Early entrant to the 2018 Golden Globe, Jean-Luc van den Heede in less happy times during the 1994 BOC Challenge when he fell asleep and ran into Australia while keeping inshore to avoid strong currents in the Bass Strait. Van den Heede’s slender 60-footer was subsequently refloated with the help of an enthusiastic local crowd and the former maths teacher finished the leg in 2nd place!
the tanks between manoeuvres and to provide power for jib and wing trim and for rudder rake adjustment. Compare this with the bursts of grinding needed in monohulls for setting or dousing the kite, or for grinding in a big genoa after a tack. Bicycle grinders were tried unsuccessfully on Pelle Petterson’s
Sverigein 1977. They were considered and rejected by later teams, including Alinghi for their 2003 challenge, usually for three reasons: the grinders had multiple jobs onboard; sheets and other lines in the cockpit presented risks and heeling to 30° made pedalling a bike less efficient. None of these objections remains, but a new problem exists: crossing to the other hull during tacks and gybes. One yacht with a dramatically different concept from her multiple competitors – that sounds a bit like 1851 when the Marquess of Anglesey, donor of the £100 Cup, remarked about America, ‘If she is right, then all of us are wrong.’
IN TUNE WITH THE MARKET – Rob Kothe
In 1968 nine solo yachtsmen set out from England in the first ever solo, non-stop round-the-world race. The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a 30,000-mile journey via the Great Capes (Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, South East Cape and Cape Horn) is the grandfather of all the round-the-world races that have followed. Four of the nine retired while still in the Atlantic Ocean. Of the remaining five, Chay Blyth retired shortly after sailing past the Cape of Good Hope. Nigel Tetley’s catamaran sank 1,200 nautical miles from the finish line, his boat breaking up as he pressed (too) hard to overhaul Donald Crowhurst’s Teignmouth Electron ahead. However, Crowhurst, realising that he and his lightly built trimaran might not survive the southern oceans, began to falsify his positions early in the race, giving Southern Ocean positions while he was in fact sailing circles in the South Atlantic. The realisation that his deception would be discovered apparently drove him to suicide, his yacht later being discovered sailing safely but without its skipper. Found onboard were not one but two carefully compiled logs – one accurate, one fabricated – which documented a tragic tale. Frenchman Bernard Moitessier, then in second place, three weeks behind Robin Knox-Johnston, left the race, disillusioned with the commerciality that awaited him ashore, sailing on from Cape Horn to the Cape of Good Hope and then straight on to Tahiti. Only one sailor finished – Robin Knox-Johnston, in 312 days. His
32ft ketch Suhaili had very basic navigation and communication equipment, HF and VHF radio, a Rolex watch, a barograph and a sextant. Suhailiwas far from fast, a heavily built teak boat, she had less than a foot of freeboard when she left England loaded with canned food and bags of onions and potatoes. It was not plain sailing, dogged by serious leaks, Southern Ocean knockdowns, complete comms failure in the Indian Ocean, the destruction of his wind-vane self-steering gear and a near- dismasting – but Knox-Johnston sailed steadily on. Without radio his whereabouts were completely unknown for some three months until he managed to signal a passing ship, using a lamp, less than 1,000 miles from the finish. He landed back in Falmouth to massive media and public acclaim. Knox-Johnston donated his prizemoney to Crowhurst’s family. He was awarded a CBE in 1970 and was knighted in 1995.
Now fast forward just under five decades to when Don McIntyre, 62-year-old Australian veteran sailor and adventurer, decided to launch a recreation of the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe. McIntyre finished second in class in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge solo round-the-world race. Over the following decades he has led regular Antarctic sailing and climbing adventures. In 2010 he led the four-man Talisker Bounty challenge to re-enact the Mutiny on the Bountyvoyage from Tonga to West Timor, in a similar boat with the same limited supplies as Captain Bligh had 221 years before. McIntyre tells the story. ‘When the Golden Globe 50th was coming up, I kept thinking I really want to do another solo non-stop. I figured there were other sailors wanting to do the same thing but there was no event for it. The Vendée was now far out of reach financially for ordinary sailors.
‘I thought why not have a retro type of event sailing like it was back in 1968 with virtually no technology, on simple small traditional boats. I just had this strong hunch that some sailors out there would be just like me. I thought if I got 10 entrants it would be fantastic. ‘After I had finalised the concept and before I said anything to anyone I went straight to Robin – we have known each other since 1982. He is a very warm-hearted, generous guy and when he heard about this I think it fair to say that he was quite excited. ‘It is not just a recreation of the original race. It is a salute to Robin, all about the man and the winner of the race and everything that he did – and he is right on side. 100 per cent. He has been from day one and we are very grateful for that.
SEAHORSE 9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
