Golden Globe Race

Three storms in 10 days, winds above 60 knots, broken gear, a skipper knocked unconscious and an unforgiving test of the human mind. The Atlantic was only the beginning. The Southern Ocean lies ahead.

• 60+ KNOTS AND REAL FEAR: Daniel Pinsky hand-steers Exodus under bare poles in survival conditions, then climbs the mast to recover a lost halyard before facing more heavy weather.
• SERIOUS INJURY ENDS A DREAM: Guy deBoer suffers a serious head injury in a violent fall aboard Spirit. Following medical advice, Race Management has determined he cannot continue his GGR voyage, even in Chichester Class.
• FIRST GREAT CAPE MILESTONE: Race leader Damien Guillou aboard Solarem passes the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first skipper in the fleet to reach this significant milestone.
• BARNACLES, BROKEN GEAR AND BIG SEAS: Isa Rosli battles severe hull fouling, while Etienne Messikommer experiences the biggest seas of his life and celebrates his first albatross.
• THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE GGR: Tears, laughter, exhaustion, chocolate, Halloween celebrations and moments of self-doubt reveal the extraordinary personal journeys unfolding aboard these small yachts.

Sixteen sailors left Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, on 6 September. Only 12 remain in the main race. Almost 60 days and up to 8,000 nautical miles later, the 2026 McIntyre Golden Globe Race has reached the moment when the adventure becomes something altogether more serious. There are still around 20,000 miles to go!

The fleet has crossed the North Atlantic, endured the Doldrums, passed the Equator and fought its way deep into the South Atlantic. Now leader Damien Guillou has passed the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope, and the chasing skippers are turning towards the immense Southern Ocean. The next 3–4 months may decide who has the boat, the body — and above all, the mind — to finish.

This is no conventional round-the-world yacht race. It is a voyage of attrition like 1968 in small, traditional, long-keel yachts, sailed alone with paper charts, sextants, windvane steering and no modern electronic navigation. No shore team can fix a broken fitting. There is no call home on demand when morale falters. There is nowhere to get off when the weather turns ugly.

As the official GGR description puts it, this is the “longest, loneliest, slowest, most daring challenge” in solo sport. A circumnavigation can last around 240 days. After two months, most of the ordeal still lies ahead.