Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink had already received valuable "presents" shortly before Christmas. The spare parts they needed to repair the mast of their Class40 in La Réunion had arrived in Hamburg. After their Globe40 retirement on leg three from La Réunion to Sydney, the plan for their comeback is now in place.
Globe40: Burke and Fink's comeback plan
These steps should make it possible: Melwin Fink will fly to La Réunion with an expert on 29 January, where the Class40 has been since 13 December following the boomerang fracture. In the harbour of St. Paul, the mast is laid, scanned, ultrasonically inspected and repaired. The boat is then brought to Cape Town by Fink and a small transfer crew.
The pit stop on the way to the last Globe40 leg harbour Recife is necessary because there is no rod press available on La Réunion. In Cape Town, the Dyneema temporary rig used up to that point is then replaced with the newly pressed D2 intermediate shrouds. From the Cape of Good Hope, the journey will then continue through the South Atlantic to Recife. The Next Generation Boating Around the World team aims to reach the Brazilian harbour in the first week of March.
The starting shot for the sixth and final Globe40 leg will be fired off Recife on 29 March. It will take the possibly reunited fleet back to the start and finish harbour of Lorient by mid-April. "We are highly motivated and want to challenge the others once again, get involved at the front and round off the race," said Lennart Burke. Thibaut Lefévère and Nicolas Guibal, who are still repairing their "Free Dom" in Sydney and want to join the fleet as soon as possible, are also fighting for their comeback. The fleet was further damaged in the South Pacific on 13 January. 24-hour record team from Belgium cited.
The Belgian-French duel rages at the top of Globe40
Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium defended a lead of almost 25 nautical miles over "Crédit Mutuel" on Tuesday morning at the ice edge in the South Pacific on course for Valparaiso. What sailing just above the 50th parallel south looks like, shows a current clip of the Belgians. Around 900 nautical miles behind, the top scow bow duo José Guilherme Caldas and Luiz Bolina on "Barco Brasil" were the first classic pointed bow Class 40. Lisa Berger and Jade Edwards-Leaney were able to close the gap to the Brazilians. after her mast shock and the MacGyver action on 11 January to around 68 nautical miles.
The "Wilson" duo had dodged an approaching storm to the north like their pursuers on "Jangada" and "Whiskey Jack", but are now sailing a south-easterly course back to Valparaiso. Lisa Berger reported to YACHT online this morning directly from the Southern Ocean, saying: "Fortunately, nothing was broken and Jade was able to moor the D3 again. So everything is fine again and 'Wilson' is sailing as usual."
South Pacific test: stormy winds, aggressive waves
The crews have survived the worst effects of the storm that swept over the Globe40 fleet. Lisa Berger said early on Tuesday morning: "The weather has calmed down in the last few hours. The front has passed us and the wind has shifted to the west. We've gybed and are now heading south-east again."
It looks like champagne sailing for the next few days, with only the occasional minor low." Lisa Berger
The Austrian "Wilson" skipper continued: "According to the routing, we will even arrive in Valparaiso in 14 days. In any case, we're glad that we decided to pass the last low further north. The waves were really unpleasant and sometimes aggressive. We had up to 46 knots of wind."
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink would love to be part of this power play in the Southern Ocean. Instead, they are making the best of their situation after the shattered dream of a complete circumnavigation, are working intensively at their own shipyard in Hamburg and will be active at boot in Düsseldorf this weekend with their own stand (15 G4) in Hall 15 near the stage in the Sailing Centre.
Globe40 duo Burke and Fink at the boot in Düsseldorf
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink will be joined at boot by Mini-Transat candidate Tom Wehde, who wants to compete in the big race for the small boats in 2027. Together, Burke and Fink will be guests on the Sailing Centre stage on the opening weekend of boot on Saturday (4.30 to 5 p.m.) and Burke once again on the closing weekend on Sunday (3 to 3.30 p.m.). Tom Wehde will be giving insights into his mini-campaign on 18 January (11.15 to 11.30 a.m.) and 25 January (4.30 to 4.45 p.m.). Click here for the boot programme from 17 to 25 January.
