The 2018 Golden Globe Race was an around-the-world

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

race founded by Australian adventurer and circumnavigator, Don McIntyre. The race started on 1 July 2018 from

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside resort and port on the Atlantic coast of western France. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loi ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as the second edition and 50th anniversary celebration of the original ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race. It featured yachts similar to those used at that time. Except for safety equipment, no modern technology was allowed.

Retro sailing

Entrants are limited to sailing similar yachts and equipment to what was available to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the winner of the original race in 1968–69. That means sailing without the use of modern technology such as satellite-based navigation aids. Safety equipment such as

EPIRB An emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB) is a type of emergency locator beacon for commercial and recreational boats; it is a portable, battery-powered radio transmitter used in emergencies to locate boaters in distress and in nee ...

s and AIS are carried, however the competitors are only allowed to use the technology in an emergency. Competitors could apply to have their class of boat approved, providing it was in accordance with the following rules: * Of fibre reinforced plastic construction. * Designed prior to 1988 and have a minimum series of 20 yachts built from one mould. * Have a hull length of between . Bowsprits, wind vanes and outboard rudders, boomkins, pushpits and pulpits are not measured. * Have full-length keels with rudders attached to the trailing edge. * A minimum design displacement of Twenty-two boats were approved, with one exception to the rules made for a wood-epoxy ''Suhaili'' replica (the ''Suhaili'' being the yacht that Knox-Johnston sailed in 1968).

Route

The race started on 1 July 2018 in

and led around the world eastward, leaving

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...

and

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

. There were several "film gates" along the route, where the skippers could be interviewed as they sailed past without stopping and where they passed over films and letters.

Entrants

18 entrants from 13 different countries entered the race. Of those, six chose the class-compliant but relatively modern Rustler 36. A further 17 had expressed interest but never started. ''* Adjusted for displacement per Dave Gerr's formula''

The race

The race started at 10:00 GMT on 1 July 2018, with the competitors passing a rolling gate between the ''Suhaili'' and the ''Joshua'', two yachts that competed in the 1968 race. Sir

Robin Knox-Johnston Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston CBE RD* (born 17 March 1939) is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won in 1994 the s ...

, who sailed on the ''Suhaili'' and won that race, fired the starting cannon. Of the 18 entrants, Francesco Cappelletti did not start the race and officially withdrew on 5 July. He plans to sail around the world independently and the race organisers are tracking his progress. Ertan Beskardes retired on 5 July, after deciding that being unable to communicate with his family removed the enjoyment from the race. Kevin Farebrother retired on 15 July at the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

mark, after becoming disillusioned by solo sailing and lack of sleep. Two days later, Nabil Amra retired at the same area on 17 July due to broken windvane gear. Antoine Cousot stopped at the Canary islands to repair his windvane gear, demoting him to the 'Chichester' class (one stop). Istvan Kopar put in to the Cape Verde islands on 23 July, planning to replace his windvane, but in the event proceeded without assistance. Antoine Cousot retired at the end of August due to a broken windvane and injuries. Philippe Péché made one stop ('Chichester' class) on 11 August following the failure of his tiller, but retired from the race two weeks later on 25 August. Are Wiig was dismasted on 17 August 400 nautical miles off Cape Town.

Abhilash Tomy Commander Abhilash Tomy, Kirti Chakra, KC, Nausena Medal, NM (Retd) is a retired Indian Navy officer, naval aviator and yachtsman. In 2013, he became the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world under sail. He als ...

was dismasted and injured on 22 September. Gregor McGuckin elected to abandon his boat after being dismasted and was rescued with Abhilash. On 5 December 2018, Susie Goodall's boat was pitch-poled (flipped end-over-end), dismasted, and swamped during a storm while in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

around west of

. She was rescued by the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

''Tian Fu'' on 7 December.

Golden Globe Race 2022

The 2022 edition of the Golden Globe Race started on 4 September 2022 from

in France. Like in 2018, the solo-sailors gathered for the SITraN Prologue, starting 14 August 2022, before sailing to Les Sables-d'Olonne for the GGR Race Village.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Golden Globe Race The ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed sailing, single-handed, circumnavigation, round-the-world yacht racing, yacht race, held in 1968–1969, and was the first non-stop round-the-world yacht race. The race was co ...

Golden Globe Race