• American Istvan Kopar sets out on transatlantic crossing; 5 more yachts launched and 4 more are imminent.
• Entries: 19 sailors from 13 countries – France 4, Britain 3, Australia 2, and one each from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, India, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Russia and USA
• Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of sail celebrations take shape. Lively Lady team confirm participation. Cruising Association flotillas plan to escort Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Suhaili into Falmouth and Les Sables d’Olonne
• Media opportunities to interview Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and join GGR skippers for the SITraN Challenge Race from Falmouth to Les Sables d’Olonne

Dateline May 2 2018 – Les Sables d’Olonne, France

Skipper updates

With just 2 months to the start of the Golden Globe Race from Les Sables d’Olonne on July 1st, skippers are working feverishly to complete their preparations ready to take part in the Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of Sail celebrations between 11-14th June. French skippers Antoine Cousot (Métier Intérim) and Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (Matmut) have just had their boats baptised and are now busy sailing; Ertan Beskardes (GBR) has reached Vigo with just the Bay of Biscay to cross before reaching Falmouth during his long solo delivery voyage from Sardinia; Istvan Kopar (USA/Hungary) set sail from Oyster Bay New York on April 29 at the start of his long transatlantic voyage to the start – visit; Australian Kevin Farebrother now has his Tradewind 35 Sagarmatha sailing out of Les Sables d’Olonne and was joined last week by Philippe Péché (FRA) after making a 2-day solo passage to test his wind vane self steering system.

Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of Sail June 11 – 14

Plans are now well advanced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s departure from Falmouth at the start of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race back in 1968. Sir Robin, returning with his yacht Suhaili, will be joined by two other history-making yachts, Sir Francis Chichester’s Gipsy Moth IV and Sir Alec Rose’s Lively Lady and the 19-strong GGR fleet, which will be based at Falmouth Haven Marina from 11th-14th June. Visit www.falmouth.co.uk/falmouth-events/suhaili-falmouth

Lively Lady, in which Sir Alec completed a solo circumnavigation around the three great Capes with two stops back in 1968, is currently undergoing a complete refit near Portsmouth. “We’ve suffered some delays but are determined to join the Suhaili celebrations, even if the paint is still wet!” Says Alan Priddy who has led yacht’s restoration. Lively Lady will then return to Portsmouth to mark her own 50th anniversary of Sir Alec’s victorious return on 4th July.” Visit www.livelylady.org.

The 3-day Suhaili celebrations promise to be well supported with fleets of yachts from France, Netherlands and other parts of the UK joining this jamboree of sail. Included is a group of yachts representing the Cruising Association, for whom Sir Robin Knox-Johnston is Patron. “We are expecting around 30 yachts to gather at Plymouth Yacht Haven over the weekend 8th-10th June and some will then escort Suhaili and her crew on the final stage of her voyage to Falmouth on 11th June.” Says Trevor Taylor, the CA’s southwest area secretary. Visit www.theca.org.uk

The French branch of the Cruising Association are also planning to escort Suhaili and her crew into Les Sables d’Olonne on her arrival.

GGR Programme in Les Sables d’Olonne June 16 – July 1st

The GGR Race Village will open each day from 10:00am to 8:00pm and until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Visitors will discover the GGR yachts and skippers sailors on the Vendée Globe pontoons, and admire the historic solo yachts – Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Suhaili, Bernard Moitessier’s Joshua and Sir Francis Chichester’s Gipsy Moth IV, together with Eric Tabarly’s Pen Duick III.

There will be something for all ages: Learn to navigate with the stars and instruments of the past, attend conferences, interviews and demonstrations, participate in workshops and boat baptisms, and enjoy the conviviality of the Bar Guinguette during evening concerts.

The GGR Race Village will open each day from 10:00am to 8:00pm and until 02:00 on. Programme:

• June 23: 16:00pm – 19:00: Parade of Sail with the GGR sailors and 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays
• 23:00: fireworks on the small pier of Les Sables d’Olonne
• Start July 1st: 09.45am GGR yachts leave the marina 12:00 : Race Start – broadcast live on France 3 and L’ÉQUIPE TV. The broadcast is also free for other stations to air.

GGR Updates

The Race Office will open in Les Sables d’Olonne on May 7 and already, more than 100 volunteers have been enrolled to support the event.

The Race Village will open on Sunday June 16 with the conclusion of the SITRaN Challenge Race from Falmouth. The GGR fleet and historic yachts will remain on public display until the start on Sunday July 1.

The start timings have been revised. The GGR yachts will start leaving the dock at 09:45 and the Race will commence at Noon from a line marked by Suhaili at one end and Bernard Moitessier’s Joshua at the other. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston will fire the starting canon.

The Falklands Gate has been removed from the course on safety grounds. Don McIntyre, the Race Chairman explains: “After careful consideration, we have decided that changeable conditions could make it un-seamanlike to approach the coast at times. This could prove disadvantageous to some, and lead others to take unnecessary risks. The compulsory film drops off Marina Rubicon in the Canary Islands and Storm Bay, Tasmania remain.” *See revised course chart

Interview opportunity with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. The winner of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and first man to sail solo non-stop around the Globe will be available for one-to-one media interviews via telephone, Skype or in person at Gosport, UK on 15th and 17th May.

For further information contact Barry Pickthall, on +44 (0)7768 395719 or barry@goldengloberace.com

Media opportunities to accompany a GGR skipper on the SITRaN Challenge Race. There are a limited number of berths available for experienced sailing journalists or photographers to accompany some of the Golden Globe Race skippers on the 300 mile SITraN Challenge race from Falmouth to Les Sables d’Olonne, starting immediately after the Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade on 14th June. ETA in Les Sables is 16th June. Applications to Barry Pickthall, +44 (0)7768 395719 or barry@goldengloberace.com

CNN Mainsail to broadcast a preview programme the GGR

CNN MainSail looks back at the stories to come out from that first Golden Globe race back in 1968. Host Shirley Robertson meets the 1968 winner Sir Robin Knox Johnston, who explains how he and his boat Suhaili, which at 32 feet was one of the smallest in the race, survived the remarkable voyage. The race was the precursor to the current Vendée Globe, a 74-day sprint around the planet in cutting edge, high-end monohulls, but this year’s re-enactment of the Golden Globe is expected to take four times longer. In homage to the nine original entrants, the participants, including adventurers like firefighter Kevin Farebrother, who has mounted the summit of Everest three times, will depend on traditional skills of seamanship, paper charts, astro navigation, 30-year-old boats and the prospect of nearly a year alone at sea.

Robertson previews the race and catches up with some of those who will set off from Les Sables later this summer, to find out their hopes and fears, but above all, what has inspired them to take on such a grueling challenge.

• Thursday 10th May at 1030 BST and 1730 BST
• Saturday 12th May at 0730 BST and 1730 BST
• Sunday 13th May at 1730 BST
• Saturday 9th June at 1730 BST
• Sunday 10th June at 0730 BST and 2230 BST

Sponsorship opportunities

The GGR welcomes two new supporting sponsors, Plastimo and PPL Media, which join Les Sables d’Olonne Agglomération, Presenting sponsor McIntyre Adventure, official timekeeper RALF TECH watches and Hydrovane self steering.

Plastimo has worked closely with GGR organisers over the past 12 months to develop a smaller liferaft specifically for the Race that meets international safety standards. Sixteen of the GGR skippers have adopted it so far.

PPL Media is the official distributor of images during the Golden Globe Race. Other sponsors supporting individual entries include DHL Express, PRB, Matmut Insurance Group, Fugro, Altia and Métier Intérim

For a sponsorship pack, contact Barry Pickthall: barry@goldengloberace.com +44(0)7768 395719

Details of skippers and their yachts

• Click Here to view skipper profiles and pictures.
• Click Here to download the Boat Stats (xlsx).
• Click Here to download Skipper stats (xls).

Press Registration

To register for regular press updates on on the 2018 Golden Globe Race Click Here

Copyright free images of competitors and their yachts, and copyright reserved historic images of solo sailing pioneers and the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race are managed by PPL Photo Agency and available online to search/download in hi.res. To preview the images follow these links:

To view lightbox of copyright free Golden Globe Race images, Click Here

To view lightbox of copyright reserved historic solo sailing pioneers, Click Here

To access the high res images you must first register with PPL Media Click here

Please allow 24 hours for accreditation to be confirmed

For further information contact: Barry Pickthall – GGR Media Coordinator

barry@goldengloberace.com +44 (0)7768 395719

The post 2 months to Start – a frenzy of activity appeared first on Golden Globe Race.

INSPIRING SINCE 1968

With just weeks to the start, entrants face real challenges everyday pushing to the start line while new sailors continue to be inspired planning for the GGR 2022. Boats are now arriving for final sailing preparations.

The GGR has been inspiring sailors since 1968 and its all starting again. I see it in many places. The passionate commitment of our entrants is impacting followers around the Globe. Millions have been exposed to Abhilash Tomy in India. The numbers are staggering. His beautiful SUHAILI replica is on a ship headed to the UK. Mark Sinclair and Kevin Farebrother have both shipped their boats to Europe, at about Euro $40,000 each. Not much for some maybe? but a HUGE commitment on top of everything else to make your dream happen, like Kevin selling his house! Many of the back stories to the struggle of ordinary sailors getting to the start are yet to be told. I know some and they are inspiring, exciting, sad and unreal! The Human side of the GGR is about to hit home in a few weeks when we are all together in Falmouth as the GGR family. Yes a real family, as it is also that kind of Race, with a deep sense of a shared adventure about to happen. An adventure not without risk, but one that is achievable.

It will also be an incredible honour and privilege for us all, to relive the history of that day on June 14th with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. In some ways it will be surreal. Black and white history being relived present day in full colour, with passion. For me personally I will be forever grateful for Sir Robin’s friendship, support and advice over the past 36 years and his huge moral and actual support for the 2018 Golden Globe Race from the very beginning!
THANKS!

I like the Tag Sailing like it’s 1968 just as much as I like the new one Inspiring since 1968!

How much?

An important concept when conceiving the 2018 Golden Globe Race was to let any sailor, anywhere in the world, Race solo around the Globe in a grand adventure re-living history. All this without needing huge amounts of money. Some commentators suggest that this is now not the case. They say you will need huge amounts to enter the GGR in 2022, with existing entries having spent in excess of Euro$160,000 on refits after having spent considerable money buying an old boat! All this before entry fees and safety gear. I can confirm that is the case for some entrants, but it does not have to be.

A few entrants have high paying jobs earning considerable income or have secured sponsors. They are happy to pay multiple professional shipwrights to work on their yachts full time or engage specialists. If you are paying Euro$50 an hour for four guys at 40 hours a week that is nearly EURO$32,000 a month. To strip a hull and rebuild to new adds up to many months, plus a new Rig, brand name sails and Bingo you need money and lots of it!. If you have a dream and have friends to help, have time on your side and choose the right boat in sound condition, that only needs serious servicing and strengthening and are happy with high quality Lee sails from Hong Kong, you are in for less, a lot less! I have seen many examples of good GRR approved designs that could be bought and refitted for under Euro $75,000 or much less. This does not include all the Race Safety Gear. It may not be a Rustler 36, but they are capable boats! You need about a year off work to prepare, but remember you work to live, not live to work. Much more fun working on a boat!

So how much then for the EXTRA safety and GGR gear which any sensible solo circumnavigating would want to carry anyway. Life raft, survivor 06 hand desalinator , 3 EPIRBS, Two PLB’s, AIS beacon, AIS alarm, Radar Transponder-alarm, SART, 3 x YB3 satellite trackers and texting, serious First aid kit and 24 hour medical cover, 2 satellite phones, 2 x HH GPS, Solas Life jacket, GGR survival suit, HF SSB radio and tuner, four VHF marine/aviation/GMDSS radios, RDF, liability insurance and misc bits and a HYDROVANE wind vane, approx EURO$20,000! That’s it. This does not cover wet weather gear, and food etc, sextant and charts or travel and sailing time to get to the start, but hey! That is all personal stuff, sailing and part of the fun right.

Then there is the entry fee of approx. Euro $9500 and all Entrants need to attend at least one compulsory conference in France. Add some travelling cost and call it a holiday! Meeting up with all the other GGR family is stimulating, inspirational and great fun!

That’ it! $75,000 + $20,000 + $9500 , total EURO$104,500 ! Yes still a lot of money for some, but a whole lot of adventure as well! This is not even the cost of a mainsail for other around the world racing yachts. So it is all relative. The original goal of the Golden Globe Race is maintained for those who want it. When it’s all done, if you have not fallen in love with your perfectly awesome ocean voyaging home and love her forever, you can sell her and should recover about Euro$ 60,000, as is! Your life time adventure has cost about Euro $45,000 and two years or so of your life. It is up to you, but don’t ever say you cannot afford it. Maybe you just don’t want to do it! or do you? 2022 is just around the corner.

Last ones standing!

We are now 19 entrants just weeks out from the start and everyone is asking ..How many will cross the start line? Our latest retirement Carl Huber was trapped in the Time versus Money cycle and bitterly disappointed to be so close, yet unable to meet the final deadlines organisers impose on all entrants. It was sad to lose such a colourful and fun character from the GGR Family. WE have always maintained the principle of a quality fleet, well prepared, with experienced sailors over anything else. Our Notice of Race is now recognised by the French Maritime Administration as one of the best they have EVER seen in any sailing event. Yes, even after all the criticism we received from the FFV in France, they are completely satisfied with our safety and security arrangements and praised us for that.

The atmosphere in Les Sables d’Olonne amongst locals and veteran sailors is growing in pride every day. I sense a feeling of ownership on their part which is fantastic. They understand our budgets are tiny compared to the other major races. The number of volunteers lining up to help in the Race Village and office is amazing. We are grateful and happy to hear from more! WE have secured nearly 25 volunteer support and security boats for start day, that Maritime officials tell us will be bigger on the water than the Vendee Globe start. It is summer holidays!

So how many solo sailors will pass down the famous les Sables river with thousands of spectators cheering them on and out to the open ocean setting off on a nine-month adventure? I honestly have no idea, but what I can say when we conceived of the Race back in 2014, was a hope that we had at least 10 and absolute max of 20! We are doing OK. For the answer you will have to watch the live broadcast of the 1300hrs start on France 3 TV and Facebook 1st July. In a few weeks many will be asking How many will cross the finish line?
Watch this space.

YUM

Not exactly a French term, YUM lacks a sense of style and grace that always accompanies French food. The humble paper bag never looked so good as when wrapping a crusty baguette. Setting off around the world from France has some real advantages compared to the UK. When talking to Philippe Peche and Jean Luc VDH it is easy to see why. These two experienced sailors understand the importance of food during a long voyage like the GGR. There is only one company in France able to make and supply food to the space program. Jean luc has them supplying him lightweight tins of beef cheek, rabbit and other delicacies. He also has over 400 TV dinners from the supermarket. I am not talking American TV dinners, but the French version that look and are great! Normally microwaved yet easily boiled, he plans on two a day!. Philippe is bringing along a large number of Glass jars, the type you only find in French shops full of the best food, just like your mum used to make! Susie Goodall on the other hand managed to salvage 300 tins of lentils from the DHL London boat show GGR display and intends to eat every one on the way around. Nabil Amra bought a drying machine. Friends now invite him to dinner with extra servings to take home and dry! He has enough for about three months so far. Francesco Cappelietti, being a vegetarian is planning on taking at least four food magazines, crammed full of pictures of leafy green salads, ripe tomatoes and fresh fruit. It is going to be a long journey that is certain, but nothing like 216 tins of corned beef and 144 tins of stewing steak all topped off with 216 tins of condensed milk that was Sir Robin’s UK departure just 50 years ago!

Race Cancelled – No sponsor!

Scheduled for a start end of this year the Barcelona World Race, a significant two handed around the world event on the IMOCA world champion circuit was cancelled a few days ago, due to lack of sponsorship and political issues. I received this message from a fan a few days ago “For many of us the GGR is so much closer to who we think we are, or what we dream of doing than the billion-dollar campaigns we see all over the media.”
Certainly, this is our place in sailing and adventure. The GGR is completely unique in every dimension from what has gone before. We are not the Vendee Globe, the Volvo, the Clipper or the Ultim. We are probably the longest individual sporting competition in the world. The world is about to realise that. The GGR has no equal in any adventure. Maybe that is why we still have no sponsor? Sad indeed and certainly the GGR is feeling the pressure of No major partners for whatever reason. We have reduced budgets considerably and that increases the work load for our management team. It has NOT affected the planned coverage for followers of the Race to keep up with events for nine months. It also increases our gratitude to Les Sables D’Olonne Agglomeration as our generous Host Port and Regional Partner for having strong faith and passion for the Race. It’s future is assured. Official Timer Ralf-Tech watches and Hydrovane Windvanes are our real friends. The growing list of volunteers and you our followers are fantastic, so thanks for supporting us. Spread the word and help us make the 2018 Golden Globe as big and bold as it will be.

In a few weeks something quite special will happen! WOW!

The post INSPIRING SINCE 1968 appeared first on Golden Globe Race.

4 months to Start

Patrice Carpentier appointed Golden Globe Race Director

Don McIntyre, founder of the 2018 Golden Globe race, is proud to announce the appointment of Patrice Carpentier, the well-known French sailor, author and editor of Course au Large Magazine as Race Director.

Patrice, who has been sailing since the age of 12, and is multilingual, brings a wealth of experience to this leadership role, having completed five circumnavigations. These include the first two Whitbread Round the World Races aboard Grand Louis and Gauloises 2, and two Vendée Globe solo non-stop races. He also finished 2nd overall in the 1991 Mini Transat despite suffering a broken mast during the first leg. He competed successfully with standard production yachts in two Route du Rhum races in 1982 and 1990 and was still winning in 2017 with victory in the 2-handed IRC/UNCL championship. All told, Patrice (67) has clocked up more than 300,000 sailing miles and crossed the Atlantic 35 times.

On the administrative side, he produces annual handbooks for the UNCL/IRC and Class 40 race circuits and another for the Société Nautique de La Trinité sur Mer, where he lives.

Patrice says of his appointment: “I find the Golden Globe Race extremely interesting because it takes the sport back to the roots of ocean adventure. I am honoured and excited to be helping to recreate history in this 50th anniversary race commemorating the very first solo non-stop circumnavigation won by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston back in 1968/9”

Patrice Carpentier’s appointment as Race Director now completes the core management team for the 2018 GGR, made up of:

Race Chairman and founder: Don McIntyre (AUS)
Race Director: Patrice Carpentier (FRA)
Assistant Director: David Pryce (AUS)
French Manager: Celine Trommenschlager (FRA)
Admin & Finance Director: Jane Zhou (CHI)
Safety Director: Shane Freeman (AUS)
Digital Content Director: Nick Jaffe (AUS)
Official Photographer: Christophe Favreau (FRA)

GGR Media distribution is conducted through PPL Media Ltd and managed by Barry Pickthall (GBR)

Entries now stands at 20 representing 13 Nations

With 4 months to the start of the 2018 Golden Globe Race from Les Sables d’Olonne, France on July 1, the number of entrants now stands at 20, representing 13 countries.

These skippers have a remarkable range of backgrounds. Professional sailors and adventurers dominate, but they also include an engineer, foreign exchange trader, hydrographer, pilot, tailor and university lecturer. All have considerable short – and single-handed sailing experience, one having logged five solo circumnavigations. They hail from Australia (2), Estonia (1), Finland (1), France (4), Ireland (1), India (1), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), Norway (1), Palestine (1), Russia (1), UK (3), and the USA (2). Their average age is 47. The youngest, Britain’s Susie Goodall is 28; the oldest, French solo veteran Jean-Luc Van Den Heede is 72.

Three skippers have withdrawn: Gustavo Pacheco (58) from Brazil, American Roy Hubbard (28) and French veteran Patrick Phelipon (64). For Pacheco, retirement is a bitter disappointment. He had devoted the past two years to preparing his Lello 34 Double Helix in South Africa and had recently completed a proving trial across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro, but with no sign of sponsorship, he didn’t have the money to complete preparations as he wished. Hubbard, one of the youngest entrants, who recently competed on two legs of the Clipper Round the World Race to gain experience in the Southern Ocean, says that he has learned the need to extend his sailing resume before attempting a solo circumnavigation and has deferred his entry to the next GGR in 2022. He is now planning a voyage to Greenland and back aboard his Babe 35 Duke during the summer of 2019.

Race founder Don McIntyre says: “18 of the original 34 skippers to sign up for this 50th Anniversary Race have been forced by circumstances to either retire or defer their entry to the next GGR. We all knew from the outset that the hardest part of this challenge was simply getting to start line in a race-ready state. It is a measure of their professionalism and the strict safety measures prescribed within the race rules that none have felt pressured to press on against all the odds as Donald Crowhurst and others did in the first Sunday Times Golden Globe Race back in 1968. Those that remain have a very high chance of completing the Race, and those that have made the decision to abstain this time round, will be welcomed as entrants in the next GGR.”

In transit to the start

Australian entrants Mark Sinclair and Kevin Farebrother are the first to ship their yachts to Europe for the start. Sinclair’s Lello 34 Coconut was lifted aboard the MSC Luisa in Adelaide on 27th January, and Farebrother’s Tradewind 35 Sagarmatha was loaded aboard the same ship when she docked in Perth. The ship is due to berth in London on March 8.

Displaying the friendly banter that exists between these two Manchester UK born competitors, Mark said: “Kevin has told me that Sagarmatha is positioned ahead of Coconut on the ship. He should make the most of it because this is the only time his yacht will lead mine!”

Indian skipper Abhilash Tomy is also planning to ship his Suhaili replica yacht Thuriya from Mumbai to Europe in March and other competitors in the USA, Finland and Norway will be on the move as soon as the ice melts.

Turkish born British entrant Ertan Beskardes is already on the move. Having refitted his Rustler 36 yacht Lazy Otter in Fertilia Marina, Sardinia over the winter, he is currently completing his 2,000 mile solo trial voyage enroute to Falmouth.

The first port of call for all 20 entrants is Falmouth UK between 11-14th June for the Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of Sail celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s departure from there back in 1968 at the start of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.

The SITRaN Challenge Race from Falmouth to Les Sables d’Olonne starts immediately after the Parade of Sail on June 14.

The Golden Globe Race starts from Les Sables d’Olonne on July 1st

GGR Race HQ opens on May 7 in Les Sables d’Olonne

Plans for the Race Village are well advanced and the GGR Race HQ will open in Les Sables d’Olonne on May 7. The Race yachts will be berthed in the central marina and open for public display for two weeks from June 16 when the Race Village opens, until the start on Sunday July 1.

Also on public display will be four iconic solo circumnavigation yachts: Suhaili, the yacht that carried Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to victory in the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, together with Bernard Moitessier’s rival entry Joshua, and the two yachts that pioneered this solo circumnavigation record with one-stop, Sir Francis Chichester’s Gipsy Moth IV (1966/7), and Lively Lady, sailed by Sir Alec Rose in 1967/8

The two week build-up to the Race start will be packed with activities and displays that will carry visitors back in time to that golden age of sailing when sailors relied simply on the wind and their wits, navigating by sextant and paper charts without any outside assistance, GPS and other electronic or digital aids.

Also planned is a film festival celebrating the sea and man’s pioneering spirit, presentations by some of the world’s biggest sailing names, including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, and a full entertainment programme on the main stage each evening

How to follow the Race

There are plenty of opportunities to watch the start of the GGR from the harbour wall and promontories around Les Sables d’Olonne, as well as at sea. Once the fleet has sailed over the horizon, the yachts will be tracked 24/7 with regular updates on individual positions within the fleet, coupled with wind and weather conditions viewed here on the web site.

In addition, skippers have the ability to send short text updates every 6 hours, which will be posted directly on the web site. Live video updates of radio interviews with the skippers speaking to Race Control will published on Facebook, together with a weekly video roundup.

In addition, the public can join the race by entering the Sail Online GGR Virtual Race. Each entrant is allocated an identical boat with similar performance polars to the real yachts, but unlike the GGR skippers, virtual competitors have the benefit of real-time weather information which is released into the race model at 10 minute intervals, producing an ever changing wind and wave situation that makes the virtual game as close to reality as possible. And adding further realism to the experience, the live online tracker information from the real yachts can be overlaid on the virtual course allowing virtual sailors to compare their navigation efforts against those competing in the GGR.

The Sailonline Virtual Race will commence at the same time as the GGR on July 1st and will be split into two natural legs from Les Sables d’Olonne to Hobart, and from Storm Bay, where the GGR skippers must stop for at least 90 minutes, back to the French finish line. For further information go to www.sailonline.org

Storm Bay, Tasmania is the middle ‘gate’ that all GGR yachts must pass through, where skippers will hand over film, logs, tape recordings and letters. The Race Rules forbid any outside assistance, so no one can board the boats or hand across spare parts, but family and media will get an opportunity to provide moral support and interview each skipper as they pass through. The Hobart Gate will be assisted by The Royal Yacht Club Tasmania, while the outward Canaries Gate set off Lanzarote is supported by Rubicon Marina. The Falklands Yacht Club will assist at the final Gate after rounding Cape Horn.

The leaders are expected to complete the 30,000 mile solo circumnavigation in around 240 days.

Great sponsorship opportunities

The latest sponsor to nail their sponsorship colours to the Golden Globe Race masthead is RALF TECH watches, the official timing sponsor for the Race, which is offering one of its traditional self-winding chronographs to each competitor.
Accurate timing is an essential component of astro navigation, which all competitors will use to plot their positions around the world – just as Robin Knox-Johnston and Bernard Moitessier did 50 years before. In this return to the ‘Golden Age of Sailing’, modern electronic and digital technology is barred, the general rule being: If it wasn’t available to Knox-Johnston in 1968/9, it isn’t available to 2018 GGR skippers either. “It’s this return to basics that skippers and the public find so appealing,” says Race Founder Don McIntyre, adding: “There had been pressure for yachts to carry video transmitting equipment, but a poll amongst skippers was unanimously against the idea.”

Other sponsors to have aligned their brands to competing yachts include DHL Express, PRB, Matmut Insurance Group, Fugro, Altia, and Métier Intérim.

With four months to the start, attractive commercial opportunities remain for corporate sponsors to take full advantage of the 1 million + visitors expected to visit in Les Sables d’Olonne for the start and €120 million projected media coverage and social media exposure as the Race unfolds over the next 12 months. For a sponsorship prospectus pack, contact
Barry Pickthall:
barry@goldengloberace.com
+44(0)7768 395719

MERCY film wins worldwide acclaim

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, winner of the 1968/9 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, shared the Red Carpet with Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz at the world premier of the film MERCY on February 9.

Sir Robin says of this portrayal of the Crowhurst tragedy set during the 1968/9: “I was blown over by the film. I know I knew the story inside out, but the way they had written up the drama, whilst keeping to the facts was really good and the acting was brilliant. Yes the story is inevitably sad, but I thought the producers handled it very well and were sympathetic to the Crowhurst family.

Later, Sir Robin had the opportunity to sit round a table with Mercy Director James Marsh, Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz to discuss the film and the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.

The post 4 months to Start appeared first on Golden Globe Race.