Blog Highlight: 11th Hour Racing

At first glance, professional offshore sailboat racing and community art installations seem like entirely different worlds. One battles the elements across global oceans; the other sits quietly on the harbor. Yet, 11th Hour Racing has spent years proving that sport, science, and the arts can share a single, powerful currents of change.

Through its innovative storytelling initiative, the LivingGallery, 11th Hour Racing helped spark a collaborative chain reaction that brought a stunning new exhibit to life on Chicago's Montrose Harbor: "Where Wings Meet Water."

The LivingGallery at Montrose Harbor.

What is 11th Hour Racing?

The LivingGallery, made by 11th Hour Racing, sitting at the shore of Montrose Harbor.

For decades, professional offshore racing was viewed through a singular lens: speed. Teams built faster, lighter, and more aggressive boats to conquer the world’s harshest oceans, often leaving a heavy environmental footprint in their wake.

Then came 11th Hour Racing.

Operating under the belief that performance and environmental stewardship can—and must—coexist, this organization turned the competitive sailing world on its head. Most notably, their elite offshore sailing team made history by winning the 2022–23 edition of The Ocean Race, proving that a campaign deeply rooted in sustainability could also finish first. 

What is the LivingGallery?

The LivingGallery is a mobile and digital art experience launched by 11th Hour Racing. Blending art, soil science, and marine biology, it invites people to slow down and discover the hidden lifeforms sustaining our ecosystems.

The LivingGallery getting ready to display Where Wings Meet Water art exhibit.

The educational philosophy of the LivingGallery—using local art to bridge the gap between human experience and environmental stewardship—laid the perfect groundwork for a fresh collaboration in the Spring of 2026.

Partnering with organization Sail Her Dreams and Great Lakes Sailing, the foundational concept of the LivingGallery traveled to the shores of Lake Michigan. The result was "Where Wings Meet Water," an immersive art exhibit hosted at Chicago's Montrose Harbor.

Just as the LivingGallery explores the nexus of soil and sea, "Where Wings Meet Water" transforms the urban harbor into a dynamic dialogue between art, aviation, and water.

LivingGallery and Great Lakes Sailing

The LivingGallery didn't just help us create an art exhibit, it invited artists to immerse themselves within the art. From repurposing old furniture to create 3D sculptures of fungi, and headphones used to help us hear the artwork being showcased, the Montrose Harbor community was able to experience art and conservation in an entirely new light.

Attendees viewing Where Wings Meet Water.

By funding, structuring, and proving the concept of the LivingGallery, 11th Hour Racing created a scalable blueprint for ecological art. It helps Great Lakes Sailing and Sail Her Dreams show that you can mobilize a community around water preservation not just by using data and charts, but by appealing to human creativity.

"Where Wings Meet Water" stands as a testament to that legacy. It reminds us that whether you are racing a high-tech foiling boat across the Atlantic or walking along a harbor in Chicago, we are all connected to the exact same water—and it is up to us to protect it.