Picture above: Elliott Smith ( USA) at a mooring buoy in False Bay, Simon’s Town fixing his bowsprit after it broke for the first time. Picture Credit: Simon McDonnell / FBYC

# Did Elliott push too hard? Ultimate failure of broken bowsprit after unsuccessful attempt to repair at sea ending his dream!

# Big seas, gales and changing wind directions puts mid-fleet yachts on their toes.

# Simon Curwen UK, leader since Cape Finisterre, stops in the centre of a high pressure, Kirsten Neuschäfer (SA) gains 500 miles in a week, now only two days behind approaching Hobart, and in the same weather system.

# Guy Waites is waiting for the best weather window to leave Cape Town with 5400 miles to Hobart, and only 41 days to make the gate!

After more than a hundred days at sea, only six of the original 16 entrants who departed Les Sables d’Olonne in France are likely to pass through the Hobart gate which shuts on January 31st. First the Atlantic has taken quite a toll on the GGR fleet, which was confronted by adverse conditions from day three. Three boats retired before crossing the equator, another three on arrival at Cape Town, and two more east of Cape of Good Hope. Guy Waites (GBR) is now Chichester Class and Elliott Smith (USA) can no longer continue past Australia. The GGR is once again taking its toll on some of the best sailors and yachts.

Elliott Smith, fortitude incarnate.

What a difference an ocean makes. Elliott Smith (USA) had a hard time sailing South, dealing with intense frustration in wind holes. He rose up to  the challenge and after numerous repairs and eventually found the resources and the mindset to continue in spite of overwhelming odds.

In fact, he even improved Second Wind’s best 24 hour-distance on December 15 with 174 nautical miles under reduced sails before his bowsprit, repaired at anchor in Cape Town, bent up once again.

On Monday morning, Elliott started repairs with a plan: drop the forestay, holding the mast with two spinnaker halyard and staysail stay in order to fit a spare shorter cap shroud as a forestay, cut the end of reefing gear extrusions, refit it with link plates and chain to the stem fitting at bow, and disregarding the bowsprit completely.

Alas, even though the wind was down at the time, Elliott still had a 3-metre swell making repairs up the mast extremely difficult. Nonetheless, he went up the mast no less than 10 times, but the movement at the top of the mast, 13 metres above the sea level, was too much. He got bashed around and lost tools and spares overboard, eventually losing his  spare stay, critical to the success of the repair.

That was the end of his Race and dream. He will be Chichester Class on arrival in Australia in about a month. He then has no time to pass the Hobart Gate and so would be out of the GGR.  “I think I’m gonna have to call it a day,” he said .

You can listen to Elliott’s call to Don HERE

We advised Elliott to slowly make his way North for a couple more degrees to get better winds and then sail East towards Fremantle or Albany which are the best bet.. It’s unlikely Elliott will be able to repair his mast and make the Hobart gate in time. He now must sail carefully for 2500 miles through the southern ocean and look after the mast at all cost. An injured mast is still better than a jury rig so he can only use two reefs in the main and a staysail. We will provide Elliott with weather information to assist him in making a safe passage.

Don McIntyre, GGR founder and chairman

The Rush to Hobart

The fleet is rushing to Hobart where Don and Jane are ready to welcome them in Storm bay. The gate closes on January 31st at 12:00 local time to guarantee the best possible weather through Cape Horn, 4500 nautical miles away. After that date, any Suhaili Class entrant showing up late will have to stop and make the second stage of their trip in December 2023 in the Voyager Class as a simple return to Les sables d’Olonne when GPS and free use of sat phones are allowed along with weather routing. Chichester Class entrants arriving too late at the Hobart Gate will be retired.

At the back of the fleet, Ian Herbert-Jones (GBR), who had  considered missing the Cape Town gate altogether to save time and continuing in Chichester Class under penalty for not stopping, is now making pace in the South. In the process he broke his personal record several times last week, settling at 1007 miles on December 17!

Ian is sailing conservatively between the 40th and 42nd parallel, making  best time and continually improving his ETA. Based on his average speeds, he  has approximately 10 days to spare to reach the Hobart Gate before January 31st but there is still a long way to go. Much can happen along the remaining 3300 miles. There’s no dilly-dally and Ian could well face a high pressure on arrival!

It’s a bumpy ride along the exclusion zone for Jeremy Bagshaw (ZAF) on Olleanna who has had heavy weather all week. South of the exclusion zone, a succession of low pressure systems with strong winds and big seas ranging from north to west are creating confused sea states across the entire area. He is sailing very conservatively to preserve his yacht until the end of the zone, before being able to dive deeper. He is expected in Hobart around  January 10th.

Michael Guggenberger (AUT) meticulous preparation is paying dividends. He has left the no-go zone unscathed despite very adverse conditions and has increased his lead on Jeremy, showing that his ketch-rigged Biscay 36 Nuri is matching the speeds ofSimon Curwen’s sloop rigged Clara!Cpt. Gugg is staying around 45° to 46° South, loving the conditions and posting a strong average speed of 140 miles per day for an expected arrival in Hobart just in time for New Years Eve!

High pressure playing tricks on the leaders.

Simon Curwen (GBR) unchallenged leader since the start was losing mile after mile last week while parked in a massive high that caught-up with him. He  used most of his time in the calms to go through his to-do list planned for Hobart, including  servicing his hydrovane fittings, and is now out of the high, but sailing upwind as he exited from the North, not the best outcome he shared today.

As you know we’re in the middle of a high pressure, which is adding a lot of time to the trick. It’s very frustrating, I could be arriving in Hobart by now, and there’s another week of beating to get there I think. It’s frustrating, but all the work I was planning to do in Hobart is done now, so I can plan for a quick turn around there.

Simon Curwen on Clara

Listen to Simon’s call in English and French HERE

Meanwhile, Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF) and Abhilash Tomy (IND) on the other side of the high have been grabbing nautical miles in perfect downwind conditions, up to 180 miles a day. They both improved their 7-day distance records with Kirsten posting 1165 miles on December 12 and Abhilash 1145 on December 17, gaining significant distance on the leader.

Kirsten has been receiving  detailed radio weather fax maps of the High as well as daily weather reports from Australia, so has been able to stay in the breeze skirting around the central no wind zone resulting in significant gains. Simon’s weather fax is not working, he gets weather reports but his lack of knowledge of Australian geography is hampering his understanding of the meteorological situation.  

We saw this before, on the arrival to Cape Town when Kirsten did a ‘South African Slingshot’, south of the Saint Helena high, gaining on Simon upwind in the North, while Abhilash got stuck in the middle with no wind. The frustration for Abhilash was extreme.

Simon is 360 miles from Hobart and Kirsten is 560 miles out. She has only 200 miles more to sail to Hobart than Simon, compared to a 700-mile difference last week, and Abhilash is trailing just 300 miles behind Kirsten. The 3 leaders are  now sharing the same weather system and will have similar strategies. It’s not finished, however, since the high pressure moving south-east will be on their route to Hobart, while Simon will be beating upwind in stronger winds and Kirsten frustrated by variable winds. ETA in Hobart  for Simon is the 23rd Dec.

This is the break Kirsten has been hoping for as her Cape George 36 could be a faster design for the heavy running expected in the Southern Ocean. To have a chance of winning the GGR, she needs to be well ahead by the time she rounds Cape Horn. Simon has shown he is a strong sailor in the Atlantic legs so the game is wide open. Abhilash is in striking distance waiting, and Captain GUGG is still in touch!

Don McIntyre, GGR Founder and Chairman

Barnacle free and back around the world

Guy arrived in Cape Town last week just in time for the Royal Cape Yacht Club 75th Anniversary which he attended with friends and fellow Clipper Race crew. He cleaned Sagarmatha’s hull, applied two coats of antifouling and splashed on Monday morning. He will continue his journey in the GGR Chichester Class due to his one stop.

The boat is in the water now, I went for provisions with Peter and the RCYC has been a great host. Sagarmatha is ready to go and I am waiting for the right weather window to continue South, probably next Thursday when the low pressure will bring some Northwesterlies pushing me and Sagarmatha in the right direction. This is a race against myself now, but I know I can make good ground.

Guy Waites on Sagarmatha

Listen to Guy’s call in English and French HERE

Guy has 5400 miles to go before January 31st. Not an easy task requiring an average distance over 132 miles a day, but not impossible for Guy. What is certain however is that he will enjoy the long surfs downwind in the Southern Ocean on Sagarmatha with a clean, smooth and slippery hull. Go Guy!

Picture above: Arnaud Gaist (FRA) has been plagued by rigging issues over the past few weeks and now, on top, also with barnacles, He has given up! Picture credit: Aïda Valceanu/ GGR2022

# Arnaud Gaist cannot sail to windward with mast issues, so returning to Les Sables d’Olonne! Via the Caribbean!

# Kirsten is loving the GGR, flying along but nearly hitting the NO GO ZONE! Distance records are being slashed.

# 44° South exclusion zone doing its job! Why is it there?

# Landfall for Tapio 19 days after his rescue and a white Xmas for him! 

# Guy and Elliott struggle to make the Hobart Gate before it shuts on January 31st.

# Is the modern times Bernard Moitessier a young American with long hair? 

The Golden Globe Race fleet is stretched 5000 miles across the Southern Ocean and is not short of stories. Just nine sailors are still bound for Les Sables d’Olonne in France and they are not even halfway! The weather, as much as it has been frustrating and even slow for the sailors, is not bringing the usual intense Southern Ocean storms and that is a good thing. The two months delay starting this edition was obviously a good decision, but then getting around Cape Horn before the end of March 2023 and the “Hobart Gate” closing on the 31st of January for slow entrants is a whole new threat! The Golden Globe is full of challenges. It is hard to get to the start and even harder to make the finish.  

Arnaud Gaist (FRA) has been plagued by rigging issues over the past few weeks and now, on top, also with barnacles, He has given up! Today he is 200 miles out of Saint Helena. He officially notified GGR control that he is retiring from the race and is heading north, unable to sail to windward. It took a long, frustrating and depressing time to make the decision but now that it’s done he feels relaxed. After three years of planning and preparation it is a hard decision to make. With another 150 days of food on board, he is planning to head eventually to the Caribbean and then on to Les Sables d’Olonne once Hermes Phoning is back in shape. 

The second remaining GGR skipper In the Atlantic, Guy Waites (GBR), is 200 miles from Cape town and has been posting surprisingly good speeds with his barnacle infested Tradewind Sagarmatha. He should make landfall Sunday night or Monday. He will slip the boat, scrape the Barnacles and paint the bottom and could set sail a few days later. But will he? He will be a Chichester one stop sailor because of the stop. He has some serious decisions to make with Hobart about 6000 miles away through the Southern Ocean and only 47 days to get there before the Gate shuts! That is averaging 128 Miles a day on a direct course? As a Chichester sailor missing the gate you are no longer in the GGR. He said he will make no decisions until he is ready to set sail and is focused on doing that as soon as possible.

Is the modern-day Bernard Moitessier a young American sailor?

Trailing at the back in the Southern Indian Ocean, 27 year old Elliott Smith (USA) has faced a lot over the last 17 days, when he decided to turn back towards False Bay after his bowsprit failed. In total Bernard Moitessier fashion, who repaired the bent bowsprit of his Joshua during the 1968 GGR, Elliott has spared no energy or creativity to repair and strengthen his own, unassisted, on Second Wind.

Since then, he has struggled heading east towards Hobart with strong headwinds, calms and then one violent storm he found exhilarating. He has faced more onboard challenges, including his Hydrovane set up. Both the bronze fitting that links the securing lines to hold the tiller stationary and a bolt on the actual unit came loose. His mainsail slides are failing and he has been swapping slides from his older main to replace them, but is about to run out. 

What would have been a frustrating experience only a few weeks back seems to leave the young american unfazed, and with more resources and fortitude, as well as a clear sense of why he is there and why he keeps sailing.

I‘m learning to let it go. I used to be so angry and frustrated at the weather, the boat and everything seemed to be breaking. The hydrovane was working loose right before the storm, my sextant broke, more slides out of the mainsail, and then dead calm… I just exhausted myself with anger, and thought, what am I getting angry at? Am I holding on to a position in the race that is totally arbitrary in the grand scheme of my life? I did not sail out to care about winning, I want to finish. (…) I dove into the cassettes, the music, and the messages that people left me on the cassettes caught me off-guard and I just had to let it go.(…) It’s all good!

Elliott Smith

Elliott, who shared his feelings in his last safety call, needs to find his pace with his reduced rig, and sailing Second Wind to her possibilities to make the Hobart Gate in time before it shuts on 31st of January 2023.

Simon Curwen (GBR) passed the eastern end of the exclusion zone on December 5th and dipped down to 45° S in order to find steadier and stronger westerlies, making most of his now 750 miles lead over Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF). A strategy that has worked well for him although he got the best out of Clara in his last days along the no-go zone, slashing his personal best distance over 7 days on December 6 with 1143 miles (6,8 knots average) and his best distance in 24 hours on December 3rd at 175 nautical miles (7,3 knots average), equalling Michael Guggenberger (AUT) on the other Biscay 36 in the fleet. He reports everything is well onboard but he still has a chafing issue with his halyards. Every few days he must move the wear spot and swap them over to stop them failing but he feels good about everything.

Kirsten Neuschäfer (RSA) is living her dream and completely at one with her boat and the GGR and happy to be in it. She loves navigating with the sextant, not sailing with computers and screens everywhere and even without weather forecasts, instead having a feel for the weather. She continued to work hard in second place, racing against herself and at one point came to within a few hundred metres of the Southern Ocean Exclusion Zone and a potential time penalty before turning north. 

The Exclusion Zone marks the southern limit for all entrants. It is established in consultation with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres in case an entrant is in distress. If they were too far south, it makes it extremely difficult to provide assets to an effective rescue. Very few ships transit the southern ocean and they rarely go south of 40º S latitude. The zone has thus been drawn at 44º S. Any entrant crossing that boundary suffers a three hour time penalty for every hour inside the zone.

Kirsten broke the fleet’s 7-day distance record, posting a whopping 1143,7 miles on December 1st! Doing so, she now holds all the records of the fleet including the 24-hours distance at 218,9 miles, and the 4-hour average speed at 9,8 knots! This enabled her to put 280 miles between her and third place entrant Abhilash Tomy (IND). 

Abhilash Tomy ( IND) reported a small issue with his Windpilot self steering system when the servo arm sheared which he was able to replace. He was happy to have exorcised his Southern Oceans devils, passing the Cape of Good Hope and the longitude of Cape Comorin (the southern tip of India) 3000 miles north with Bayanat. This was the area where he experienced the rollover, dismasting, serious back injury and rescue during the 2018 Golden Globe. He is happy to be covering new seas now and heading to Hobart.  

For the first arrivals in Hobart the game is open regarding ETA’s. The leading trio should make the gate in 2022, with Simon Curwen arriving around the 19th of December, followed by Kirsten Neuschäfer on Boxing Day, 26th of December, and Abhilash Tomy on the 30th. The famous Rolex Sydney Hobart Fleet will be arriving at the same time. 

Meanwhile Pat Lawless (IRL), who is delivering Ertan Beskardes’ (GBR) Lazy Otter back to Europe, had time to do some thinking and sent a Tweet to GGR control about a possible GGR 2026 entry! Most of those who have retired to date are thinking the same way! Entries are now starting to arrive for the third edition of the GGR with a few looking for Cape George 36 Yachts.  

Picture Above: Tapio Lehtinen in his survival suit. All of the skippers underwent sea survival training before the race start. Credit: Nora Havel/GGR2022.

# Tapio Lehtinen reflects on the sinking of Asteria and his rescue.

# Comms grab bag, tracking, texting and communications devices in the GGR.

# Time Compensation for Kirsten  Neuschäfer and Abhilash Tomy following Tapio’s rescue.

# Rigging issues for Elliott Smith in South Africa and Arnaud Gaist mid-Atlantic.

# The Roaring Forties are not there! Where are they?!

Many people talk about the eye watering effort GGR entrants make to meet the tough safety and qualifying requirements of this gruelling mind game called the Golden Globe. When all the boxes are ticked, they finally receive a “green card” in Les Sables d’Olonne just before the start. These unique GGR safety regulations have played an important part in saving Tapio Lehtinen following the sinking of his yacht in the Southern Ocean and he appreciates it! Two other entrants have rigging issues after 80 days at sea and Kirsten sets a new 219-mile day record! But the big question is…where are the Roaring Forties?

Golden Globe entrant Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) rescued from his life raft last week is currently enjoying the hospitality of his rescuers Capt. Naveen Kumar Mehrotra and his crew on the M.V.Darya Gayatri bound for Rizhao, China. He has no money, no passport, and no glasses, but is in good health and good spirits. He has now shared information with the organisers regarding this incident and rescue. He does not know for sure what caused the failure and sinking of his yacht “Asteria” and is still coming to terms with the loss of his beloved yacht.

The accident was a devastating surprise, I had 100% confidence in Asteria being fit for the fight. She performed beautifully and I was very happy and proud of her. After a total rebuild four years ago for the 2018 GGR and being fitted out and inspected again this year, being flooded up to deck level in five minutes and sinking twenty minutes later in beautiful summer conditions is beyond my comprehension.

But the rock-solid professionalism of Don McIntyre in coordinating the rescue operation together with MRCCs in Cape Town, Kirsten Neuschäfer, Abhilash Tomy and m/v Darya Gayatri captain Naveen Kumar Mehrotra came as no surprise to me. On the contrary, already before the start of the race, at a safety briefing in Les Sables d’Olonne, I told my competitors that if we’d get into trouble, we would be in the best of hands. I never imagined that I would be the one.

Thank you, Don, – getting into the raft in a rush without my grab bags of food, medicine and water, I knew that it wouldn’t be a long stay.

Tapio Lehtinen

When Tapio woke to a loud bang, he stepped into knee deep water with more flooding like a river from the engine compartment. With no time to think, he prepared the Plastimo “special edition” GGR Life raft in the cockpit and donned his dry survival suit, grabbing the small GGR Communications emergency grab bag on the way out. With the raft inflated beside the boat, the securing line he had re-set with a slip knot, unfortunately let go! It began drifting away… He could not go below for the main grab bag, as water was above waist height and the decks were awash, so he jumped for the raft now 3 metres from the boat. He had been unable to reach his EPIRB inside the boat, which later automatically water activated, sending the first DISTRESS alert. But it went down with the yacht 20 minutes later taking his two other emergency beacons with it.

Tapio responded shortly after that he was in the raft, all well and Asteria had sunk! This then gave a second position of the raft that was linked to the GGR 24hr online tracking page for all to see. Using the same YB3 unit, Tapio was able to send and receive short messages from the raft, a great comfort for him as a survivor, his family and all his followers around the world. His rescue was a success.

I know from experience over the past 30 years that when all goes wrong you may not get your grab bag, so what’s in the raft is all you may have. I always pack a Distress beacon in my rafts and now a VHF/GPS, so I made it mandatory for GGR too. I also lost a good friend deep in the Southern Ocean in the 1986 BOC challenge when his 48hr EPIRB battery ran out before the ship arrived. We now insist on the YB3 unit in the GGR comms grab bag which tracks every 15 minutes for months, including two-way texting. Tapio was happy to have both.

Don McIntyre

This incident will be the subject of a full GGR report in the weeks ahead, which will be published so all can learn from the experience.      

TIME COMPENSATION following “ASTERIA” sinking:

It is a long-held tradition of the sea, that if a mariner is in Distress and declares a “Mayday”, all other mariners will use their best endeavours to immediately assist if they are safely able to do so. Such was the case for Abhilash Tomy (IND)on Bayanat and Kirsten Neuschäfer (RSA)on Minnehaha when asked by GGR control to assist in the rescue of fellow GGR entrant Tapio Lehtinen on ASTERIA. Both altered courses immediately and stopped racing on receiving the request. The rescue was successful.

To calculate time compensation for both sailors all the facts affecting both sailors were considered, focusing on the primary impacts of:

1. Time away from the course

2. Changing and new weather systems on resuming the course.

3. Position at the start and finish of their diversion.

Primary Data  

Abhilash acknowledged the rescue message at 0930 UTC and was subsequently released at 13:50 UTC, (4:20 hours). He confirmed he resumed racing at 1400 UTC (total 4:30 hours) and he also stayed on a higher course (80° approx.) for the duration of the rescue in case he may be needed. Engine: did not use the engine.

Distance 27.5 nm @ 50°, approx. Lateral 23 nm/vertical 15 nm

Kirsten acknowledged the rescue message at 1303UTC and called to confirm transfer to vessel at 0745+1 but stayed on scene until 1000 UTC before proceeding under reduced sails: total 22 hours. Engine hours: 2 beginning, 2 middle, 3 at the end for a total of 7 hours.

5 hrs @ 1.8K rpm=3.5 l/h= 15,5lt and 2 hrs @ 2.4K rpm=5 l/h = 10lt. Total 25.5 litres

Distance 100 miles @ 38°approx, lateral 57 nm/vertical 83 nm

The following time compensation has been determined. Kirsten Neuschäfer 35 hours + 30 litres of fuel.  Abhilash Tomy 12hrs.

Abhilash and Kirsten both commented that it took some time to let the adrenaline go, and get back into racing mode. Abhilash remained on a more northerly course than normal for the duration of the rescue, asking to be updated on progress and Kirsten had steered Minnehaha all night and manoeuvred at close quarters to the vessel for Tapio’s transfer.

Latest news from Kirsten in her regular weekly safety call

Rig failures 80 days out of Les Sables d’Olonne

Elliott Smith (USA) turned around on the 22nd of November, shortly after going through the Cape Town Gate, for a bowsprit failure. Fellow entrant Jeremy Bagshaw (RSA) who lives in Simon’s Town suggested he moor on the Simon’s Town’s mooring buoy in False Bay, well sheltered from the strong forecast South Westerlies. Local sailors guided him in at dusk.

His bowsprit was broken on one side and bent on the other, with the bobstay being slightly bent in the process. The Notice of Race allows Entrants receive onsite technical advice but no physical assistance. Elliott welcomed the advice from local sailors and riggers on repairing and strengthening his bowsprit. Following three hectic days and after reviewing pictures, videos and listening to Elliott’s descriptions, the GGR organisers approved the repairs and Elliott set sail once again bound for Hobart.

I am not driven by an ego trip, nor do I want to continue at all cost, but I think the repaired bowsprit is stronger than it was in Les Sables d’Olonne.

Elliott Smith (USA)

We were able to monitor and assess Elliott’s bowsprit repairs thanks to photos and video supplied by Simon McDonnel from FBYC right up to sea trials. While not perfect, our opinion is that managed correctly by the skipper, the repaired bowsprit is not unsafe. He has addressed the compression issues and added extra security to stop it folding up again. The inner forestay supports the mast well and combined with running backstays secures the mast without consideration of the forestay when sailing with the staysail and reefed main. The furling genoa is being swapped for a smaller jib and the entire Southern Ocean legs can be sailed under staysail alone. 

Don McIntyre, GGR Founder and Chairman

In 1968 Bernard Moitessier damaged his Bowsprit and spent a few days in the same area effecting repairs before continuing on. Elliott made no landing and received no physical support, so remains in the GGR rankings. He is now on his way to Hobart.

Shortly after, Arnaud Gaist (FRA) called the GGR Control to explain mast and rigging issues, and that he can no longer sail to windward before it’s solved. He described a bending mast last week and that he worked on rig tensions to re-establish symmetry.

In his last call on Friday morning, he advised that his mast base was moving, that a lower shroud needed tightening and that the bobstay fitting supporting the Bowsprit came under stress, indicating further issues in the symmetry and compression of the whole rig.

He is still 1000 miles away from Cape Town, but North of the usual High-Pressure systems, therefore sailing upwind, facing the swell, which is putting extra pressure on the rig. He is struggling to make Cape Town and now has little chance of making the Hobart Gate which closes on January 31st 2023. He is currently sailing downwind and assessing options for repair at sea, or whether he should follow predominately easterly winds for repairs in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Guy Waites (UK), the last victim of hull invasion, has given-up on trying to scrape the barnacles at sea as it is too dangerous with little effect. He explained in his last call that he made up his mind and will have to slip the boat in Cape Town.

Unusual Southern Indian Ocean conditions for the fleet so far.

Simon Curwen (UK), Kirsten Neuschäfer (RSA), Abhilash Tomy (IND) and Michael Guggenberger (AUT) have all improved their personal best over a 24-hours distance last week, with Kirsten obliterating the record with 219 miles in a day, but it took quite a while to get there. In fact, the Atlantic conditions were not the ones the fleet expected, and the same applies to the Southern Indian Ocean.

This year, an unusual Antartic polar vortex   is contributing to a weather anomaly which is pushing the usual strong westerly winds of the Roaring Forties further south than usual. Some high-pressure systems are also lower than normal, pushing the roaring forties toward the furious fifties.

This may slow progress toward Hobart as the fleet experiences more of a mixed bag of wind directions and strengths as Simon Curwen explains. The good news is that some of the intense low-pressure storms may also stay below their route to Hobart and later Cape Horn. Only time will tell, but sailing along the 40th parallel of latitude looks like a different ride this year.   

Tapio has shared this message from on board m/v Darya Gayatri, Indian Ocean. The ship is on her way to Rizhao, China, and will arrive in about a month.

---

Thank you once again everybody involved in my flawless rescue operation after the sinking of Asteria.

The accident was a devastating surprise, I had 100% confidence for Asteria being fit for fight, the boat performed beautifully and I was very happy and proud of her. After a total rebuild four years ago and being fitted out and inspected again this year, being flooded up to deck level in five minutes and sinking twenty minutes later in beautiful summer conditions is beyond my comprehension.

But the rock solid professionalism of Don McIntyre in coordinating the rescue operation together with MRCCs in Cape Town and Singapore, Kirsten Neuschafer, Abhilash Tomy and m/v Darya Gayatri captain Naveen Kumar Mehrotra came as no surprise to me. On the contrary, already before the start of the race, at a safety briefing in Les Sables d’Olonne, I told my competitors that if we’d get into trouble, we would be in the best of hands. I only never imagined that I would be the one.

Thank you Don – getting into the raft in a rush without my grab bags of food, medicine and water, I knew that it wouldn’t be a long stay. And it wasn’t. I felt safe through the 24+ hrs on the raft. Thank you also Kirsten for your excellent seamanship in manouvering Minnehaha next to the raft, getting me onboard and for the rum. And then in cooperation with captain Naveen Kumar Mehrotra, getting Minnehaha safely in the lee of m/v Darya Gayatri and getting me safely onboard the ship where I am now very happily enjoying the Indian hospitality of the captain and crew.

Thank you also everybody for the regards, sympathy and support through your messages and excuse me for the anxiety I have caused.

As said, the disappointment is massive. I re-entered the race as I thought that Asteria deserved another chance – she was capable for a podium finish in the race. We were doing well and I was very much looking forward to the roughly hundred days of solitude in the Southern Ocean and a good race with Simon, Kirsten, Abhilash, Michael and the rest.

But life goes on. My focus from now on will be on the Ocean Globe Race with Galiana starting on Sept 10, 2023. I am very proud of our team and also proud, happy and thankful for the support of our partners, led by my GGR main sponsor 3StepIT together with Cinia, all of which are Finnish companies who in their fields are showing the way by being part of the solution on our way towards a carbon neutral circular economy.

Our vehicle in the universe, the Earth (out of which 70% is ocean), is a small one. With a tiny boat, during two and half months, at roughly walking pace I already made it almost to the opposite side of it.

It is a small vehicle for the mighty humankind. During the last century or two, we have developed a capacity to destroy the prerequisites for good life of the coming generations through the climate crisis and other natural catastrophes.

We need to realize, as a humankind, that united we stand and divided we fall. We also have the capacity to solve the problems, save the albatross, the oceans, the planet and the living conditions for our grand children and future generations.

The news from the UN-summit in Africa (read without glasses from the ship’s computer) are promising. Things need to happen on UN/global level. We, the humankind, need to keep focused and avoid being distracted by the putins and trumps et al. And concentrate on the solutions available, everybody, every company, as our partners in their respective fields, in their own, new, innovative ways.

Excuse me for the long message. At sea, away from the fuss and detail, the big picture at times seems clear – I just wanted to share it with you.

And once again, thank you all!

Tapio

Picture above: Every GGR2022 entrant puts on their survival suit in their training, including Tapio Lehtinen (FIN). Picture Credit: Nora Havel / GGR 2022

Successful rescue operation for Tapio Lehtinen in the Southern Indian Ocean. Kirsten Neuschäfer first to reach his position, and take him to safety aboard Minnehaha before transferring him onto the Bulk Carrier M.V. Darya Gayatri.

GGR entrant Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF) was first to reach Tapio’s position this morning at 0510 UTC. The South African sailor whisked GGR Veteran and Finnish sailing legend, Tapio Lehtinen, from his liferaft where he had been since Friday 0700 UTC.

Three boats had been diverted yesterday to assist GGR entrant Tapio Lehtinen after he activated his Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) at 0654. He then activated his Liferaft Personal Locator Beacon at 0854 UTC following the sinking of his yacht Asteria.

Abhilash Tomy (IND) aboard Bayanat, 170 nm SW of Tapio’s last known position, was the first to receive the message sent through the YB3 device and divert his route.

MRCC Cape Town confirmed communication with Captain Naveen Kumar Mehrotra onboard the bulk carrier M.V. Darya Gayatri bound to Singapore, 250 nm NW of Tapio’s position, diverting course at 12,5 knots and rendering assistance with an ETA between 0830 and 1000 UTC on November 19. 

Later in the day, Kirsten Neuschäfer aboard Minnehaha, who was the closest to Tapio at 105 miles, contacted the GGR Crisis Team after receiving the message on her YB3. In accordance with the Race Office, she broke the seal of the emergency GPS and diverted her course towards Tapio’s position.

Abhilash Tomy was then released from the rescue to resume racing. As a fellow competitor in the GGR 2018 and friend of Tapio, he kept sailing close while released and asked to be updated on any progress.

The GGR crisis team kept contact with the MRCC Cape Town coordinating the rescue as well as the bulk carrier M.V. Darya Gayatri, Kirsten Neuschäfer and Tapio Lehtinen.

Kirsten was regularly updated on weather information as well as Tapio’s position and drift by the Race Office in order to maximise routing for the fastest route to him. Meanwhile, Tapio was updated on Kirsten’s progress and ETA and showed good spirit throughout the night.

You can’t get any closer to the ocean, I love it but this is close enough.Thanks for looking after of me.

Tapio Lethinen

More romantic tweets from the liferaft here.

Posting speeds above 7 knots, Kirsten was the first on site at 0510 UTC, the conditions at the time were 20 knots of SSE wind, 2 to 3 metre swell and daylight.

It was not an easy task however. Tapio had an early visual on Kirsten’s yacht but she could not see the liferaft in the swell. Kirsten would hear him on the VHF but Tapio could not hear her voice. The GGR Crisis Management Team homed her onto Tapio’s position until they were close enough to see and hear each other to plan for recovery.

Kirsten called the GGR Management team at 0805 UTC to confirm that she had retrieved Tapio from the liferaft onto Minnehaha with a retrieving line. After sharing a good glass of rum, they then proceeded to put Tapio back in the raft, pulled it towards the carrier, which he then successfully boarded via a rescue ladder. (Phone recording on our SoundCloud channel).

I’m full of adrenaline now, I’ve been up helming all night, and it’s quite something to be manoeuvring so close to a ship, but we’re all good. He was on board, we drank a rum together and then we sent him on his merry way. (…) No congratulations needed for the rescue, everyone would do the same for another sailor, thank you guys for coordinating it.

Kirsten Neuschäfer

M.V. Darya Gayatri, contacted by MRRC Cape Town, later confirmed that Tapio has been onboard since 0755 UTC and that they were retrieving the abandoned liferaft. The vessel is bound for Rizhao, China where they will drop off Tapio. MRCC Cape Town is contacting the Finnish Embassy to coordinate his arrival together with the GGR Race Control.

WOW!!!! Bravo to all involved with the successful rescue of Tapio which was a huge effort. It was comforting to feel the support from the GGR family around the world and experience the professionalism and dedication of MRCC South Africa, as well as Capt. Naveen Kumar Mehrotra, and the crew of the M.V. Darya Gayatri who are upholding the greatest traditions of the sea by assisting a fellow mariner in distress. Thanks Abhilash for diverting and staying close by, and Kirsten your ocean experience and human spirit sets you apart. Your efforts have written another chapter in life and a special bond with our dear Tapio!!! Welcome back Tapio… your family is waiting.

Don McIntyre GGR Founder