Golden Globe Race: Time credit for the rescuers - why did "Asteria" sink?
Kristina Müller
· 29.11.2022
Rescuers back in regatta mode
Both participants in the retro regatta around the world then resumed their course and continued the race. Neuschäfer had previously been able to drop Tapio Lehtinen on a freighter heading for China. The race organisers of the Golden Globe Race have now announced that the South African will be credited with 35 hours for her efforts, the Indian Tomy with twelve. In the spirit of good seamanship, both had left their actual course for hours. According to the organisers, information on the weather conditions and developments during the rescue operation were also included in the calculation for the credit.
Despite the time-consuming and energy-sapping action - the single-handed sailor steered almost exclusively by herself during her search for Lehtinen - she is again in second place in the widely spread field. With 219 nautical miles, she has also set the best record so far. A good 600 nautical miles separate her from the leader Simon Curwen, who already has about half the distance of the southern Indian Ocean in his wake. Around 130 nautical miles behind her is Abhilash Tomy in third place in the race around the world, which he took part in during his media stop off Cape Town. has recently voiced so much criticism. Austria's Michael Guggenberger is currently in fourth place.
Mysterious demise of Tapio Lehtinen's "Asteria"
Even ten days after the Finnish skipper's Gaia 36 "Asteria" ran aground in the Indian Ocean, the cause is still unclear. Conditions were calm at the time of the accident. Tapio Lehtinen confirmed this to YACHT, which reached him on the satellite phone of the bulk carrier "Darya Gayatri".
The 64-year-old reported how quickly everything happened. He was asleep when he was woken by a loud bang. The ship then filled with water over the stern in a very short time. Lehtinen was able to pull himself to safety in the life raft and saw his boat, which he had sailed in the Golden Globe Race four years ago, sink.
Lehtinen himself was unable to clarify the speculation about the cause of the sinking. "I don't know," said the experienced sailor. He simply could not explain what had happened, especially as he himself had meticulously prepared his ship for the rigours of the voyage and, among other things, had installed watertight compartments. If anything, says Lehtinen, the water could perhaps have come through one or two defective shipboard outlets - the bang in this case may have been the loud noise when one of the watertight bulkheads gave way under the water pressure. However, he is not entirely convinced by his own theory and is apparently at a loss himself as to what could have actually caused the water ingress.
Repairs and setbacks
Only nine of the 16 sailors are still in the race. Two of them have not yet passed Cape Town and therefore have little chance of reaching the next intermediate destination of Hobart in the specified time by 31 January 2023. The two soloists still sailing the Atlantic are Guy Waites from Great Britain and Arnaud Gaist from France. The former has reported from on board that he has given up trying to remove the heavy fouling on his hull at sea. He now wants to get his boat, a Tradewind 35, out of the water in Cape Town and clean it. Should he then resume the race, he would continue in the so-called Chichester Class, in which all those who make a stop ashore during the Golden Globe Race are classified.
The future of his fellow competitor Arnaud Gaist's race is also more than uncertain. He recently reported serious problems with the rig of his Barbican 33 MKII. Apparently the mast support is unstable and there are problems with the lower shrouds and the bowsprit.
The same cable also broke on board the 27-year-old American Elliot Smith, shortly after the youngest participant in the Golden Globe Race had completed the obligatory interview stop in Granger Bay off Cape Town. Smith was apparently able to get to grips with the construction site on his own and without having to make landfall. He is now making a second attempt to cross the Indian Ocean, which has so far proved far tamer than expected for the leading sailors in the field.
Golden Globe Race: What has happened so far
- 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
