The Golden Globe Race is all about the stories! A human adventure of months alone struggling to get back to Les Sables d’Olonne France where it all began. Day 164 was a big one!
While Kirsten was flying around Cape Horn, just 300 miles north Abhilash was struggling in heavy weather on a dangerous lee shore, with the tiller lashed and a broken windvane unable to tack to safety. Meanwhile Michael Guggenberger 1000 miles to the Northwest was sailing down to Cape Horn in near perfect weather that may hold for some time.
It’s been an eventful month of February for Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF), finally rounding Cape Horn at 2020 UTC 15th Feb. She moved to first place after 150 days of racing and since had to face two storms, breaking a spinnaker pole and taking down her massive twin sail alone on a Minnehaha rocked by the residual swell.
With the final 10,000 miles to Les Sables on her mind and sensing pressure on her beloved yacht, she sails a conservative course further and longer towards the north-east to avoid the stronger winds and sea in the first front on February 7th, trailing warps and nursing Minnehaha in the ensuing storm. Then finally a southerly course South of Diego Ramirez Islands creating sea room the Chilean coast before finally heading up for a long look at the infamous final Cape of the course. A treasured memory!.
With over 240,000 miles sailing experience she knows this area very well sailing many times as a commercial skipper to Antarctica. But this is the first time she crosses the Pacific solo to get around. The famous rock was surrounded by squalls that forced her to make continuous adjustments, poling the Yankee and reducing sails when necessary. Despite all the action, she could hardly speak during her safety call because of the cold shortly before rounding.
In the past days heading to the Horn, the GGR 2018 veteran Abhilash Tomy (IND) was more exposed to the wind and waves, with 40 knots, gusting 60 which he later said it was closer to “60 knots sustained with occasional lulls in the 40” meaning his Rustler had suffered some damage as he explained in his safety call.
The storm repairs, strong weather and waiting for the right conditions to climb the mast meant Bayanat sailed further east than planned. He was getting close to the coast of Chile, a dangerous lee shore and he knew it.
2022 GGR entrants to date Current positions:
1. Kirsten Neuschäfer (39) / South Africa / Cape George 36 – “MINNEHAHA”
2. Abhilash Tomy (43) / India / Rustler 36 – “BAYANAT”
3. Michael Guggenberger (44) / Austria / Biscay 36 – “NURI”
4. Ian Herbert Jones (52) / UK / Tradewind 35 – “PUFFIN”
2022 GGR Chichester Class:
1. Simon Curwen (63) / UK / Biscay 36 – “CLARA”
2. Jeremy Bagshaw (59) / South Africa / OE32 – “OLLEANNA”
2022 GGR Retired:
1. Edward Walentynowicz, (Canada), Rustler 36, Noah’s Jest
2. Guy deBoer, (USA), Tashiba 36, Spirit
3. Mark Sinclair (Australia), Lello 34, Coconut
4. Pat Lawless, (Ireland), Saltram Saga 36, Green Rebel
5. Damien Guillou, (France), Rustler 36, PRB
6. Ertan Beskardes, (UK), Rustler 36, Lazy Otter
7. Tapio Lehtinen, (Finland), Gaia 36, Asteria
8. Arnaud Gaist, (France), Barbican 33 Mk 2, Hermes Phoning
9. Elliot Smith, (USA), Gale Force 34, Second Wind
10. Guy Waites (UK), Tradewind 35, Sagarmatha
