Globe40: The penultimate stage is underway - Lipinski determined, Berger struggles

4,860 nautical miles lay ahead of the Globe40 crews at the start on 18 February on the course from Valparaiso to Recife. The most important milestone of the fifth and penultimate leg is the legendary Cape Horn, the last of the three great capes - Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn - on the course of circumnavigations from west to east. The course takes the seven Class40 two-handed crews first down the Pacific to the south, past Cape Horn and back up the South Atlantic to the Brazilian stopover harbour.

The Globe40 top duel continues

The leg is one of the most complex in the Globe40. With a coefficient of 2, a breathless top duel between the overall leader Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium and the French team Crédit Mutuel is once again to be expected. Details of the Belgians' narrow two-point lead and the other interim results can be found at in our preliminary report here.

Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier must and want to make up their two-point deficit in order to create an equal starting position in the battle for the Globe40 victory for the showdown from Recife to Lorient - also with double points. It will be particularly exciting to see how the re-entry of Lennart Burke and Melwin Finkl will affect the top duel on the final leg.

With no chance of a podium finish of their own, Team Next Generation Boating could well play a decisive role in the duel for victory. Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink had been on a par with the Belgians and French until their retirement on leg three. The young Germans had already beaten both leading boats on the three sections of the course that they were able to finish.

Globe40: Cape Horn is coming!

But first, after the prologue and four legs, the seven remaining duos are now aiming for a successful Cape Horn summit assault in this regatta around the world and the best possible placing in Recife. Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier started their catch-up mission off Valparaiso on Wednesday with obvious determination. After the first two nights, the French had built up a lead of a good 20 nautical miles over the Belgians on 20 February. That is a small cushion in the scow-bow duel, which has often been fought bow to bow.

The French "Free Dom" is also back among the leading boats after its Sydney repair loop on leg four and the very late, but nevertheless timely arrival before the start of the fifth leg. The boats in the Overall ranking due to the setback to fifth place and in the special classification of the pointed bow boats The French, who have fallen back to third place, want to move up again. Before the weekend, they were around 50 nautical miles behind "Crédit Mutuel" in third place in the current leg.

Lisa Berger and Jade Edwards-Leaney were not entirely lucky at the start. Initially confronted with winds of up to 30 knots like the rest of the fleet, they were caught in the doldrums in a very variable wind range of 5 to 25 knots. Although the actual start went well, the Austrian and the Welshman were only able to leave the bay of Valparaiso as the last boat because they had been stuck in a flat field for too long. They are now fighting against the backlog as the last in the fleet. Here is Lisa Berger's commentary before the start of the race.

A stage with many challenges

Of the almost 5,000 nautical miles, 4680 remained for "Wilson Around the World" two days after the start on Friday. Lisa Berger and Jade Edwards-Leaney have positioned themselves on the outer flank of the fleet for their race to catch up. All boats will probably have to cross a difficult-to-calculate high-pressure ridge on their southbound course at the weekend, which could shake up the classification and offer opportunities to catch up.

Even after the Cape Horn Passage, the Globe40 circumnavigators will not have an easy programme: off the coasts of Argentina and Brazil, they can expect low-pressure systems from the Andes and extensive doldrums. Before they reach the south-easterly trade winds, the duos will have to contend with a constant stream of challenges.

It should still be a good week for the duos to reach Cape Horn. The passage is one of the most challenging in circumnavigations such as the Globe40. The region at the southern tip of Chile is characterised by strong winds, sometimes extreme swell and various currents. More precise weather forecasts for the passage of the Globe40 teams will be possible in the coming week. Click here for the current tracking.

Before the start of the fifth stage - mood and voices from Valparaiso: