Golden Globe Race: the leaders are looking for wind

A lack of wind southwest of the Cape Verde Islands is causing frustration for Golden Globe Race leader Simon Curwen and his closest rival Tapio Lehtinen.

In the past 24 hours, they have covered only 61 and 54 miles respectively, between calms, squalls and showers.

‘Hot and slow again. It’s also the menu for the coming week”, Curwen tweeted yesterday, aboard his Biscay 36, Clear.

Meanwhile, Pat Lawless, Kirsten Neuschafer and Abhilash Tomy are closer to the African coast, and are taking advantage of a small depression between Cape Verde and Gambia, allowing them to head south more quickly.

They hope to make gains before the north wind returns.

‘Lots of rain squalls pushing me SxSW. Wind From The NW 20kt Hope I Get Few More Days Like This,” said Lawless, who believes his Saltram Saga 36, green rebelis faster downwind than the Rustler 36. Only time will tell if his faith in his boat is justified.

The big winner of the week is the French skipper Damien Guillou, who is now catching up with the middle of the fleet, returning to Les Sables d’Olonne a few days after the start to repair his Hydrovane wind vane steering system. The decision cost him six days on the rest of the fleet.

For the past 24 hours he has been sailing his Rustler 36, PRB 127 miles and should overtake South African Jeremy Bagshaw in the coming days. Bagshaw is calmed down in his OE32, Olleannathe smallest boat in the race.

OE32, Olleanna, is currently calm, with skipper Jeremy Bagshaw having covered just 52 miles in the past 24 hours. Credit: John Stickland

All the skippers have now passed through Lanzarote’s photo gate and will now have to think about crossing the Doldrums before the fleet heads for Trindade, 680 miles from the Brazilian coast. They must leave the island on the port side before heading to the second photo gate in Cape Town.

Continued below…

It has been three and a half weeks since the Golden Globe skippers crossed the starting line and some are already having problems with their equipment.

British sailor Ertan Beskardes had planned to stop on the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde due to a major power failure on board his Rustler 36, Lazy otter. A week after departure, there was a small electrical fire on board which he brought under control. Now, although he recharges his batteries using wind and solar power, the batteries do not hold their charge, although his engine start battery is in good condition.

Ertan Beskardes decided to continue the race, despite electrical problems. Credit: Ertan Beskardes/PPL/GGR

“Batteries fill up later in the evening and all I need to charge I charge then, like the YB tracker, then overnight the only thing I keep is my VHF radio; the voltage drops quickly at night I try to be careful [with power] and I just use what is needed,” he said.

Beskardes had decided to try to make repairs along the way and continued on to Cape Town.

Tapio Lehtinen hopes to improve on his 5th place in the 2018 race. Credits: Jessie Martin/PPL/GGR

Meanwhile, Finn Tapio Lehtinen blew the heaviest of his spinnakers, tearing him up and down. He doesn’t have a sewing machine, but still has four spinnakers aboard his Gaia 36, Asteria.

‘I’ve been sailing with spinnaker all day and there were gusts and I thought I’d have to take it apart. I took a short nap and woke up and looked at the compass at the end of the berth and realized the wind direction had changed a lot and I knew I had to put it down because I had to jibe . When I got on deck, the spinnaker was next to me in the water. There was 1.5m of spinnaker at the top of the line and the rest was in the water. I had to struggle for an hour to get it out of the water,” he said.

Former skipper of the Clipper Round the World, Guy Waites also had to deal with a stuck spinnaker pole, which he has now repaired.

‘spi[nnaker] pole car unlocked, stripped, rebuilt with thread lock, 100% operational,’ he tweeted yesterday.

Guy de Boer, who retired from the race after hitting rocks off Fuerteventure, is now awaiting an evaluation of his Tashiba 36, Spirit.

The boat, one of three doubles in the fleet, suffered a 3m x 0.5m hole in the hull during the grounding. The yacht was craned onto a truck and then moved to a shipyard in Lanzarote for repairs. Unfortunately, around $60-70,000 worth of gear was stolen from the boat while it was aground.

Equipment of Spirit was stolen while the boat was waiting to be recovered. Credit: Felix Montenegro Pujales / Osvaldo Martínez Morera

‘I think Spirit can be corrected, but I will not enter the Chichester class [for entrants which make one stop]. It will take 60 days minimum [for repairs]. Initially, I’m thinking of bringing her back to the United States,” de Boer said. Monthly Yachting.

“I just deal with the stuff that life throws at me. I am very disappointed. It’s too early to talk about the 2026 Golden Globe Race, but, you know, I wanted to race; I wanted to win the race. My boat, once in the Atlantic, was the fastest boat there, so we’ll see,” added the American sailor.

Current positions of the skippers of the Golden Globe Race 2022 on September 28, 2022 at 0800 UTC

Simon Curwen, (United Kingdom), Vizcaya 36 years old, Clear
Tapio Lehtinen, (Finland), Gaia 36 years old, Starfish
Pat Lawless, (Ireland), Saltram Saga 36, green rebel
Abhilash Tomy, (India), Rustler 36 years old, bayanat
Kirsten Neuschafer, (South Africa), cutter for the Cape George 36, Minnehaha
Michael Guggenberger, (Austria), Vizcaya 36, Fed
Ertan Beskardes, (United Kingdom), Rustler 36 years old, lazy otter
Guy Waites (UK), Tradewind 35, Sagarmatha
Jeremy Bagshaw, (South Africa), OE32, Olleanna
Elliot Smith, (USA), Gale Force 34, Second breath
Damien Guillou, (France), Rustler 36 years old, PRB
Ian Herbert-Jones (UK), Tradewind 35, Puffin
Arnaud Gaist, (France), Barbican 33 Mk 2, Hermes phone

Retired:

Edward Walentynowicz, (Canada), Rustler 36, Noah’s joke
Guy de Boer, (United States), Tashiba 36 years old, Spirit
Mark Sinclair (Australia), Lello 34 years old, Coconut

Did you enjoy reading Golden Globe Race: Leaders in Search of Wind?

A subscription to Yachting Monthly magazine costs about 40% less than the cover price.

Print and digital editions are available through Magazines Direct – where you can also find the latest offers.

YM is packed with information to help you get the most out of your time on the water.

• • • • Take your seamanship to the next level with tips, advice and skills from our experts
      • Unbiased in-depth reviews of the latest yachts and equipment
      • Cruising guides to help you reach those dream destinations

follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.