages in 40 areas of expertise. Translated has been rewarded on several occasions, including the TAUS Innovation Contest. In 2015, the European Commission recognized Translated’s CAT tool Matecat as one of the best AI research projects of the previous 7 years. In 2017, Financial Times included Translated as one of Europe's fastest-growing companies.