Golden Globe Race: "Too hard - physically and emotionally exhausted"

Kristina Müller

· 15.03.2023

Golden Globe Race: "Too hard - physically and emotionally exhausted"

Photo: Michael Guggenberger / GGR

The wind vane steers, the single-handed sailor watches the sea: Michael Guggenberger has achieved great things so far and reached the Atlantic again unscathed. The Austrian is sailing in third place, but the circumnavigation is sapping his strength

The front of the fleet in the Golden Globe Race, which now comprises just six boats, is on its way to the equator. In one of his last safety calls with the organiser, Austrian Michael Guggenberger reports on how challenging the long final spurt towards France is for the skippers.

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The wind direction and strength are constantly changing, I'm constantly changing sails and getting little sleep. A challenge! I try to sail and trim somewhere between performance and cruising mode, otherwise it gets too hard. I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. Everything up to Cape Horn was new, but I know the Atlantic."

Will Kirsten Neuschäfer win the Golden Globe Race?

Kirsten Neuschäfer is still in the lead, having recently crossed her own course line - a great moment in any round-the-world race, which shows that the finish line is getting closer. If Neuschäfer can maintain her lead over Abhilash Tomy, she would even be the first woman to win a non-stop round-the-world race. She could reach Les Sables in the second half of April.

In the end, things looked good for the experienced professional skipper: with the help of historical weather charts and the routes of the cargo ships of yore, she had sailed herself a comfortable lead on the way to the Doldrums by taking a more easterly course on the South Atlantic.

Grit your teeth: repairs on the Rustler 36

But her pursuer Abhilash Tomy was able to close the distance to the skipper of the "Minnehaha" again - even though he was struggling with severe problems on his Rustler 36 "Bayanat". He had to climb into the mast several times to replace a backstay. Hardly less serious: his mainsail tore completely apart below the first reef. But he was able to sew it back together by hand.

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It took a long time and was tedious, but the sail is back on and looks good. Better than the boat, which is a complete mess,

says Tomy in a report from on board.

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One stop instead of non-stop

Currently just over 200 nautical miles behind Tomy, Simon Curwen is showing that there is a good reason why he sailed ahead of the others during the first half of the circumnavigation until the failure of his wind steering system forced him to head for the Chilean coast. Since his restart at the end of January, the Briton has continuously reduced the distance to Neuschäfer and Tomy. Although he has been sailing a race against himself since the repair stop outside the classification, the former Mini-Transat runner-up is also driven by the incentive to be celebrated as one of the fastest returnees in Les Sables-d'Olonne.

Even though I'm no longer racing, I sail the boat almost as fast as I can. I still make a lot of sail changes to adapt to the wind speed and direction. I want to get back to Les Sables and finish it",

says the skipper of the Biscay 36 "Clara".

Weather warning off Cape Horn

His only competitor in the Chichester classification has just reached the Atlantic - Jeremy Bagshaw passed Cape Horn in fifth place! Before that, he had to dodge two heavy storms as best he could in the inhospitable sea area on the way to the Horn.

The race committee of the Golden Globe Race had even sent him a weather warning and a routing, according to which he should avoid the low pressure to the north. In the retro race, such weather information is actually taboo and is only passed on in exceptional cases. Now, however, Bagshaw has the last major cape of the 27,000 nautical mile route in his wake and also the exhausting final Atlantic spurt ahead of him.

Wet socks in the South Pacific

That leaves Ian Herbert-Jones, who is currently sailing towards Cape Horn in the South Pacific in fourth place in the Golden Globe ranking and last in the field. He has passed the no-go zone along 47 degrees south and could reach Cape Horn in just over a week. In one of his last reports from on board, the skipper of the Tradewind 35 "Puffin" is in good spirits:

Everything is fine on board. I no longer have any spare mainsail sliders, but I've learnt to repair the old ones. I try to eat three hot meals a day, I sleep in a dry bunk, which is great. Only my socks are all wet!"

In just over a week's time, he too could have passed Cape Horn in last place. By then, all the skippers in the Golden Globe Race will be back on the Atlantic and on the long journey to their destination.

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