When the waves roll in wildly from all directions in the Indian Ocean, Christian Sauer does what the professionals do on their Imocas: he wears a helmet on board his "Argo". Not because of the speed - the eleven remaining participants in the Mini Globe Race 2025 are sailing at a leisurely five knots. That corresponds to a distance of 120 nautical miles.
The third stage is a rollercoaster ride because of the boats themselves. They are just 5.80 metres long. In unpredictable cross seas and persistent squalls, the small yachts are tossed around like nutshells.
Sauer: "The waves came from all directions"
Shortly after the Cocos Islands, the third stopover of the current leg from Fiji to Cape Town, it was particularly challenging, says Christian Sauer. "There were a lot of squalls, very gusty. The waves came from all directions. I was thrown around quite a bit", he says in a Facebook post. After that, the weather improved, although the sea was still quite choppy.
Overall, however, he is in good spirits, he says in an interview with YACHT. Time is flying by. "I'm coping well with the weather. I feel safe on the boat and always work when manoeuvres have to be made."
He keeps battling with the Irishman Jakub Ziemkiewicz ("Bibi", construction number 185) for the top spot, he explains. "But in the end, I just couldn't get close to him." It will only be possible to say exactly where he is at the end of the stage when all the sections have been added up. What is already certain is that the Swiss Renaud Stitelmann with his "Capucinette" (construction number 28) continues to lead the group.
Mini Globe Race stops in Rodrigues Island
In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, Christian Sauer finally reached Rodrigues Island, his next stopover. He will spend a few days there before sailing on to Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Sauer has now completed around 7,000 nautical miles of the total 10,000 nautical miles of the third leg.
More about the Mini Globe Race:
The Indian Ocean is considered to be particularly challenging - complex currents, strong winds, large unprotected distances. The participants are expected to reach Cape Town in December. A difficult section still awaits them until then, says Christian Sauer.
We are still sailing in the trade winds, but that will change from Mauritius onwards. Then we will probably feel more of the influence of the Southern Ocean.
Christian Sauer is not afraid of it, he says, but has enormous respect - fuelled by stories from his family. His father once sailed around the world in a self-built boat and experienced a severe storm near the rounding of the Cape, which is still talked about in the family today. These stories reinforce Sauer's respect for the ocean, but they do not deter him from continuing his journey around the world.
Christian Sauer's previous stages in the Mini Globe Race 2025:
More about the Mini Globe Race
The Mini Globe Race is the first of its kind: the first race around the world for the world's smallest standardised class.
- The barefoot route takes you around the world in a total of four stages with numerous stops along the way. The start in Antigua was the 23 February 2025.
- The participants sail on boats from the Class Globe 5.80 - a 5.80 metre long, self-built small cruiser made of plywood and coated with fibreglass and epoxy. Read more here.
- The inventor of the boats and the race is the Australian circumnavigator Don McIntyre. In addition to the Mini Globe Race, he also created the Golden Globe and Ocean Globe Race. You can find an interview here.
- More information about the Mini Globe Race here.
![[[Image]]Source: minigloberace.com](https://media.delius-klasing.de/dk-wassersport/images/dpr_auto,fl_progressive,f_auto,c_fill,g_face:auto,w_768/q_auto:eco/yacht/quelle-minigloberace-com_282a5dd62f57757ff4d8b3398f7988af/-image-source-minigloberace-com "[[Image]]Source: minigloberace.com")
