From Lennart Burke
On the first two days after the arrival of the prologue in Cádiz we had a lot of dialogue with the competition. They asked us a lot of questions. How we sailed, what kind of sails we had up top. They kept saying that we were far too fast on the downwind. They also unpacked a lot themselves. We would never have thought that.
We also had intensive discussions with the Mutuel crew and the Belgians, who were first and third in the prologue. We even had dinner with Antoine Carpentier (editor: co-skipper of prologue winner Ian Lipinski on "Crédit Mutuel"). We had a very interesting chat about his career, the prologue and the circumnavigation. Here you can see the intermediate results after the prologue, which is counted with a factor of 0.5.
Globe40: a family on land, rivals on the water
During the stopover, you could really tell what I had suspected about the Globe40: that the sailors are already very close-knit and will perhaps grow into a small family during the journey. We are only eight boats. We all have the same goal and are sailing the same route. We look forward to being together and also to exchanging ideas.
Of course it's a competition. We are all competitors on the water. But I totally get the feeling that it's like a mini-transat. That we're all in the same boat and trying to make the best of it and ensure that everyone sails around the world as safely as possible. After the start on this Sunday at 1 pm, you can go tracking here.
Technically, we didn't change anything between the prologue and the first stage. We just opened everything up again, took another close look at everything and put everything back in the right place. We really inspected, dried and cleaned everything again. We even dived down to the keel ourselves and took another close look.
Crew and boat in top shape for stage one in Globe40
We now assume that we can start in perfect condition and that there are no more open construction sites. That's the current status. Who knows what it will be like when we set sail again. Maybe we'll notice something then. But we've gone through all the lists hundreds of times. We have nothing more to do. It's a mega great feeling!
Before that, there were only minor things to be fixed after the prologue. For example, we lost a shackle from the rudder post. We replaced it and re-tightened the shackles on both rudder hubs. Funnily enough, we hadn't done that before. Then our spinnaker cleat was broken, the constrictor. We replaced it. Then the cover of our main halyard broke. We repaired that too. There were thousands of little things.
Our rudder blade was still damaged because we had rammed into a fishing buoy. We had one or two dents. We filled them in and sanded them down. It's all looking good again now. For the first leg we have exactly the same sail set-up as for the prologue. It's very much focussed on downwind sails.
Globe40: Downwind leg ahead
We expect pure downwind conditions, sometimes more, sometimes less wind. Rather less wind. That's why we have all three of our Spis with us. Plus the big Code Zero. If we get into the doldrums, the spinnaker doesn't stand up so well. Then we take the Code Zero. Otherwise, of course, all the headsails and the mainsail are on board - they are always there.
We feel really fit now. We took another two hours on Saturday evening before the start on Sunday after all the work had been completed. We strolled into town to eat an ice cream, have a coffee and let everything sink in again. We are both very excited! We really want to get going!
I already said three days ago that I really wanted to go sailing." Lennart Burke
We are looking forward to a lot of downwind sailing. I am convinced that our boat will be the fastest. And so are we. We have often proven that we are very focussed when sailing downwind and always have good speed and can push the boat properly. I'm really looking forward to that. I hope that we can prove this again now and show what we are capable of.
Provisions for six days on board
We have now provisioned for six days. The routing says for the course from Cádiz to Mindelo on the Cape Verde Islands: Six days and 18 hours. We firmly assume that it won't be longer, but rather shorter. That's why we haven't stocked up on provisions. We have to keep the boat as light as possible on this leg because we're not expecting much wind. With wind from behind, you really try to get all the weight out of the boat.
We have our normal freeze-dried food with us. We also bought a few snacks and sweets. But a few more sweets than we might need because we're afraid that we won't get what we like to eat in Cape Verde. Otherwise fresh things: oranges, peppers, apples. Melwin has now also bought some pasta with pesto and tomatoes. We want to try cooking pasta with our Jetboil for the first time. Let's see how that works out.
Yesterday I bought some minerals from the pharmacy because I remembered that we now generate our water exclusively from the water maker. There are no minerals in the water from the sea. Perhaps we should now start adding additives to the water so that we always stay fit, healthy and alert - just like on land. We've never had any problems so far, but you can also take preventative measures.
Weak winds, difficult start
The wind forecast for the start? It's going to be very, very, very light winds. I think we might even be a bit behind at the start. I'm assuming that now so that we're not too disappointed. We're assuming less than ten knots of wind, unless there are thermals or other land or local effects that we don't know about. In under ten knots, we're really stuck on the water.
So the first 24 hours will be tough for us. We will have to concentrate hard. We have to be fit every second and for every spin. We have to try to stay as close as possible to the field and the leading team. And then, when the wind comes up: push forwards! And that is also our objective: we want to win! These are the perfect conditions for us and for the boat.
You have to be at the very front now!" Lennart Burke
Of course, there is always a lot of luck involved. And there is a lot of risk in navigation, many wind shifts, many lulls. We will definitely sail towards Madeira from the start in order to sail around a large calm zone. Madeira will also be the first sticking point because we have to set our jibe there. As close to Madeira as possible. But Madeira also throws a pretty big slipstream, which gets bigger and smaller every now and then...
"We're really up for it and want to attack at the front"
We have to be very careful that we sail close to the slipstream, but not too far and then get stuck there afterwards. That's a big risk on this first leg of the Globe40. We'll weigh up how far we want to take the risk when the time comes. We'll also look at where we are placed and how much of a gap we have to the others. You always have to see what the field is doing.
The Canary Islands will also be tricky. There are also many long and large slipstreams there. Then the wind will get weaker and weaker towards Cape Verde. But that's the current situation. We hope that everything will stabilise a bit. Let's see if that comes into effect. We are fit. Our boat is fit and has been well stroked. Our objective is always to win - we'll see what we can do with it."
