Globe40: The 10-minute podium thriller - Burke and Fink with a silver coup
The final of the second stage of the Globe40 was so exciting that the organisers also reacted. The tracker served up minute-by-minute updates in the final battle before Saint-Paul on Le Réunion. Fans in Belgium, France, Germany and elsewhere in the world held their breath. After a month at sea, Globe40 completed a spectacular three-way battle off La Réunion this Saturday. Click here for the Globe40 tracker.
Globe40: Three-way battle to the finish
The French team Crédit Mutuel with Ian Lipinski and Ocean Race Europe winner Amélie Grassi had still led the classification at around 6 o'clock in the morning, ahead of Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium with Benoît Hantzperg and Renaud Dehareng. Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink from Team Next Generation Boating Around the World followed twelve nautical miles behind.
At 10 o'clock, the Belgians had snatched the lead from the French and Burke/Fink had almost caught up with the top two boats, initially still travelling at high speed. At 11.30 Burke/Fink were in second place for the first time. Then all three crews had to contend with the very light winds. And it actually came to the day before by Ian Lipinski predicted "Penalty shoot-out".
They had already formed up in the battle for the podium places: The Belgians sought their luck closer to land, Burke and Fink had positioned themselves between their two opponents, the French tried their luck on the western outer lane, where they even went further out towards midday. While the German double stayed true to their line in the final flat position poker, it was the Belgians who got a fresh breeze first and were rewarded for their decision.
Three finishes within ten minutes
After a month at sea, only minutes ultimately decided the victory and the podium places. Seven and a half minutes after the Belgian winners, 27-year-old Lennart Burke and his 23-year-old co-skipper Melwin Fink crossed the finish line in second place as the youngest crew in the Globe40. The German duo won the duel with the experienced Frenchmen Ian Lipinski and Amélie Grassi. A lead of just under two minutes was enough for the Next Generation Boating Around the World team to take silver!
We have made it! Second place! This is so incredible... after so many nautical miles and so many ups and downs." Lennart Burke
It took Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink 29 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes and 26 seconds to complete the course from Mindelo on Cape Verde to Saint-Paul on La Réunion. They were in third place for 27.5 days. After a promising start on 2 October, the youngest crew in the race had piled up a huge gap of 660 nautical miles on the Belgians and French, who were gaining on them, by 17 October as they dived into the southern hemisphere and stumbled at the equator.
Then came the comeback. But it was only on the final day that Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink were able to move up to second place again for the first time since 3 October. They defended this position on Saturday against the fiercely attacking French team right to the finish. "They were three or four boat lengths behind us. We could see their faces," said Melwin Fink later in the harbour.
Boris Herrmann feverishly followed the Globe40 stage final
Boris Herrmann also watched the thrilling final on screen. The six-time circumnavigator had also started his career with a double-handed race around the world. Herrmann won the Portimão Global Race in 2008/2009 with co-skipper and friend Felix Oehme. Herrmann had spurred Burke and Fink on their course. "Boris gave us the important impetus. And the arse-kicking," Burke had said before the start of Globe40. Boris Herrmann said of the final on 1 November: "That was mega exciting - top!"
This is good sport and I'm very happy for Lennart and Melwin." Boris Herrmann
The stage results bring new excitement to the Globe40 classification after the French had previously won the prologue from Lorient to Cadiz (classification factor: 0.5) as well as the first stage from Cadiz to Cape Verde (classification factor: 1). Burke and Fink had achieved a second and a third place, the Belgians - the other way round - a third and a second place. Their victory on the now heavily weighted, triple-rated 7000 nautical mile leg from Mindelo to La Réunion catapulted the Belgians to the top of the Globe40 intermediate classification with a total of 6.5 points.
Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink have moved up to second place in the Globe40 classification as stage runners-up with a total of ten points. The previous dominators from Team Crédit Mutuel had to take a big hit. Third place on stage two added another nine points to their previously unblemished Globe40 account. With a total of 10.5 points, the French team will start the next stage from third position. "That pleases many. It's like a new start," said Melwin Fink at the finish harbour in Saint-Paul.
The Globe40 goal remains: to get around the world in one piece
The third of six legs around the world starts on 21 November. It will take the eight double-handed crews on their Class40 racing yachts to Sydney. "Our biggest goal is still to make it around the world and finish the race in one piece. That would be a big achievement, considering that we started in April and somehow didn't have any money," said Melwin Fink.
Basic funding has now been secured. "We have just under half a million euros for the race," said Melwin Fink. However, the young German crew also knows that the two top opponents from France and Belgium "probably have budgets around the same size. "They also each have two preparers who look after the boats," says Fink.
In the German team, the two co-skippers look after their boat themselves on La Réunion, but have hardly any material damage to repair. "We'll have to see if we can afford to have a team come to Sydney. That depends on how much we break and whether we can find another sponsor. That's not out of the question. We're still working on it and we still have some black space in the mainsail looking at us..."
