The fifth leg of the Globe40 was a Cape Horn stage in two oceans, full of difficulties. Her challengers had to parry difficult meteorological conditions, especially in the second half of the race. The stage winners Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier had already reached the finish last Sunday and, with their stage win, ensured a tie with Team Belgium before the final stage. Now the decisions have also been made for the front runners.
Globe40: "Wilson" wins the duel against "Whiskey Jack"
Behind the two dominant scow bow boats, the crews on the pointed bow boats battled it out for the best places and the best starting positions for the final leg of the Globe40 to the start and finish harbour of Lorient. The third podium place for leg five was secured by Thibault Lefévère and Maxime Bourcier on "Free Dom" just two and a half days after the leg winners. However, the most exciting duel behind them was for fourth place.
With one of their best performances, the "Wilson" mixed Lisa Berger and Jade Edwards-Leaney prevailed against Melodie Schaffer and Paul Stratfold on "Whiskey Jack". After 27 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes and 57 seconds at sea, the Austrian and her Welsh co-skipper finished 41 minutes and 44 seconds ahead for their second fourth place in a row. Their upward trend continues.
The narrowly beaten Canadian and her co-skipper, on the other hand, were a little disappointed at the finish despite a well-contested leg, even though they congratulated their conquerors fairly and were delighted to arrive in the final Globe40 leg harbour of Recife. "It's nice to be here. It would also have been nice to arrive two hours earlier," admitted Paul Stratfold.
Caipirinhas for stage success at Globe40
The Canadian-British team on "Whiskey Jack" suffered a painful loss of place in the stage finale on the final day after almost a month at sea. Wilson" had come by and had did not relinquish the lead they had taken. This enabled the "Wilson" crew to secure fifth place, the Ocean striker Lisa Berger and her partner Jade Edwards-Leaney on their first Cape Horn passage position by one position.
"It's hot! And the caipirinhas are very good!" said Lisa Berger in the first interview shortly after arriving in Recife, Brazil laughing. Co-skipper Jade Edwards-Leaney said he was almost surprised to hear that the leg had taken almost a month. "For us, one day flowed into the next. It was like being in a tunnel," reported the Welshman.
Commenting on the varied course of the leg - from the start in Chile via Cape Horn to the chase in the South Atlantic - and the close battles for position, Lisa Berger said: "We experienced all the conditions. Right after the start we had really brutal upwind conditions, especially because of the waves. That was painful for us and the boat."
I was ready to give up sailing in those first three days." Jade Edwards-Leaney
"There were moments when you ask yourself why you're doing this - why?" mused Lisa Berger. She sees the good strategy and profitable positioning of her crew in the further course of the race as an important factor for the strongly fought stage success under the Austrian flag. Her conclusion: "We were very poor in the strong winds at the beginning, but were then able to make up a few places."
The highlight was Cape Horn." Lisa Berger
The highlight of the fifth leg, which is now coming to an end, was the Cape Horn Passage for all Globe40 sailors. "Cape Horn was incredible. It was so cool that we were so close that we could see the mountains and the glaciers. We knew that Cape Horn would appear in the haze any minute. To see it then and have the whole day to experience it and enjoy it... Then there were hundreds, thousands of albatrosses. Cape Horn is like a service station for albatrosses," said Lisa Berger, describing her unforgettable summit attempt.
Jade Edwards-Leaney said of the Cape Horn experience: "It wasn't just the stage, it was a lifetime of preparation. You dream about it for ages. In the end, it's just a headland. And yet it represents so much." They came less than a mile from Cape Horn under spinnaker, the "Wilson" sailors reported with a lingering gleam in their eyes, having been very lucky with the weather.
The "reward" for this was a heavy one, as Lisa Berger recalls: "When we passed the Falkland Islands, we had up to 50 knots of wind. We had horrendous conditions."
The South Atlantic really is the toughest part of the whole race around the world." Lisa Berger
Before the final leg to Lorient, the two "Wilson" sailors realised how far they had come in the meantime. "When you look at the photos on your mobile phone and then think about where you took them and look at the map, you recognise the lap. It's crazy!" said Jade Edwards-Leaney after the 5000 nautical miles of the fifth leg, explaining the accomplished feeling of a circumnavigator.
Globe40 thriller ahead: the final battle for the crown
The starting shot for the big Globe40 final will be fired off Recife on 29 March. The sixth and final leg will decide the placings in the double-handed circumnavigation for Class40 duos. Team Crédit Mutuel and Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium will go head to head for the crown. Both will go into the 4290 nautical mile decision with 19 points in their accounts. The final sprint will keep sailors and fans on the edge of their seats for around 20 days.
Behind the two front runners, the top bow boats have also formed up for this final and will be fighting their own race in the race. Exciting decisions lie ahead, as a look at the overall standings reveals. The official interim results will only be updated after all the boats have crossed the finish line, but it is already clear: the leaders from France and Belgium will start the final bow to bow - whoever reaches the finish line before Lorient and is ahead of their opponent will win the second Globe40 edition.
The comeback of Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink will also be exciting to watch. After missing a total of three legs due to mast damage, their team Next Generation Boating Around the World may no longer be in contention for the podium, but they can once again show what they and their scow-bug boat are capable of.
The race within the race: Who will take the bowboat crown?
The probable situation in the pointed bow boats provides further excitement: after the Globe40 prologue and five of six legs, the boat that was badly shaken on leg five with broken bow fuel and Barco Brasil", which only arrived in Racife today still lead with 49 points. Lisa Berger's Wilson Round the World team (54 points) and the French "Free Dom" (58 points) will be on the attack.
In view of the double scoring for the final leg, all three teams still have varying chances of finishing third on the podium behind "Crédit Mutuel" and Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium, depending on how they finish. So there is a lot to win and also something to lose in the final Globe40 battle, which begins on 29 March and will end in the offshore sailing cradle La Base in mid-April.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
