Things are off to a good start for Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink on their first circumnavigation! The youngest of the eight double-handed crews had already impressively demonstrated their potential with the Pogo 40 S4 in the prologue from Lorient to Cádiz with second place. Now the first leg from Cádiz over around 1500 nautical miles to Mindelo on the Cape Verde Islands began last Sunday. Two days later, Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink have been leading the field since Monday evening.
Globe40: strong start to the stage for Burke/Fink
"We had a great start! It was really exhausting, really hot, lots of sail changes, but we did our best to position ourselves right at the front. That worked out well. It was a great start to the first leg of the Globe40 for us," said Lennart Burke on this Tuesday morning, looking back.
It didn't take long for Burke and Fink to take the hoped-for lead on this designated downwind race course. Even before the second night at sea, they had managed to overtake the race favourites Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentiert, who had been in the lead again in the meantime. In a personal preview for YACHT online before the start, Lennart Burke explained why success on this first of six legs in the Globe40 is the goal.
The fact that Lipinski and Carpentier had made a big blunder at the start was quickly made up for by the French. Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink noticed the "Crédit Mutuel" blunder straight away. Burke remembers it well: "We saw the mistake as soon as he stopped. We were chasing him once because we wanted to get away from the Belgian, but then we backed off again to take the tonne. Somehow Ian didn't hold back and rode to the next buoy."
The first 24 hours: "pure shooting"
The German duo soon realised that this would not hold them back for long. Burke recalls: "That was pretty unfortunate for him, but he came back as quickly as he left. He didn't let anything get to him."
According to Burke, the first 24 hours of the race were "pure blasting". "We always had ten knots more than forecast. We had the centre kite up and steered the whole time. It was very, very, very exhausting, but it paid off. Now we're in the lead for the time being," Burke noted on Tuesday morning.
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink had already started stage one full of anticipation in view of the downwind qualities of their boat, which were so impressively demonstrated in the prologue. Lennart Burke had said: "We are looking forward to a lot of downwind sailing. I am convinced that our boat will be the fastest. We're really up for it and want to attack at the front!" No sooner said than done.
Trio of favourites form their own league at Globe40
Shortly before the Canary Islands, Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink continue to lead the field. On the morning of 16 September, after the second night at sea, the dynamic duo from Hamburg held a lead of eight nautical miles over the interim leaders Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier on "Crédit Mutuel". At this point, Burke and Fink had built up a lead of around 16 nautical miles over the third favourites: Jonas Gerckens with Djemila Tassin from Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium.
The fourth-placed "Barco Brasil" with José Guilherme Caldas and Luiz Bolina was already around 75 nautical miles behind Burke/Fink. Behind the fifth-placed French "Free Dom", the Austrian Lisa Berger and her co-skipper Jade Edwards-Leaney on "Wilson Around the World" held sixth place, a good 150 nautical miles behind the German leaders.
Once again, the three shows from France, Germany and Belgium from the pens of Raison, Verdier and Lombard form a league of their own in the Globe40 - as long as nothing unforeseen happens. Click here for the tracker for the Globe40. The fleet approached the Canary Islands at midday on Tuesday.
Canary Islands bottleneck: What is Lipinski doing?
The next milestone will be the Canary Islands. Let's see how we get through there. And how Ian gets through. He stopped a little earlier than us, which could make the whole thing exciting again. I think we'll reach the Canary Islands next night," said Lennart Burke.
The Canary Islands will be tricky. There are a lot of long and large slipstreams there too." Lennart Burke
The winds are then expected to decrease in the direction of Cape Verde. Burke's forecast: "We'll be travelling through a pretty weak wind area. Possibly with a few lulls if things go badly."
It's definitely going to be a pot shot." Lennart Burke
Burke's forecast for the third third of the first stage in Globe40 is therefore cautious: "Let's see whether we can continue to extend our gap, whether we can maintain it or whether Ian will actually blow past us with a breath of fresh air. It's all open, nothing is settled yet. We're definitely enjoying the lead at the moment, but we know that everything can change again. So stay awake, keep sailing with concentration and stay focussed on the finish."
No material problems with Burke and Fink
On the material front, the Next Generation Boating Around The World team has no complaints. "Only the bucket buckled, Melwin got too heavy," said Lennart Burke with a grin. But the bucket has already been bent again and they have three buckets on board anyway. "It's a very good feeling that nothing is broken because the windiest phase is now over," said Burke.
The 26-year-old Burke and 23-year-old Fink have always agreed on strategy and tactics. "For now, the strategy was to go full throttle and steer, steer, steer. And make the boat fast to the best of our knowledge and belief. The person steering can then also make the announcements about how he would like the sail configuration to be. They also have to adapt it a little to their steering behaviour and feel for the wave."
The navigation so far had been quite clear: First to Madeira, then jibe towards Tenerife. "Then we'll see how the wind behaves," says Burke about the upcoming challenges, "either between Tenerife and Gran Canaria or between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. And it remains to be seen whether Ian will pass between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura or, like us, because I don't think we'll get that high between Tenerife and Gran Canaria."
Globe40: Mindelo stage finale at the weekend
The Class40 crews are expected to arrive in Mindelo at the weekend. They will then have just under two weeks there before the next start on 2 October. The second leg will be the first major endurance test and will take them to La Réunion in the Indian Ocean for around a month.
