On 16th June 2018, the Golden Globe Race will start from Falmouth, England. This race is intended to celebrate the first solo round the world voyage without assistance in 1968 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. In that famous year 1968, 9 sailors set off on the course and only one finished the race.
This race - but should we not call it an adventure - had created the legend. Thus Bernard Moitessier on Joshua, who had every chance of finishing in the lead, decided not to cross the finish line and to extend his round-the-world trip by... another round-the-world trip! Donald Crowhurst ended up committing suicide on his boat. Others abandoned or even sank. Only Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on Suhaili, a 32-foot long keel ketch finished the course and reached Falmouth on June 16th.
Don Mclntyre, an Australian wanted to recreate this mythical challenge. In order to get back to the conditions approaching those of the sailors of the time, the rules required competitors to sail on 32 to 36 foot (9.75 - 10.97 m) boats over 6.2 tonnes designed before 1988, and having a long keel with a rudder attached to it. In addition, they will have to sail with the equipment of the time, without modern technology, nor benefit from satellite navigation aids. No more GPS, now it's time for the sextant! No autopilot but a simple windvane gear! `No telephone but a simple SSB radio!
While the Vendée Globe was completed in less than 80 days by the frontrunners, in the Golden Globe Race, the competitors are likely to take more than 300 days, 8 to 9 months of racing..
The rules of the race are intended to be as close as possible to those of the original race organised by the Sunday Time: "One sailor, one boat facing the great oceans of the world". It is therefore a single-handed race, non-stop, without assistance and without routing. Even contact with a satellite phone is only allowed with the organization (no contact with the family).
The following are not allowed: GPS, radar, AIS, electronic chart reader and charts, electronic instruments for measuring wind or boat speed, autopilot, mobile phone, electronic reading light, computer, CD or mp3 player, electronic watch, video camera, electronic calculator, watermaker..
Reading this list, it is easy to understand that the sailor will be alone on board, that he will have to take his point on the sextant, maintain his course at dead reckoning, collect rainwater..
The maximum number of participants is limited to 30. But there will be 19 on Sunday, July 1, 2018 to take the start. These people come from all walks of life, pro skippers or yachtsmen. One woman (a 27-year-old English woman) is among the starters. While there are four French sailors, the others come from Australia, Brazil, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The average age is 48. The youngest participants are 27 years old. The oldest is a well-known French sailor of 71 years old.
Indeed, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the maths teacher, who made his mark in the Vendée Globe by finishing second, and who has already completed five round the world voyages, including one upwind against the wind, has decided to set sail again.
A race that we will be following from a distance, as it is much less mediatised than the Vendée Globe. Indeed, although the skippers will have a tracking beacon on board which will give the position of the boat (shown on the race site), they will only be able to send messages of 100 characters pre-recorded in the beacons (like "All is well on board"). Nothing more..
