Globe40: Shortly before equator baptism - Doldrums damper for Burke and Fink

Things were still looking good for Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink on the morning of 7 October. They were leading the classification on leg two of the Globe40. Over the course of the day, however, the Next Generation Boating Around the World team lost ground. Shortly before their first equator passage, they have to fight to catch up with the new leaders to the east.

Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink led for long periods on stage two of Globe40, which they had started so optimistically. Now, at the end of the first week at sea, a gap of almost 50 nautical miles has built up for the first time. The young German duo are paying for their eastern position in relation to "Crédit Mutuel" and Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium with painful losses this Tuesday.

Globe40: Burke and Fink have to fight

As Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink approached their first equatorial passage on the afternoon of 7 October, they were still bobbing along agonisingly slowly in the light wind. At the same time, Ian Lipinski and Amélie Grassi on "Crédit Mutuel" and the Belgians Benoït Hantzperg and Renaud Dehareng had already reached the trade winds around 70 nautical miles west of the German Class40. The gap for the Next Generation Boating Around the World team could therefore increase slightly before conditions become more favourable for the GER boat again.

Melwin Fink had mixed feelings about the current situation at sea early on Tuesday afternoon: "The close three-way race is very cool and fun. We're currently a bit further east, which can be good for the south-east trade winds. But the others are further west and further south. We still have to catch up again. The boys have now arrived in the trade wind and we're just bobbing along. At times it was very, very tight. Then, unfortunately, we lost them due to a cloud and they were able to extend their lead."

The new frontrunners never tired of thinking about optimisations as the pace picked up. Amélie Grassi, who has just won the Ocean Race Europe with Paul Meilhat and Team Biotherm, noted at sea: "Ian and I are both on deck and are asking ourselves the eternal question of changing sails. I was very ill for the first two days and couldn't move. Ian was very patient with me, taking care of the navigation at the same time and single-handedly keeping us on the front line."

Also strong on his own: Lipinski at Globe40

Amélie Grassi is now back on her feet and wrote: "Ian managed to give me the right medication with contact on land. I've been feeling better for 24 hours. And that's why he's better too, because I'm finally letting him sleep. Attentive and solid - he impressed me. It was a fun way to get to know each other on board. I've been feeling better for 24 hours, which has helped him feel better too as I'm finally letting him sleep."

My mood returns along with my physical energy. It's very pleasant. We are enjoying this phase." Amélie Grassi

Meanwhile, Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink are hoping that the wind conditions will improve. Fink said: "At the moment we can't score any big points because our boat doesn't work in light winds - and not well downwind either. But we're looking forward to the next few days and will probably get downwind conditions again. Or reaching, where we can be very fast again."

We have to persevere here, keep the motivation and spirit up. And then hopefully we'll get back on track very soon." Melwin Fink

Apart from the current minor setback, Burke and Fink are doing well on their first circumnavigation. Melwin Finke openly admitted: "We're pretty happy and fit, but a bit annoyed by the Doldrums. We lost quite a lot and missed the connection to the boats in the west a bit. We hope that we can now get back to them by heading south a lot. But otherwise we got through relatively well here and on the last few metres into the south-easterly trade wind."

The anticipation of the equator baptism

Shortly before reaching the equator, the anticipation on board the Pogo 40 S4 also increased, as both Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink were due to be christened at the equator. Neither of them had ever sailed in the southern hemisphere before. Melwin Fink said: "It means a lot to us because it is something special for sailors. Neptune is always at the back of our minds. He has to be appeased. So we're going to do a proper equatorial baptism and hope that Neptune is good to us in the southern Atlantic and everything that comes after that. We're really looking forward to going over there."

There are two things our boat doesn't like: upwind sailing and light winds." Melwin Fink

According to the crew on their first circumnavigation, their boat is in good shape. "Our boat is doing great. All the equipment is in top shape. We don't have any restrictions yet. The new A4 was pretty important. Especially at the beginning, when we were sailing such high downwind courses. We were then able to defend our lead very well. Now we haven't needed it for a while because we only sail downwind in light winds all the time." Click here for the tracking, in which the positions of the boats are updated every four hours.

A stowaway recently caused hilarity for the German team. A small bird first got on deck and then below deck several times. The hunt - seen here - was not easy.

The start of the second stage at Globe40: