Golden Globe Race: Kirsten Neuschäfer's lead has melted away considerably
Morten Strauch
· 07.04.2023
Kirsten Neuschäfer seemed to be trapped in the Doldrums for a long time, while the former Indian Navy officer persistently managed to close the gap to the first-placed team. With the weak wind zone astern and the Cape Verde Islands abeam, the race is now slowly but surely approaching the home straight, which promises to be very exciting.
Through the centre
Meanwhile, Great Britain's Simon Curven has fought back furiously, sailing outside the classification after his forced stop off Chile, but can once again rely on his windsurfer and seems to have found the perfect course northwards. While Tomy has chosen a slightly more westerly course than Neuschäfer, Curven is sailing between the two on his Biscay 36 and is now even ahead in terms of remaining distance.
His nearest competitor in the Chichester class, Jeremy Bagshaw, is still ahead of the equator, but is enjoying "normal sailing" after surviving a stormy ride in the South Atlantic, which also gave him the longest Etmal of the entire retro fleet at 102 nm.
Captain Gugg has also fought back strongly despite his recent physical and emotional exhaustion. Last week, the Austrian was able to reduce his gap to the first-placed Neuschäfer to 450 nm. However, Michael Guggenberger has now dipped into the weak wind zone from which Neuschäfer, Tomy and Curven have already struggled to fight their way out and will probably fall back a good way.
Shore leave in southern Patagonia
In last place and now also sailing in the Chichester class is Ian Herbert-Jones, who has left the "Furious 50's", the notoriously stormy region between 50° and 60° south latitude, and is on the most easterly course of all participants. At the height of the Falkland Islands, his "Puffin" was blown completely off course by a storm, but the boat and skipper are safe and sound. Although it knocked the Briton out of the Golden Globe classification, he had probably his most impressive experience directly after passing Cape Horn, where he met Mark and Caroline from the adventure yacht "Jonathan", who towed him into a sheltered anchorage near Pictor Island with engine damage and a defective wind steering system. There, Herbert-Jones stepped ashore for the first time since the start of the GGR seven months ago and was able to marvel at the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of southern Patagonia. Before rounding Cape Horn, the Brit had braved the heaviest storms with winds of up to 60 knots and seven metre high waves for days. The engine and wind steering system were finally repaired so that he was able to rejoin the race, albeit no longer in the Golden Globe classification - but with an encounter at the other end of the world that resembled a minor miracle.
Golden Globe Race: more on the topic
Golden Globe Race 2022: What has happened so far
- Golden Globe Update 17: "Too hard - physically and emotionally exhausted"
- Golden Globe Update 16: Six months non-stop at sea!
- Golden Globe Update 15: Kirsten Neuschäfer is the first to round Cape Horn
- Golden Globe Update 14: Storms, breaches and capsizes in the South Pacific
- Golden Globe Update 13: Knockdown knocks Simon Curwen out of the running
- Golden Globe Update 12: Chasers pass the Hobart stopover
- Golden Globe Update 11: Simon Curwen reaches Hobart first
- Golden Globe Update 10: Bowsprit breakage and vegetation slow down sailors
- Golden Globe Update 9: Why it sank " Asteria " ?
- Golden Globe Update 8: Neuschäfer rescues Lehtinen from distress at sea
- Golden Globe Update 7: Emotional moments off Cape Town
- Golden Globe Update 6: Cape Town in the wake, Neuschäfer in second place
- Golden Globe Update 5: New breach on board the "PRB"
- Golden Globe Update 4: Three new videos from the high seas
- Golden Globe Update 3: Sailors reach first media stop
- Golden Globe Update 2: Shipwreck at Guy de Boer in the Canary Islands
- Golden Globe Update 1: Break, comeback and the first task
