Ocean Globe Race: Ebru Yaral ahead of the final leg - "Incredibly intense time"
Kristina Müller
· 27.03.2024
YACHT: Ebru, as we speak, you are in Uruguay, in the last harbour of this crewed race around the world. You are sailing without modern communication and navigation - even mobile phones are taboo. When you were allowed to switch yours back on after this leg around Cape Horn, how many messages were waiting for you?
Ebru YaralOh, many! Especially from the family. My mum always wants to know straight away if I'm okay. At first, people around me didn't know much about this regatta. Now the family is completely infected by it. My mum in particular is constantly looking at the tracker.
However, there is no way to communicate with home while travelling.
Exactly. But there is a WhatsApp group for "Supporters and Family" of my crew. A lot happens there when we're at sea. It's really funny to read everything that's written there later.
More about Ebru Yaral and the Ocean Globe Race
How does it feel now that the race is almost over?
The time went by so incredibly quickly! At first we all thought: "That's crazy, that's seven or eight months, it's going to take so long." The shore leave in particular went by so quickly. But my crew never had much time there either, because we usually arrived later than the others (laughs).
And the time at sea?
There are days when I think: "Wow, I've been travelling for 21 days already!" And there are days when I just want to get there.
What was - or is - the bigger highlight; the stage stops or the weeks of sailing in between?
That's difficult to say! Both are part of this race. But I didn't realise beforehand that the shore leave with the other crews could be so intense and great. That's why I really enjoy it. But of course we all came here to sail and not necessarily to party. In my crew, however, we sometimes joke that we can finally relax at sea again from going ashore. I actually look forward to it every time we're back at sea.
I hadn't realised beforehand that the shore leave with the other crews could be so intense and great.
How can we imagine the stopovers? What happens there and what is the atmosphere like?
Here in Punta del Este, the boats are moored next to each other, which is great. Everyone works on them during the day, repairing, cleaning, replacing, maintaining. Just what you have to do when you've been at sea for a long time and want to be again. In the evening, we eat together and have a beer or two. We also did a lot with the well-known sailors from the crew of Marie Tabarly or the "Maiden". Spending as much time as possible in a stopover harbour was always an incentive to somehow get there as quickly as possible.
Nevertheless, your crew often sailed behind the field. You had problems at the start of the leg from South Africa to New Zealand and had to turn round and restart for a repair. How did you fare on the leg around Cape Horn, from New Zealand to Uruguay?
Fortunately, almost everything went well this time. However, both of our shavings trees broke.
How did you experience Cape Horn?
I was really looking forward to it. That's why we came here! It was always a dream in the back of my mind. The whole crew was excited to see if we would arrive by day. But on the morning of the day we were supposed to round Cape Horn, a shackle at the top of the forestay furler broke. So we first had to have a little repair session. After all, we virtually rounded Cape Horn in the middle of the night and saw nothing except the flashing lighthouse. That was a bit disappointing for everyone.
But you had contact with the lighthouse keeper ...
... exactly! He congratulated us and even knew our skipper, Jeremy Bagshaw. He had already sailed past there once during the Golden Globe Race eleven months ago.
The southern Pacific was cold and wet, but compared to expectations it was actually quite nice.
Many yachts had a lot of wind and waves, did you?
You hear so much in advance about sailing in the southern Pacific - that it's so wild and wet, that there are such extreme waves and storms. Yes, it was cold and wet, but compared to expectations it was actually quite nice. Unfortunately, we got stuck in an area of high pressure for a long time after the start in New Zealand. It was only after a while that we finally got some wind from astern, 30 knots, so we had a nice surf. It was really, really great Pacific sailing weather. We also cracked the top speed there at 16.4 knots. Off Cape Horn itself we only had ten knots of wind, totally calm seas and there was nothing going on at all. But, as I said, it was unfortunately night and dark.
Did you realise what was happening around you during this stage? For example, you were overtaken by the Ultim trimarans.
I was responsible for the radio again - so yes! There were four radio calls a day, including one in which many French sailors took part. They are incredibly well networked and have very good contacts to many amateur radio stations all over the world. That's why we always knew exactly where the Ultim-Tris were. Charles Caudrelier on "Gitana" actually radioed us.
Why?
He wanted to tell us not to worry, that we weren't sailing on a collision course and that he would overtake us. It was at night and we only saw his lights. He then passed us super-fast at 35 knots on his Megading.
After Cape Horn, one of the leading crews reported water ingress and had to call at the Falkland Islands. Did you hear about that?
Yes, the whole fleet receives a message from the race organisers in such a case. But we didn't know anything specific, only that the crew had noticed damage to the hull.
Are you already looking forward to arriving?
Yes, I'm really looking forward to seeing my family, friends and home. I'm a bit homesick now that we're almost all the way round.
Do you already have new sailing plans for the time after the Ocean Globe Race?
Nothing concrete. I'll probably return to my small team on Fehmarn and sail on a Sun Fast 3200 like before. We sail club races, for example. That's very relaxed compared to what I'm doing here. But I don't have a big new sailing plan yet and will have to get back to work first.
I can really recommend it to everyone. It's an incredibly great experience.
You still have a good 6,500 nautical miles to go. Can you already draw a conclusion? Would you do it again?
Definitely. I can really recommend it to everyone. It's an incredibly great experience. When I told my friends and acquaintances before the race that I was going to sail this regatta, they looked at me with wide eyes and said: "My God, you're so brave!" But I really wanted to do it. When you then meet 200 people who think exactly the same, it's really nice because it's a confirmation of what you feel and what you think you're doing right.
About the Ocean Globe Race:
The Retro race around the world is taking place this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race. On 10 September 2023, 14 crews set off from Southampton on the 27,000-mile voyage, which is divided into four stages and leads around the three major capes.
