sailFar.net

Race starts in just a few days now.

http://goldengloberace.com/livetracker/

I was hoping that Virtual Regatta would have a sim set up for it, but I guess it isn't 'big enough'. Although I bet they'd be surprised at how many participated. It'd be a virtual race lasting more than a year, but I would find it a very interesting thing to do, especially if they would put the real life, meatspace skippers positions in and against the virtual fleet.

There are a couple of sailing sims on the Steam gaming platform, and it looks like one named "Sailaway" may have a simGG going, but it costs $23 for the game, which isn't bad, but the hardware end, I'm not sure if any of my old computers can handle the needed specs.

This will be a good keyboard sailing year!
Sven Yrvind is on his way with tracker, Magnus Reslow sets sail any day now for a solo around non stop attempt in an Albin Vega, with tracker, and the GGR!
As no Swedes have entered I can cheer for the skipper of choice and I have a crush on Susie Goodall (but who doesn't?). Jokes aside I really hope that everyone gets to finish. This is a great event for "normal" boats.

An observation - if you zoom in on the live tracker map you see all the boats symbols and their positions are not off by more than a few yards.

May be because race starts July 1, all the boats are still at the dock  :)

Quote from: Cruiser2B on June 30, 2018, 12:31:27 PM
May be because race starts July 1, all the boats are still at the dock  :)

That is my point! The boat symbols are only a few feet away from where I know for certain that the boats are moored. Pretty accurate.

If you have missed it there are frequent live streams, skipper interviews and updates on Facetube. Start tomorrow will be broadcast live with English and french commentary.

One of the debated subjects among keyboard cruisers is if furling headsails are reliable or prone to failure. I have read stories about how behind the chandler i Gibraltar is a pile of roller furlers that have failed on the way there and have had to be replaced.
An observation, all but one of the GGR competitors have all roller furling head sails. One frenchman has chosen the extra speed of designated sails at the cost of having to get on deck and change sails. He is the one presently in the lead.

I am torn between rooting for an American, an Irishman or the Frenchman with no furlers. I am stoked that Peche was first over the line and continues to lead!

[long tired of people thinking that I'm crazy for not wanting a furler on my boat]

Of course, I'm rooting for the guy on the Alberg 36...

Quote from: CapnK on July 05, 2018, 11:44:59 AM
Of course, I'm rooting for the guy on the Alberg 36...

Who is that?

Someone associated with the race made this awesome drawing.

(http://forumbilder.se/H7EVO/ggr.jpg) (http://forumbilder.se/H7EVO/ggr)

6 Yawls and all boats are full keels. No fins :)

Quote from: CharlieJ on July 05, 2018, 03:39:56 PM
6 Yawls and all boats are full keels. No fins :)

Yeah, I noticed the keels too but since they are all designed pre-68 I guess most boats had full keels?

mostly yes, and the cut away forefoot also

My 1961 Meridian-

Quote from: CapnK on July 05, 2018, 11:44:59 AM
Of course, I'm rooting for the guy on the Alberg 36...

It's me. If I was in the race. But I'm not. :( Ariel too small, Alpa too big, and can't afford the CD/Robinhood A-36. But sure would have liked to see how it stocked up against those other boats,using some other guys wallet and time! :D

Quote from: CapnK on July 06, 2018, 03:38:29 PM

Quote from: CapnK on July 05, 2018, 11:44:59 AM
Of course, I'm rooting for the guy on the Alberg 36...

It's me. If I was in the race. But I'm not. :( Ariel too small, Alpa too big, and can't afford the CD/Robinhood A-36. But sure would have liked to see how it stocked up against those other boats,using some other guys wallet and time! :D

I should have guessed! I went through all the skippers presentations to se what I had missed.
The Norwegian fellow, Are Wiig, is sailing a Swedish double ender of the same design (Koster) as my boat so I am making him my champion!

Are Wiig's 32-footer is keeping an even pace with Susie Goodall's Rustler 36!
The double ender design has a surprisingly long waterline.

http://sailboatdata.com/mobilesite/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1638 (http://sailboatdata.com/mobilesite/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1638)

i AM ROOTING FOR ARI ALSO!

The nature of this 50th anniversary race is to my liking, with a wide variety of eligible vessels.  The pool of vessels that are in existence that are in suitable repair to be worth spending money on to get race ready is quite large.  This format allows fairly Spartan entrants to meet the rules, and be realistic competitors.

Spartan does not mean that a large amount of money is not needed, but rather that hundreds of thousands, not million, are possible budgets.  If you read the rules for sponsorships, you find that any sponsor absolutely must be very large, or the fees imposed ($11,000AUS, for example) will prevent the sponsor from actually assisting financially.  Thus, even in the present race, some of the boats are sailing without naming a sponsor.

This format will end with this race, and the next will be a controlled class type race, with two classes, built to specifications, and bought from Golden Globe Race organization, for a fixed price, including identical sets of sails, with the larger vessel priced at E300,000.  That is a recreation of Joshua. A recreation of Robin Knox Johnson's vessel has not yet been finalized, and its price is therefor unknown.

Starting with a basic hull and suit of sails, there is quite a fortune to be spent before any sea trials could be contemplated.  They will be way over a million dollars before stocking with food and other consumables at the beginning of the race.  We can anticipate that the next race will be emblazoned with big sponsor signs extoling Heineken, or whatever.  Yes, it costs a lot of money to tackle such a voyage, but starting with a brand new vessel will not make it less.  As it is, the boat yards doing the modifications to meet the unique requirements of the specific skipper can give a lot of free time and material without out becoming a named sponsor, because their name is well publicized in the information describing the vessel.  The Turkish yard building all the Joshua class boats has no incentive to do so.

I very much approve of the concept of the skipper picking the size shape, and rig that suits his idea of the most suitable for HIM/HER, not someone else.  The example of just one skipper selecting all hank on fore sails shows that one size does not fit all.  So far, his choice is performing to his advantage.  I wonder if the complete set of identical race committee approved sails that all must use will be hank on, or roller furling?  Will all the winches be standard for brand, size and location?

Robin did not win because he was the best sailor, nor because he had the best vessel.  He won because he was sailing a vessel that was just exactly what he wanted it to be, and he supervised its construction. He and his boat fit, and as a result. worked well as a team.  A vessel built for him might not be a fit for a woman or man of smaller physical stature and strength, even though it will be the smaller of the two class vessels built for the next race.

The future of the economy in 2024 is the other gamble on their part, they blew it on this years start, having to move it from England to France due to vanishing sponsors with the uncertainties of BREXIT, how can they gamble on ordering a fleet of Joshua's when there may be no sponsors then?  A fleet of existing vessels, suitably modified, is much more likely to be possible in bad times, and the public interest should be every bit as great for such a fleet.

Even in the present economy, their plan was to limit to 25 racers, with a possibility of 5 more added from the standby's, and many more left at the pier.  The reality is 19 made it to the start, one of them is still at the start, but not withdrawn, and one has withdrawn.  9 days in, and only 17 racers sailing on.  The grand plans are falling short, and to me, their future plan is more likely to fall short than this one.

  With the new format, the regular news will be focused on the price and cost of these identical racers, just as they do for the America's Cup.  So far, I have not seen or heard any reporting of the cost of the present fleet, just coverage of the modifications made by a skipper to improve the safety of his vessel, and even then, no dollars discussed.

I really do hope that this GGR is a success, it is the type of race that appeals to me.

Unfortunately, none of my opinions are particularly relevant, as I did not even have the get up and go to enter this years GGR, and next year is even less possible.

Norman

Interesting  note that three boat designs, Rustler, Endurance and Tradewind are each bunched together, with Rustlers in the lead and Tradewinds in the rear.  Whether this will be how all the legs go is anyone's guess, but probably no.  Not enough time and distance has elapsed.

I, personally, will hate to see a single, or a couple, boat designs built for this race format.  That is simply too much money for a single race in my view.  I, obviously, do not follow the hugely expensive races.  Let the entrants select from the roster of existing boats and do their magic with them.  Skill, stamina and ability to make one's own luck are what I like to see.

Good thoughts, both Norm and PJ.

Maybe if they wouldn't limit boat choice in any way other than age (to keep out modern day sleds), but just put a cap on spending - say no more than $200K. I didn't realize that the organizers were creating their own little despotic fiefdom of a yacht race, but that sure is what it looks like is happening. A real shame, that.

There is also la "Longue route" which has even fewer rules than the Jester challenge.
Sail the boat you have, when you want, in any way you want.

http://www.longueroute2018.com/ (http://www.longueroute2018.com/)

CapnK, I am not certain that they are creating a fiefdom, but there are a lot of rules.  Perhaps the $300,000 plus the sails and rigging are in line with costs in 1968.  Seahusky, I like the "Longue Route" as a pilgrimage to honor those gone before.

Are Wilg, sailing his little double ender, is moving up nicely in the fleet, and now in 4th place.  That is impressive sailing.  Susie Goodall is next behind him.  So far the sailors and boats who excel in light air are favored, and will be for quite a while on the west coast of Africa.  That is predicted to change as they approach the Cape, but that is far off, and may change.  Great fun to watch the live feed.

Norman

Quote from: Norman on July 11, 2018, 08:49:49 AM
So far the sailors and boats who excel in light air are favored, and will be for quite a while on the west coast of Africa.  That is predicted to change as they approach the Cape, but that is far off, and may change.  Great fun to watch the live feed.

Philippe Péché, who has been in front since the start is the only one using hank on sails and apparently has an enormous genua for light airs.

That is the major advantage of hank on sails.  You hoist a sail that is designed, corner to corner, for the same conditions, not one that can be rolled up into a heavy weather one, meaning the outer portion was too heavy for the light winds when completely unfurled.

I have raced a lot on roller furling vessels, and rarely did the weight of fabric in the sail match the wind, but when it did, we were much more competitive than the vessels around us.

Many years ago, sailing on a class boat that was dedicated to speed, the owner checked the forecast, measured the local wind, and only then selected which of his 3 main sails would be used for the races that day.  The boat was a Lightning, and in a race, we sailed in as much as 20 K wind, and for fun in the after flow from a hurricane, 30 K.  He did have a reef in his heaviest main sail, and we used the reef both times.  Both times, the wind was perpendicular to the river, and all sailing was on reaches.

Pesche gave up a lot of lead, apparently due to either the inability to get a sun sight, or a miss calculated one, and sailed far past the gate in the Canaries, but even after sailing back , he is still well in the lead.

Are Wiig, I believe that I have spelled it right this time, is steadily improving his position.  I am still rooting for the smallest boat!

Mark Slats must really be rowing hard, as he also is advancing well, but he has been among he leaders from the start.

The tail enders seem to have entered a low wind area early in the race, and are having a tough time recovering.

This is a fun race to follow so far.

Norman

Comparing boats:

The smallest, OE 32
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1638 (http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1638)

The most common (7 of 16) Rustler 36
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3696 (http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3696)

Endurance 35
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1543 (http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1543)

Interesting that the smallest boat has the longest waterline. It also has a larger Sail Area/Disp. than the Rustler.
Is this the reason Are Wiig could catch up with, and overtake, Suzie Goodall?

Antoine Cousat is having windpilot troubles, and making very few nm per day.  Apparently, he is either unable, or does not try sheet to tiller to get some non tiller time.  A real shame, as that would allow less than optimum trim and speed, but much more than he is obtaining hand steering  85 nm, vs 126 for the leaders for the last day, and he is not even to the Canary check point.

Looking ahead on the wind forecast, there are going to be some difficult choices to make when the wind changes from the northerly direction, to southerly.  Whether to go off shore, or stay close to shore, will depend on which day you arrive.  Without modern access to the map, the choice will be difficult to get right.  The boats further back will have even worse conditions than the leaders, IF the forecast is right.

Are Wiig continues to do well in the wind and sea conditions that he is encountering.  A bit further, as he is working to windward, that relatively blunt bow will start to slow him, but who knows, he may have helming skills that overcome that.  He hoisted a jib with his Genoa to lift the bow, and keep from diving into the wave ahead on the fast downwind, so may have the skill and familiarity with this hull shape to still excel to windward.

The best news is that no more boats have dropped out.

Norman

I agree, this is a really fun race to follow! It's only been two weeks of the total nine months but we are already discussing hours.
Are Wiig made a mistake when he chose to pass east of Lanzarote and has almost lost his lead over the group. Mark Slats is now second.
In a few days they will be in the doldrums. Phillipe has a huge genua but Mark has oars...

The doldrums have some wind close to shore, and McGuckin seems to be planning to take advantage of that, as he has sailed near the coast.  The wind gradually shifts to onshore as they travel south.

Cousot has stopped at the checkpoint, and if the GPS  is literally correct, he is in a slip, and out of the primary race, but he may actually be just outside the marina, at anchor, working on his wind pilot.  I am visualizing him in his dinghy, at the stern, trying not to drop any essential piece into the water.  Most of his experience has been deliveries, which normally have at least two on board, and luxury cruises, which always have adequate crew, so he may have relatively little experience with wind pilots.
Some are hard to tune for proper gain, sensitivity, and power, and each of those affects the other two.  Getting them to work down  wind is the hardest.  Nearly all the initial sailing has been downwind.

I wish him well in finding his solution, and rejoining the race.  He may get under way before Farebrother passes him, which will be a psychological boost.  Otherwise, he falls to last.

Tomy took a course to much to the west leaving the checkpoint, and LePage passed him.  Errors coming in to the island are more expected, as the overcast skies prevented sun sights for days, and errors built up in ded reckoning.

So far, Rustler is the boat to have!

Norman

Great commentary! I can learn a lot from this.
Rustlers in the lead but Are Wiig is still holding his position among them.

Sea Husky, first I watch the progress, next go to the skippers pages for the ones who seem to be doing especially badly, and then their dispatches.  Then, the reasons for slow begin to make sense.  The age and nature of their sailing history is a major factor, and I suspect advanced age will become more critical in the 40's, where both debilitating weather, and increasing demands for energy to keep the vessel under control will tax age more than youth.  Youth, on the other hand will be meeting conditions that they have never experienced, and gain the insights that the leaders already have.  They will have to pass the test on sailing 40 foot waves on the first encounter.  There is no choice.  The present leader has already passed that test.

Couton seems to have little mechanical background, and that may explain his inability in getting the wind pilot working properly.  Mark Slats is very much mechanical, and I would expect that he would do a more effective preparation of the moving parts to make sure that all was perfect before departing.  Once under way, this ability should result in rapid repair of failures.  These are arbitrarily chosen examples of the things that I am looking to find, from the limited sources on the site.

The wind overlay indicates that Mark Slats should have stronger wind than the two Frenchmen as they pass La Guera Point, the inshore wind is favorable.  If Are similarly moves inshore, he should move up as well.  Just past Dakar, the offshore winds become quite light, and again, closer in is favored.  This might change as they arrive there, though.

The unpredictable factor is the chance meeting of commercial shipping, within VHF range, and the ability to legally obtain exact position to update DED reckoning, and also weather conditions.  The original racers had this opportunity as well, and that is why it is legal now.

That saved Pesche's lead, when he far overshot the gate, saw a commercial vessel, obtained his position, reversed course, and beat to windward to reach the gate.  A few more hours before turning would have put him in second or third.  At that time, overcast skies hampered all of them in attempting to get accurate fixes.  His DED reckoning seems to have had a large error.

Cousot and Farebrother seem to be within a few hundred yards of each other, and settled in for repairs in calm water.  As far back as they both are, they may stay overnight, and make departure in daylight, much rested.

Are Wiig "rift" his asymmetrical, and took it down.  Later he complimented his suppliers on their choice of repair material, as they were both the correct products, and suitable quantities.  Obviously, the sailing of his vessel is not overpowering his attention and endurance, routine maintenance is done soon after the "rift".  Others further back do not have this luxury.

I do wish that I could read the messages in French, but I took that language for one semester 70 years ago.

A real issue, though, is will I and others on this board continue to watch and update 1 month, or 6 from now.  I certainly hope we do, as these vessel are just moderately larger than the size we laud here.

Norman

Copied from GGR official FaceTube:

QuoteNabil Amra is returning to Marina Rubicón into strong head winds after damaging his windvane self steering gear in 30-35kt tail winds...it will be a struggle beating back....LATEST SAT TEXT messages from entrants below. PRB - Philippe Péché will be worried about this as he also chose the same BEAUFORT Self steering gear made in France. Some people believe that while it steers the boats well they are not so strong and appear a light build in manufacture. This saves weight and keeps the boat moving fast but there is three months of hard running in the Southern Ocean yet to come??

Nabil is still progressing to the south, slowly.  He must be attempting a repair at sea, rather than give up that much time and distance.  He is another whose bio leaves some doubt of his mechanical skills, but since the information is so short, may just be incomplete.

We can hope that he gets it working and under way soon.

Couton and Farebrother remain in port, but the GPS location moves enough to give hope they are not in slips.

Norman

Peche crossed close ahead of Slats, and is now closer to shore, and increasing his lead again.  How they make their decisions to move closer or further from the coast in anticipation of better wind and sea conditions is a mystery for us!

Naturally, further out provides more safety from navigational errors, until the Cape Verde Islands.

McGuckin, after a close approach to shore, has headed back out to the deep water, and safety from nav errors, plus poorer winds.

Susie reports taking a wave into the cabin, everything soaked.  Waves of that sort are the ones that damage less robust wind pilots as they come over the stern.  It also illustrates the danger of sailing without being securely battened down except when entering or leaving the cabin.  Lessons learned now may save her in the 40's.

Nabil continues drifting, so repair attempt is under way,  Really hope he is successful.

Norman

Thank you, Norman for the excellent commentary and analysis. I will be following them through you!  :-) 

Grog

The wind vanes certainly have been the one failure mode that has moved boats to the rear of the pack, and has hampered even some in the middle from sailing to their true potential.  Radio troubles come and go, but do not slow the boat, or exhaust the sailor.  Poor position calculations, whether by bad DED reckoning, or difficulty getting an astronomical fix, seems to be second.

Nabil has made  it to the southern most Canary Island, Tenerife, and is in the marina.  It is not certain if he will continue after repairs, or resign from the race.  If he continues as a Chichester, he will be racing Cousot, who at this moment is still well behind him.

The leaders continue to spread out and open up the difference between them, and if he remains on his present course, Are Wiig will pass west of some of the Cape Verde Islands.

It is amazing to me that Peche has continuously held the lead the entire race, while the next 2 positions change repeatedly.  The lead once was reduced to single digits, but he opens it up again.

Looking at pictures of Ohpenn, I have realized that Slats, at least then, also had hank on sails, so perhaps there are two competitors so equipped, and both right up there striving for the lead.

Peche has now sailed 10% of the total distance, but this is the easy segment.

The real test will not come until they round the cape, and turn east. They are approximately 1/3 of the way to that turning point and check in

That was observant!
Both of the leading boats have hank on sails. I,ll see if I can find any more.

Mark Slats, Ohpen
(https://www.sail-world.com/photos/goldengloberace/yysw213438.jpg)

Phillipe Peche, PRB
(http://goldengloberace.com/app/uploads/2016/10/Philippe-Pe%CC%81che%CC%81-Rustler-0418.jpg)

Edit: Antoine Cousot, now in the Chichester Class.
(https://scontent.fbma1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/37361156_2079572508962803_2696770021962547200_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=bab988ec3762615fe0d2858e2d05f154&oe=5BE7810A)

I have a growing suspicion that the GGR staff are reading SailFar. This is the latest on FaceTube...

QuoteThe GGR is above everything else an adventure to the very end, where you must finish. You must pace yourself looking after your boat and gear, but it is also a RACE for those who want to win at all cost. But what price are they prepared to pay? Some have already bet their position by the simple decision to NOT take headsail furling gear, or to FIT all headsail furling gear. ? We have seen what happens with windvane Self-steering gear! Get it wrong and you are out! The next issue to effect sailors will be Hanked sails or Furling sails...WHO got it right? And who got it wrong!! ...we may see very soon.

WE hope to discuss all these issues and review the GGR late today with a LIVE FB discussion here in Marina Rubicón. Watch out for it and keep up with the latest on the LIVE TRACER. ......Don :)

All hail hanks!!

And continued thanks to Norman for his commentary.

Nabil Amra is out of the race completely.

He is an American born Palestinian, and hoped that by competing under the Palestinian flag, he would increase positive views of his countrymen.  Most of his experience was in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and not solo.  Fitting out his vessel was delayed to April, and he had a very tight schedule to get it approved, and his shakedown completed.  I suspect that there were issues that were accepted as unavoidable prices for the quest to be at the starting line on time.  such things will often come back at the worst time, and he is fortunate that he was not in the 40's when the failure occurred.

His wind vane steering did not perform suitably, requiring much hand steering, and eventually a weld broke.  He drifted under bare poles for a day or so, and jury rigged a repair, but it was inadequate, so he sailed to Tenerife.

He is safe in Tenerife, in the Yacht Harbor, and he and his sailboat are in good shape. Primarily the failed weld is the issue. Solo means that you have no presence of another to either help adjust, figure out, or repair what ever goes wrong, and limited contact by radio with the outside world for emotional support. With a steering device that is not doing its job, even using the radio becomes near impossible.

The leaders in the race are all very experienced with the self steering devices they are depending on, and have extensive previous time alone in difficult environments.

Turning off your transponder is the definitive action of removing yourself, and he has done that. Only Nabil can do that, it is a personal decision.

Rick, when you next communicate with him, give him my best wishes and sympathy for his need to bring his participation to an end. I recognized the huge amount of his personal energy that has gone into this, and admire both what he has tried to do, and the personal price paid in the decision to end it there and return to his other life. Both take personal courage.

Norman

I have been having trouble logging in to the full home page today.

A skipper reported putting the helm hard over to avoid  being run down by a large cargo vessel.

I have come to believe that the organizers should have required an AIS in the sealed package, with an alarm to alert the racers of the presence of a transponder equipped vessel so that they would be alerted even if asleep.  That would not aid them in sailing or navigating, just save their lives.

Bernard Moittessier had some close calls, and occasionally worried about the possibility, but in those days, there was usually at least a helmsman at the wheel at all times.

In his book, The Long Way", he debated whether to go close to the coast of Africa, or further out for the best wind, and it is fascinating to watch the tracks of the various competitors take all the various options, and when the wind overlay is turned on, see that it is purely a gamble, as the doldrums drift aimlessly about.

A surprising number of sails have been ripped, including mainsails.  Moittessier  had at last two, of very different strength, both with 3 reefs, and also two mizzens, three reefs.

Reading his book, I have to keep reminding myself that he was sailing the race in 1968, and the political state of the region, which was very different from when he grew up there, and sailed a junk rig cargo ship, hauling rice and lumber.

The steering problems are settling out, presumably the skippers are learning how to make them work as they are designed to.  Are Wiig developed trouble, but it was a tailing line tangled into the rudder.

The real challenges are still well ahead of them.

Norman

Quote from: Norman on July 21, 2018, 03:38:15 PM
A surprising number of sails have been ripped, including mainsails.  Moittessier  had at last two, of very different strength, both with 3 reefs, and also two mizzens, three reefs.

I have a feeling that they are "racing" too hard in the beginning, pushing their boats and equipment to the point of failure or stress induced weaknesses that may haunt them later?

Every one is constantly changing course trying to find wind.
I wonder if they would have been more successful by simply holdig their heading and sailing through it?

When Moittessier sailed through this region, he had 360 degree shifts in a few hours time, all very light.  He was flying his large, light weight Genua, created especially for such conditions.

That is even more frustrating than becalmed, you cannot afford to take a swim or nap, there are miles to be made, but if you simply leave it to the wind vane, you may find that it is now sailing back toward the start.

With the leaders in the doldrums, Cousot is rapidly closing the gap caused by his stop.

Also interesting is that the leaders took widely different routes past the Cape Verde's, close to Africa, down the middle, just east of the islands, and west of them.  The results seem to be the same for all.

Mild criticism of the organizers, any skipper who falls out of the main event should not disappear from the leader board, they should just cross a line separating the GGRs from Chichesters and Carrozos..  If they are in an official class, recognize them, let their fans follow accurately how they are doing in comparison to the fleet.

I wonder what the organizers would do if all competitors EXCEPT the late starting Italien skipper broke and did not finish.  In the original, each vessel started at their convenient time.  We, and they, must remember that only one finished the first race, and he was by far not the fastest vessel there, nor the ruggedest.

On a very positive note, after the early troubles of many skippers, the fleet is settling down to steady progress.

Norman

Mark Sinclair reported that the wind boxed the compass.  Relying on the wind vane to steer would have simply sailed a circle, and a wobbly one at that.  To make any progress, the skippers must helm constantly, and re trim sails, or they may lose distance made good.  At this point, the leaders are out to the south, and making good progress.

Suzzie Goodall posted today,'Last fresh veggies today, wind at last'.  She is in 6th, and is finally out of the doldrums (unless they shift south, they are not a place, just a barometric pressure relative to the area).

I previously posted that the organizers should continue to track the skippers who downgrade to a lesser status.  I find that they do, at the top of the leader board, is a drop down menu to chose GGR or Chichester.  Why do they have a Carrozo if they are not going to track their progress against the GGR's?  Dump them completely, or fully track and compare them.  In the same vein, the progress of Suhaili is on the live tracker, based on Robin's logged positions in the original race, but not in the leader board.  Additionally,since the official vessel of the next GGR is going to be Joshua, Moittessier's vessel, they should be tracking his voyage too, as they are Suhaili's.  He was the man to beat until he passed the Falkland Islands.

Abhilash Tomy, from India, is sailing in the only wood vessel, a copy of Suhaili, created in the same region, and with the same materials as Robin's vessel.  For that he should get a positive handicap.

These should be controversial opinions, tell us what you think.  Obviously greater minds than mine made the decisions for these rules.

What do you think?

Norman

I agree that all competitors who are still sailing should be tracked and presented equally. Why have a Chichester class if you are going to treat it as inferior? As you pointed out, before the race is over they may all be in that class.
Showing Suhali is good and sure, it would be interesting to see Montessier also but then why not show all the original boats, and then you come to the question of Donald Crowhurst...
I think the discussion may have gone along those lines when the event was planned.
I don't agree that Abhilash Tomy should be given a handicap for choosing an inferior, although very symbolic, boat but they could have made a point of comparing him against Suhali.
Regarding Crowhurst, I am not sure if it would be a fine gesture to commemorate him or if it would give the race bad publicity? One entrant realized after the first week that this was psychologically overwhelming for him which shows just how demanding such a race actually is. I attribute his ability to make this very difficult decision to his judgement as a skilled mountaineer.

Crowhurst quit the race, his escapades are irrelevant to the race.

I agree that Abhilash Tomy is racing against Robin, more than the rest of the fleet, but the weather in the low latitudes was mild in the original race.  Moittessier commented in his book that his trip south of Australia and New Zealand was the easiest he had ever experienced.  Hopefully, the fleet will have a similar weather pattern this race.

An interesting sidelight on the race rules, limiting the competitors to mono hull, ignores that there were several two and three hull competitors in the original race.  Just because they all failed to reach the finish line seems to be a poor reason to eliminate them from this race.  What if Crowhurst had carried off his charade successfully, and won the race?  Would the current race require multi hull for all?

I have just read Moittessier's book, and the first portion, until the opportunity to turn north to his favorite Pacific islands began to torment him, an excellent book.  From there he turned into a 60's hippie, and his moral wanderings began.  Skipping over this excuse for abandoning the race, the Appendix at the end is the most compact compendium of essential information for preparing a boat for blue water cruising that I have read.  Unfortunately, this a library book, and worse, one transferred from a different county, so I am limited as to how long I may keep it.  I would like to follow what he experienced in similar waters as the current competitors.

No, I am not interested in buying a copy, I am currently carefully decreasing the size of my library, and rather than go backwards on this endeavor, I am only reading new books from the library.

From his book, I am amazed at what a stone simple wind vane he used, with near complete satisfaction.  Without attempting to quote chapter and verse, though, his Appendix has a rosier description than my memory of his actual description of the voyage.  The difference is not really material to the performance.  The complex contrivances used today have the POSSIBILITY of more accurate steering, and easier course setting, but at a cost if you do not fully understand the adjustments required to simply make them work.  I believe he said that he broke 6 vane blades, but still had more.  That was the only fragile component, and was easily replaced.


Norman

(http://old.caphorn.com/sections/article/Pilotage-Moitessier.jpg)

http://caphorn.com/en/yves-gelinas-on-self-steering/ (http://caphorn.com/en/yves-gelinas-on-self-steering/)

One feature that I missed, the link from the tiller to the wheel in the cabin "turret" steering station used when the vane was broken, or unsuitable for the conditions.  The Apendics text seems to not count that time as hand steering, just tiller time.  Total vane steering time remains very high.

Some of this races skippers have already done more hand steering than he did in the entire sail around to the Atlantic Ocean.

A very thin piece of plywood cannot creat forces that can put a one inch pipe at risk, so it is sacrificed repeatedly, saving the rest of the system.

The clamp bolt to set the heading is a potential weak link, but apparently caused no problems.  Release the clamp, helm to desired heading, clamp, trim the sails.  Check heading, repeat if necessary, fix lunch.

The order behind the two leaders has changed many times that I have not seen, as the distance between many of them is small, in miles to finish, but they are far away east and west.  They pass, and are passed, completely unaware, and unrecorded in my occasional perusal of the standing on the leader board.  Goodall/Slats is an example, from last night to this morning.

There are still 12 boats racing for the GGR trophy, and the chance of variable weather driving one from the rear to the front is not small in the 40's.

  A cautious sailor who takes a route that proves to have more manageable winds and seas, versus a leader reduced to storm jib and fully reefed main in huge waves, might sail by the whole fleet.  Mark Sinclair is my dark horse pick in that category, especially as he is an Australian.

The lead remains unchanged, but the top 5 are in continuous contention.  Van Den Heede is 248 miles behind Peche,  but far east of him.

Last night Suzzie Goodall rose to 3rd, today she is 4th.  Mark Slats is just 3 miles ahead, but nearly 600 miles away, across the Atlantic, about 300 miles off Brazil.

Mark Slats in the last few days has gone from 3rd to 5th, and is back to 3rd as he sailed far west to get in favorable winds.  Peche has followed, not as far, but is now 700 miles from Brazil, with a 319 mile lead on Slats.

Moitessier also sailed nearly to Brazil to get a combination of favorable direction of wind, and more stable velocity, with a higher average but lower maximum, to make up for a greater distance.

Abhilash Tomy is now 10th, with the wooden Suhaili.

Are Wiig has dropped to 6th.

McGuckin 7th, is now sailing for Brazil, and is one of the 4 that are the furthest west, so if the winds are indeed as they were in Moitessier's time, he should rise in the standings.  The wind smooths out as it gets further from Africa, and fewer sail changes are necessary to keep the boat at its maximum performance.

Lehtinen at 8th, is in a clump of boats off the African coast, containing all the 3rd through 8th except Slats.  Will the shorter distance prove an advantage?  The wind will decide!

The synthetic Robin in Suhaili, is in the equivalent of 12th, and heading toward a route more westerly than the fleet has taken, and his present direction will take him to Slats present location.

I wonder where Moitessier's log would place him now?  I wonder if his exclusion is the penalty for failing to dash for the finish, leaving Robin to be not just the first, but the last, and only boat to arrive there?  A race with out a second place finisher looses its luster.

Update on some technical topics.

In an earlier post, I wondered why the GGR did not include AIS in their safety package.  In fact, they did, plus a radar transponder with alarm.  I am now wondering why a skipper had to go hard over on his tiller for a large cargo ship coming up behind him.  Perhaps he expected that they would, as the regulations require, change course to give him a wide berth, and they either did not see him, or felt that 100 feet was sufficient.  They may also have passed close enough to get a good look at his boat, out of curiosity.

Note that the HYDROVANE is a sponsor, but many of the competitors are not using it.  The text quoted here is from a promotional piece, not the rules.  The point being made was that the additional equipment cost if you already had a suitable boat was low.

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.



22 radio's in all, of one purpose or another, is quite an electronics package, and the redundancy is impressive.

Thanks for the gear list; interesting to peruse.

Hi Bubba, glad you are enjoying the race.

And now there are 13!

Istvan Kopar requested a review of his sat phone call and port entry, where he only anchored to deal with the wind vane.  He received no advantage from either, no outside assistance occurred.  He has been assessed a total penalty of 24 hours, and returned to the GGR leader board.  A very fair treatment.

He did succeeded in repairing his wind vane, and is now making good progress.

I think that the committee is aware that loosing a competitor this early in the race over a trivial issue could prove very bad later, if too many entrants have troubles that cannot be overcome, and must drop out.  As I have previously pointed out, the worst race end would be if the first, and last boat finishing were the same boat.  Keeping as many entrants as possible increases the odds of avoiding that outcome.  Really, they are now down to 13, one entrant above half the intended maximum fleet, 25, and before restoring him, 12,  one below that magic number.

There can be little doubt that there will be unavoidable retirements south of Australia and New Zealand.  The challenges to both man and machine there are often severe to the extreme.

  Norman

About the constant shifts on the leader board, I read a comment from the organizers that the boats positions are measured as a distance to a waypoint somewhere south of Africa toward which the boats are not heading so the leader board is currently not true to actual placement.

On another topic, the Swedish sailor Anders Eriksson participating in "Longue route" on his OR 40 "Malala" has decided to abandon the race. He has for many years had a dodgy shoulder which has not been a problem until now. While changing sails up on deck in large seas an overhaul made him lose his balance and his shoulder prevented the reflexive grab of the hand rail resulting in a fall. He did not hurt himself but realised that continuing would not be safe. After buying the boat and three years of preparation that was not an easy decision to make. He says that his voyage is now a pleasure cruise to Brazil.

Norman, I agree with your assessment. I think it was a fair penalty and I think the organizers were wise to keep him in the race.

I don't remember RKJ discussing Moitessier's choice to sail on in his own book about the race, A World of My Own. I suppose he was right to focus on his own victory. I'm just curious to know his thoughts at the time. He can be an irascible guy, but then again -- he won it. Not much else to worry about.

SeaHusky - that's a curious. At one point I thought I was looking at an estimated finish time. I didn't pay much attention; I'll have to look again.

There are two confusing items in the calculation of place in the race.  They take the staight line distance to the Cape of Good Hope check point.

The wind in the South Atlantic flows in a counter clockwise direction, highest velocity furthest from the center.  Thus, along the African coast, you are nearest the turning point, beating to windward.  The fastest route is across to Brazil, south, then west to Good Hope.  It is a little like going through town with 30 mile limits, or around on the bypass, with 60 mile limits.  Even if the difference is twice as far, if the through town trip has one stop light, you loose.

Mark Slats went west earliest, and farthest, falling from 3rd to 8th, but he may really be in the fast lane compared to all the rest.

Peche has just dropped out of the lead, for the first time, but he has headed further to the west than the new leader, and now is the second furthest west.

Jean Luc van den Heede, the new leader, may not hold the lead long, unless there is a variation in the weather pattern (could such a thing happen?), and he finds he has as much wind as they, and in the right direction.

Gregor is following Mark Slats, and is the dark horse here, as if the wind is really good next to Brazil, he may wind up with only Mark ahead of him.  That is unlikely, but worth the gamble.

Suhaili is pointed toward Brazil as well, set to take the traditional windjammer route.  Joshua did the same 50 years ago.

Who knows what will become of the flotilla of boats following the coast?

Norman

PS Mark Slats is the only boat to sail more than 4000 miles so far.  Technically, that makes him the fastest!  He is finding the best wind.  Or could that be the miles he rowed in the doldrums?

Jean Luc Van Den Heede has the second most miles sailed, just a trifle ahead of Peche.

Norman

I just spent some time with Bowditch, issue #9.  previous owner bought it in 1962, Daniel Gearhart.  Before that a smudged Scandinavian name, and date 1952.  Date of publication, unknown, for some reason, the page where such would normally be found has all data except the date of publication.

The main point of interest was the wind chapter, and specifically the trade wind charts and text.  It seems a bit like cheating to turn on the wind overlay to see what is actually happening, rather than use the sources that the competitors themselves are using, albeit on a much smaller scale than they use.  The text warns that the standard flows are often distorted by shifting lows and highs, and substantial variability in actual velocity in a particular place and time will be experienced.

This is obviously true, as the competitors speed indicates that they are experiencing variations, with in particular Mark slats in an area that should have the best combination of velocity and direction, as found in #9, but is under performing the last several times I checked.  On the other hand, he continues to have the fastest boat speed of them all.  He has turned more to the east, and time will tell which route is indeed faster.

The ghost of Suhaili is far behind them all, and is now headed to the S.  I have RKJ's book, and today read up to his crossing of the equator,so I am ahead of the location of the ghost.

Other than Susie losing her spinnaker pole to the ocean, the fleet is progressing with little trouble, and passing one another while many miles, even hundreds of miles apart.  Not many days south of them, there is developing an area of winds that will tax them severely, but that is beyond there awareness. Their barometer may be hinting, though.

RKJ, in this initial leg of the journey, completed quite a bit of repairs and tuning of his rig, even caulking two seams of his garboard strake, which were leaking badly.  The doldrums have their value.  At the time of this posting, he had the astonishing speed of 10.1 knots!

There should not be much excitement until the racers approach the next check point near the Cape of Good Hope.  There the true lead will become clear.

The positions, miles behind, and miles traveled for those past 4000
Van Den Heede      0     4385
Peche                   53    4347
Randmaa             354    4012
Wiig                     402    4086
Lehtinen               432
Goodall                 442   4105
Zeretsky                610
McGuckin               821   4242
Tome Suhaili copy  859   4076
Lepage                  904
Slats                      925   4425
Sinclair                 1029
Kopar                   1142
Suhaili's ghost          ?not shown n the chart?

As you can see, the miles sailed do not make a leader, but the leaders do have nearly the highest miles sailed.  Randmaa in particular has high efficiency in his sailing as seen from the ratio of miles sailed and distance behind.

Norman

Half a century ago, I had 4 year old, and 2 year old sons, and I do not remember following this race.  The news was on the Vietnam war, constantly, and this race would not have been mentioned in this country most weeks, let alone days. Communications with the racers was sparse, so little was really known even in England or France.

Present day news is not too much different, if Kurt had not posted the link, would we be following the Golden Globe Race?  The link he posted does not go to the best part of the site any more, and I use   https://goldengloberace.com/  which works better.

The live track is here   https://goldengloberace.com/livetracker/   .

The positions, miles behind, and miles traveled for those past 4000
The last 2 columns are the position and miles behind a day later

1  Van Den Heede        0     4385       1        0
2  Peche                     -53    4347       2     -38
3  Randmaa               -354    4012      4    -450
4  Wiig                     - 402    4086       5    -442
5  Lehtinen                -432                  3    -435
6  Goodall                 - 442   4105       7
7  Zeretsky               - 610                  6
8  McGuckin                -821   4242     10
9  Tome Suhaili copy   -859   4076       9
10 Lepage                  -904                 8
11 Slats                     - 925   4425     12
12 Sinclair                 -1029               13    -1158
13 Kopar                   -1142               11
14 Suhaili's ghost          ?Miles not shown n the chart?

Nine changes of position in the last 24 hours!

Peche had a 122 mile run, and closed on the leader.
Randmaa, just 42 miles, and slid back from 2nd to 3rd.
Wiig was also in some poor wind, just 35 miles made good, and slid a position too.
Lehtinen did 89 miles, and rose 2 places.
Zaretsky and Goodall changed places.
Slats, 24 miles and McGuckin, -5, are obviously in the wrong place, and both dropped back.
Kopar had a 116 mile run, and moved up 2 places.

Clearly, no one is in a position where they can be confident of their standing, the wind is still the deciding factor, followed by choice of route.

Sinclair is falling further behind, but his cautious sailing may prove to be valuable when he reaches the 40's south of Australia, or else "caution never wins races", and he is just out of the running.  Time and weather will tell.

Suhaili's ghost only updates at erratic intervals, five so far, so we do not know if it is currently gaining, but that last segment at an average 10.1 knot, if repeated, will put it right up with the fleet.  No one this year is even putting in a single day at that rate, 242 miles a day, and he averaged it.

It seems strange to me that 2 boats have had broken halyards this early in the race, could they have started with their old ones, expecting to replace them before reaching the roaring forties?  I believe that I remember Moittessier doing that.

Aaarrrrgh!!  My hank-on hero has dropped out of the GGR class.

https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2018/08/11/golden-globe-disaster-philippe-peche/ (https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2018/08/11/golden-globe-disaster-philippe-peche/)

Bummer!
I guess that he was tired, stressed and didn't realize what making a call to his support would entail.
It's 41 days now and according to the organizers the weekly calls have started to reveal mental stress on the sailors. Some seem to question their reasons for doing this adventure but they also said that Susie Goodall was "doing it for all the right reasons" and Are Wiig and captain Coconut were "having a ball"!

Further on in the article it says his tiller broke. He had already used the spares to repair his windvane and therefore could not fix his tiller.

They say he called his partner and then Race Officials. I imagine he called home first to say he was out. Now he's lying ahull in the Southern Atlantic; not where I'd want to do that!!

Comment was made earlier in the race when other less experienced skippers were having serious wind vane problems, that the leaders had the same one.  The vanes are definitely the Achilles heels of the racers.

Van den Heede has also had a bolt shear, and replaced it, so even though they are not into the really demanding seas and wind, nearly every one has had some wind vane malfunction. We do not know if he has had any other 'minor' repairs that remain unreported.

Without a reliable vane steering the vessel, life is extremely hard and dangerous.

When Robin's vane controlled rudder broke, he installed the spare, then hack sawed the handle off his large pipe wrench, inserted it in the square tube, riveted it in pace with heated nails, for a spare, and kept on going.

Moitessier had many failures, but his system was so strong in its key parts, and so weak in the vane itself, that only the vane failed.  It was intentionally fragile, and he had many of them.  They were held in place by a single bolt, and easily replaced.

I am surprised that Peche did not have enough spare parts to do a repair on the tiller and also the vane steering gear.

4 days ago, Slats was in 12th place, today he is in second.  Although he is many miles behind first, his route is proving to be a good choice, putting him ahead of all but the fastest boats in the fleet, and we do not know if their lead was at the expense of driving their boats too hard.  Robin Knox Johnson often worried whether he was driving too hard, and risking equipment failure, and sometimes eased of a good bit, reasoning that to win, you must finish.

Since I do not read french, I have not been attempting to keep up with the old leaders daily comments, so do not directly know if they have been reporting earlier failures.

Norman

In the excitement of the start of the GGR, it was easy to view the race as a sprint.  The GGR is a marathon and should be sailed that way.  RNJ was correct in his statement "you have to finish".

I also get the impression that it was very stressful to find and buy a suitable boat, refit and equip it, sail it the required distance and get it to fill all the requirements even though they had 2-3 years to do it in.

 Phantom Jim said

"The GGR is a marathon and should be sailed that way"

The point is correct, and I agree, far from a sprint, but even a marathon is over in a single day.

Way off topic, I have known a dedicated marathoner.  He ran the Takoma Park, MD July 4th marathon every year, rain or shine.  His occupation was a high voltage transmission line patroller for Potomac Electric Power Co.  I worked there too, in the substations associated with the lines, and met him from time to time.  To build up for a marathon, he ran the power line right of way from Washington DC to Baltimore, and back, about 50 miles, up and down hills, mostly on dirt or gravel.

When he was older and retired, he eased off and ran only one way, his wife met him and drove him home.  He quit marathons at about 80, when, finally he became the last one to the finish line.  He hated to be the guy with the ambulance following him!

He doubtless had a bit in common with the older competitors in the GGR.

Robin had more equipment problems and failures than any of this years entrants, to this point of the race, yet he found solutions and carried on.
He was knocked down before he reached the 40's or turned the Cape of Good Hope, which shifted the cabin on the deck, and cracked two of his three water tanks, his batteries were tumbled out of their shelf.  Al that had to "put right" to continue.  Cape Town was ahead, but he declined to quit.  He woud not give up the advantage of an early start that made it possible to beat the faster boats, such as Moitessier's Joshua, that were two months behind him.  He knew that arriving early risked storms, but he also needed the early start to reach the Horn before the mild weather there ended.

He was just as tough as his Suhaili, it was not broken, and neither was he.

Norman

I find it interesting that Peche had a custom specialized tiller, but used the spares for it to repair his windvane. I don't know what the tiller was but I don't like gadgets; complexity makes for fragility in my opinion.

Peche's tiller was "telescoped alloy tubing", and when the wind vane failed, apparently structurally, he used some of that tubing for the repairs.  I do not read french, so do not know if he reported that in a form that the general visitors to the site could know about, certainly I did not.  That failure and repair may have been many days ago.

A larger supply of the materials was needed, and in hind sight, both devices should have been more robust.  50 years ago, a supply of wood was a near universal repair store, and if a shortage of a particular size occurred, pieces of the vessel itself were scavenged for use .  That is harder to do on a plastic and metal vessel, so more pieces of metal need to be on board.  Fiberglass repairs material is more generic, more "one size its all".

There is a new issue coming up that I did not foresee, in the structure of the race rules.  The original GGR gave the entrants full discretion as to route, and both RKN and Moitessier avoided land and shipping lanes, even if it increased the distance sailed significantly.  Survival was paramount, and land or ships were the greatest hazard in foul weather or fog, when accurate navigation was impossible, and visibility was poor.

This GGR requires going through a "gate"close onshore, for inspection to prove the monitor box has not been unsealed.  This requires accurate navigation near a dangerous shore, and passing in and out through the shipping lanes at the Cape.  It is not safe or logical to require that route segment be sailed without GPS or active AIS displays for this short "dive in, run out".  These "inspections" suddenly make no sense to me, they are too dangerous to the participants.  In addition, they significantly increase the duration of the race, as the participants are leaving the best winds, and carefully feeling their way into the equivalent of port.  Experienced cruisers often heave to off ports until the weather is very good before committing to a close approach to the land.  The racers have no real option, giving up days is out of the question.

Moitessier considered the ocean west of the Cape the most dangerous of the circumnavigation, and passed as far south as he could.  The wind and current in opposition create very dangerous seas for a thousand miles.  The racers are required to enter and sail in these wasters for many days, in order to visit the check point.

The inspectors, presumably have a power boat, with GPS to hold station, AIS to prevent being run down, plus radar to see all around for small craft without AIS.  I hope that they at least track the GPS from the racers and give them guidance into the gate, especially if the sky is overcast or sea foggy.

This scares me.

The first checkpoint at the Canary islands was called a "film drop". I haven't seen any material from the competitors but I assume a big part of the financing for this event will be documentary material taken by the competitors themselves. Possibly there is editing of material from the first drop going on as we speak so the film will be ready soon after the race is over and that is the reason for the compulsary check stops?

I did not really understand the 'gates.' I agree they are not very logical or seamanlike.

At the gate, you can drop film, audio tapes or letters.  You are inspected to see that the emergency package is still sealed.

The safety issue is requiring sailing vessels with variable accuracy navigational gear to enter coastal waters at racing speeds.  For safety of the competitors, the gate should be 100 miles off shore, and movable to meet the advancing vessel.  The racers should be following the wind, not threading a needle in a dangerous place.  The gate vessel should move to meet them wherever that takes them.

Unfortunately, these rules were set down by the organizers for their comvenience, and for the entrants, it was take it or leave it.

There seems to only be 3 or 4 of us following this topic, which is pretty far from the cruising theme here.

Many here have read Moitessier's books and Robin Knox Johnson's, but there is little interest in this race.  I follow it as much to see what means are used to overcome the unavoidable failure as they sail through challenging conditions.  I just finished Moitessier's 3 weeks ago, and am now reading RKJ's as the race moves forward.  Many years ago, I read RKJ's book and enjoyed it very much, but have forgotten many of the details.  I an enjoying it just as much this time. 

The race organizers had quite a blurb about meetings RKJ had with Abilhash Tomy, and theorized that he would give him advice on routing, learned from 50 years ago.  That is not relevant in this race.  RKJ drove down past Brazil, continuing south to get to the 40's a soon as possible, and drive east far from Capetown.  Moitessier did similarly, he considered the seas east andsouth of Capetown the most dangerous of the circumnavigation, and stayed well south. These racers cannot do that, as they must stop near Capetown.

Norman

I need to reread RKG's book; it's right on my Kindle.

I was fascinated by the section where he was coming around either Australia or New Zealand, his radio was broken, he hadn't had a good sight in a few days and he was trying to determine what land mass he was looking at to decide which way to go. If the land was one possibility, he needed to go one way around; vice versa was opposite. It struck me that it is basically impossible to be in such a precarious situation today, even if you wanted to.

RKG can be a bit of a surly curmudgeon it seems, but such guts! True of almost all those 1968 competitors, of course. Moitessier has always been more of a hero to me personally. I'm more equanimous than competitive.   

I am going to cross an ocean soon, but I don't think I'm ambitious enough to go all the way around. I'm certainly not ambitious enough to raise the money required even to just cruise it.

Peche has regained control of his boat, and is making good time toward either the gate, or shore repairs.  Since he made a sat phone call to his partner, he is technically out, but they may consider an appeal, and reinstate him.  There is no official news on this point.  I am inclined to believe that his "partner" is his sponsor, and he gave them the choice of whether he should struggle on at great risk to the boat and him, or quit, and they said quit.  Since then things have gone better than at the early call on conditions, and he may very well have control of the boat.

Personally, I vote for full reinstatement, with maybe a 24 hour penalty for the sat phone call, advancing him back out of Chichester class, as they did for Kopar.  It is unfortunate that he did not make that call by HF SSB relay, but with an out of control boat and 50 knot wind, hasty judgement calls are made.

Cousot may well like having company in the Chichester class.

Peche's track had a wild swing and pause, then good progress, presumably that was the failure of his vane steering, Next, another wild swing, and a longer confused time, the calls by sat phone, followed by gradually improving sailing toward Cape Town.  Without the technical disqualification, he is solidly in second, and holding on to his lead over Slats.  I suspect that he has made suitable repairs to the vane system, and may also have a working jury rig on the tiller. If those are now solid, he may not stop in Cape Town, and remain in competition.

The rest of the fleet is shifting around as the wind favors one or another, and no clear-cut changes are taking place.

There are amusing bits here and there:
Fish are caught and grilled, several reports of that activity.
A stove explodes and is useless, a day or two later, the problem is fixed.
One is running out of fresh water due to lack of rain, another has filled the tank and taking fresh water baths.
Clouds are a source of admiration and grumbling.
Seas are flat, or pounding the boat.

Generally the fleet is advancing with only normal events taking place in the last few days.

Norman

     There was a comment recently implying that there are very few of us watching this drama play out..........  I suspect that there are far more than he imagines.  It is extremely unfortunate that a forum like Facebook should be the primary source of information and updates.  It excludes many of us who are "Facebook Hostile".... often for very good reason from the latest news.   FB did not exist in 1968........... and we would be better off without it now!!

     To me there is something compelling about these sorts of competitions, as compared to the unlimited money driven events.  I do find it unacceptable that multihulls have been excluded entirely, being passionate about multihulls myself...........   

     There are important lessons to be learned here about equipment and safety, about simplicity and repairability of systems.   The failures that happen on GGR are the same failures that global cruisers must prepare for.  We may not sail in the roaring forties or the furious 50's, but these guys are testing the limits, and we can learn from them.   In reality I'm a conservative guy..... in the true sense of the word, not the currently twisted sense.    I don't really expect to ever round the three great capes of the world, but my nature draws me in that direction........... Wind against current of the Aghulas versus the bureaucracy and graft of Suez, and high cost of the Med.... makes the Cape of Storms a no-brainer.   I have to go through the Panama Canal at least once, and Cape Leeuwin  is pretty much unavoidable when traveling east to west.   ... but I'd probably be going the other way... through the Torres Straits and the Indian Ocean.   The Horn of the Americas is positively magnetic.... It draws me like a moth to the flame.  The fast empty lands of Southern Argentina, and the maze of Fjords of Southern Chili draw me far more than the emerald isles of the Pacific....... I love the lonely places and the people who inhabit them.   Zoom in on the southern tip of South America........... Norway without the Norwegians ;-)........... Actually most of my friends are Norwegians.   Likewise who could resist the Skeleton Coast of Africa north of Swakopmund, or the thousands of miles of wilderness coast from Darwin to Perth....... It's such a bit world out there and I've seen so little of it.................   The American Northwest Passage....... Greenland, Baffin Island, Hudson's Bay.....Prince of  Wales, Victoria, Sommerset, Banks.....islands......... Places where explorers just a few generations ago died...... The lonely remote places have always drawn me.

                                                H.W.

Places more local that I have gone, and recommend:

The trip up through the inside passage is one you will never forget.  There are such unending side trips among the islands and fjords that you may not make it all the way the first try.  If you can still get a permit to go into Glacier Bay, I suspect that you will remain for more than one day.  We were only there with a 1 day permit, and stayed half a day, but there were a number of kayakers camping there, and at that time, such campers could get week long permits.  We were there in early September, so toward of the end of the season in the inside passage.  A little further north, we experienced snow in the second week of September, a little one, just an inch, all melted 2 days later.

I have had friends who have plied the waters of Alaska, including the Aleutian chain of islands, and up to the north slope.  They speak of the adventure and challenge there.  That would be a great shakedown voyage starting in your first spring.  The terrain and bays have many similarities to the Cape Horn region, except that the natives scattered about speak English.  There are long stretches without any population at all, and if you go ashore, the wild life is all there is to share food with.  The fishing is excellent, and varied.  I have flown light planes over the southern tip of Argentina, and 3 different regions of Alaska, including glaciers at both ends of the Americas, and there are amazing differences and similarities.

Be sure you head back south early enough.  One of my sailor friends found a foot of snow on deck when the morning came.  The further north you go, the less sailboats you will see.

Norman

Technical update, the gates do not include inspection of the emergency gear, just a drop of film, mail, etc.  The present tracks imply that the leaders are not planing to pass through the Cape gate, and will keep going.  Peche is the only one navigating toward Capetown, and is estimating up to two weeks for repairs.  He has not decided if he will continue.  He is controlling his boat with sail balance, as the vane is not very useful after the repairs he made.  He has also jury rigged a 1 meter long tiller, and is hand steering when the sail balance is not adequate, and reporting fatigue.

The site has a new feature, a skippers update, which is translated from the sat phone conversation with the race control.  Now, there is much more information of the problems, repairs, and also good news from each skipper.  This makes the whole experience of the internet followers much more complete and enjoyable.  Click on the skippers name, scroll down most of the way, just above the digital clip in their native language.     https://goldengloberace.com/skipper/jean-luc-van-den-heede-13/    for the present leader.

The rules have been changed, moving the southern limit from 40 degrees to 38 degrees latitude, due to more severe winter storms at this date.  Robin Knox Johnson experienced similar storms in his race due to leaving earlier than recommended.  I wonder what the penalty will be for skippers who have extended overcast skys, and venture too far south with out knowing it until too late?  The race organizers will know immediately by GPS. Will they sat phone the skipper that he is approaching the limit, and advise turning north?

Norman

PS, the translation is imperfect, but completely understandable.

Did anyone else catch the juicy tidbit that Van Den Heede, the current leader, is 73 years old. He is only 6 years younger than RKJ, so he was already 23 when Knox-Johnston completed the race 50 years ago!!!

Gives me hope as I am starting late. (Not that late)

Van den heede is the truly senior skipper, Peche was a bit miffed when "the old man" pulled ahead, and said he was driving harder to catch him.

Whether that had anything to do with the following failures, only he can know.  That is a part of racing, you must always strive to overtake the competitor ahead of you.

That is kin to setting a distinct calendar of places to be sailing.  Dates set in stone often result in names set in stone.  Real challenging wind and sea state are just ahead, and I hope that Van den heede has the physical stamina to handle all that comes his way.

The field continues to spread out, and first to last seems impossible to overcome, but anything that compromises VDH will put 4 or 5 boats in close competition for the lead.

Peche did sail by balancing his sails, a slower technique than sheet to tiller steering.  What is important, though, he could then get some rest.  Difficult decisions are poorly made when excessively fatigued.  Some shut eye and food brings in a better skipper to make the decisions.

There have been a surprising number of trips up the mast, 5 replaced halyards, and a halyard block.  Are Wiig commented, love those steps, after replacing the block.  Some may not have failed, but are being replaced as preventive maintenance before reaching the southern ocean storms.  Moittessier climbed and inspected his monthly, lubricating both the blocks and the halyard where it rode on the sheave.

The daily run of the leaders is now topically more than 100 no, reflecting the stronger wind.

Looking to your personal future, watching the weather signs you can see, plus listening to available broadcasts, and taking the choices with the safest sailing conditions are key to both safety and enjoyment.  Either sit tight where you are, or go where the weather takes you.  Every new port is a surprise, and new opportunity to explore.  Eventually, you will reach your intended destination, or not.  If it was really important to get there, you would have taken a plane!

More than once, I have sat on solid ground, and watched my boat rolling 60 degrees each side, (swing keel up, to reduce wear) for two days.  They were on secure moorings both times.  The wind came across a narrow, long point, and the waves diffracted 90 degrees, so beam waves twice as high as the hull.  One time, there was a 30 foot fixed keel boat there too, three people on board, two sea sick for a day and a half.  If they had lifted anchor and moved out from behind the point, the waves would have been higher, but on the bow.  The would have rode much smoother, as the motion would have been on the long axis.  The were on the 4th day of a trip from Michigan to Florida.  The lady was ready to quit, and stay home.

Just my opinion, of course, but both sailing and flying a small plane, I have found myself in places that I had never heard of, and enjoyed so much that I returned as many as 3 times (Jekyll Island, Georgia, Zanesville, Ohio).

Norman

Good advice thru & thru, there.

Off topic:
I helped deliver a junk-rigged Allied Princess in April, Oriental to Charleston.  We were bound and determined to hit the tide right at Charleston and so we sailed the rhumb line rather than adjusting course for comfort (offshore Capr Fear to Charleston). The swell was coming from just behind the beam and we rolled and lolled  back and forth all thru one of my watches. I went below offwatch for about 10 seconds and bounded back up the c'way to donate my lunch to the fish. I can't remember ever being sick on a boat but that side to side roll will get you. :-)  And that was a version of sailing to a schedule.

The trip was fantastic anyway!  No complaints!!

single handed a Roberts 40 over that same stretch once with a seasick skipper/owner down below!  Was a very long day and night. had planned to come in at Jacksonville. at 0200 ilaid a course for the Charleston sea buoy.
we completed the trip inshore!!

Now there are 11.

Are Wiig's vane steering broke in high winds, and after extended hand steering, he hove to, and he went below.  He was rolled 360, lost his mast and a porthole.  He cut all the standing rig except the fore stay, which with the attached mast and sails, formed a sea anchor.  In that configuration, he is making 3.9 Knots to the east.

He notified the race committee that he is not in a mayday condition, needs no rescue, and is sealing the porthole.  When the seas abate, he plans to jury rig and sail to Capetown, 400 miles away.  All of his radios are functioning, and he will tidy up the mess in the cabin when the seas abate.

He is definitely a tough sailor, and I expect that he will put together an effective rig for the sail to port.

Van den Heede continues to extend his lead, with Mark Slats and Gregor McGuckin following in 2 and 3.

Peche is in port, and retired from the race.

The storms of the southern ocean are meeting the racers as they turn east to pass Africa.  The weakness of skipper and vessel will be tested over and over in the months ahead.  The odds of anyone with a marginal vane system continuing is not good.  That has been the link that has failed and removed competitors so far, and the wind and wave conditions have not been severe for any length of time for anyone yet.

Robin Knox Johnson sailed as far south as 47 degrees, on purpose, but these racers are limited to 38 south at the present time.

Norman

Here is a challenge for the do it your selfers here.

Can you match Are Wiig?



A day and a half ago, with broken vane steering, for the second time, and hove to, Are was rolled 360,  lost his mast in 20+ foot waves, and cut it free except the fore stay, for a sea anchor.  Nothing wasted!

No matter what has happened to date, he simply reports it, then reports that repairs were made. He notified that he needed no assistance, and would build a jury rig when the sea conditions eased.

Today, he made a 133 mile run, and speed of 5.5 knots average .

That is the 4th most miles for the day, and 4th fastest average by the whole fleet! With his jury rig, he is fast enough to stay in the race, but without vane steering, no one can continue. Sorry he took a bad wave, he is a fine seaman, and Norway tough.

This is the sort of story that keeps me logging in to see what has happened, and if the skipper has what it takes to fix it and keep on going like the energizer bunny.  Are did for the first 4 failures.

Gregor McGuckin just passed him, and is 8 miles ahead, now 3rd place behind Mark Slats and Van den Heede.

Norman

Wiig is a new hero for me. I really, REALLY respect his seamanship and grit. I am super happy he his taking care of his boat, jury rigging and heading to port while disavowing the EPIRB.

It has just dawned on me that he may be motoring, but that does not diminish the coolness under stress when he reported his dismasting.

His vane failure was two broken couplings.  He only had one spare.

Quote from: Norman on August 25, 2018, 03:40:40 PM
  That is a part of racing, you must always strive to overtake the competitor ahead of you.

I have learned the opposite when it comes to long races (mushing but I think it applies here too), you must do your race and not somebody else. The moment you try keeping your competitors pace and not yours you will fatigue your self, your dogs or your equipment.
Trying to catch the boat in front of you this early in the race may be what stresses your wind vane to fail. There are still 7 months of "events" to happen.

"Trying to catch the boat in front of you this early in the race may be what stresses your wind vane to fail. There are still 7 months of "events" to happen."

My impression was that Are was sailing his own race, but he was familiar with severe conditions.  I am puzzled that he was rolled while hove to, as that normally protects a boat.  In that region, though, there are several sources of waves, and the wave that rolled him may have been from a different source than the wind waves, and did not approach from the slicked direction.  This is the region and wave condition that Moitessier considered the most dangerous of the whole circumnavigation.

His good spirits seem undamped.  Commenting on his slow progress toward Capetown, "I had planned for a longer trip".  He initially started with the storm jib rigged, then added part of his main.  Piece by piece, he is getting his boat back into proper condition for a safe sail to Capetown, and maybe evencomfortable.

The leader continues to drive steadily on, and maybe he is lucky on the weather he has sailed through, or maybe a better prepared and equipped boat.

Slats is beginning to suffer from forgetting his gloves, and that is accentuated by using hank on sails.

McGuckin is trailing warps under bare poles for similar severe conditions, so far with success.  Like Slats, he has moved from near last to the 3rd position by good route choices.

Much further back, Suzie Goodall has had an important loss about a month ago, loosing her spinnaker pole to the ocean.  That is half of the standard jury mast, so if dismasted, she must do a much more difficult rig.

Uku Randmaa in 4th, is not veryinformative in his reports, so who knows?

Abhilash Tomy, in the Suhaili copy is up to 5th, and seems to be in good shape, in spite of reporting continuous repairing to keep everything working.  He may not be having more troubles, just reporting more.

Mark Sinclair, way back in last place, seems to be enjoying the cruise more than any one else.  Who knows, if the others drive too hard, he may have a chance "Mushing along slowly" in the sled dog analogy.

I previously quoted Robin that when he found himself driving Suhaili too hard, "You have to finish to win".

Quote from: Norman on August 30, 2018, 08:06:45 AM

I previously quoted Robin that when he found himself driving Suhaili too hard, "You have to finish to win".

That's a priceless quote and should be prominently posted in any racing yacht............. It of course applies to all racing.

                                     H.W.

Quote from: Norman on August 30, 2018, 08:06:45 AM
"Trying to catch the boat in front of you this early in the race may be what stresses your wind vane to fail. There are still 7 months of "events" to happen."

My impression was that Are was sailing his own race, but he was familiar with severe conditions. 

Yes, I wasn't implying that Are was doing that.
I have a naive hope that his boat isn't structurally damaged and that he can re-rig  and continue. He did sell his house to be able to do this adventure.

The latest news from the GGR

Those preferring hanked on sails should read carefully, but remember these skippers are in much worse conditions than we are likely to experience.

Wind vane failure continues to be the critical factor in the race, followed by foul wind.

Amazing the gains made by Abhilash Tomy in the recreated Suhaili.  Technically, as a wooden boat, he is in a class of his own.

Are wiig remains in good spirits, and completely independent of outside help, as he sailed his structurally damaged boat to Capetown.  He even salvaged his broken mast.  I suppose that he thought that if his initial jury rig broke, he might need the pieces of the old one for a new rig?

This is long, but is the official update to Sept 3rd.



Day 65: Dateline 3.9.2018 – Les Sables d'Olonne, France

Are Wiig safe in Cape Town

Antoine Cousot arrives in Rio

Francesco Cappelletti also heading for Brazil – another casualty of wind vane failure

Race leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede predicts October 3 as ETA at Hobart Gate


Are Wiig, the Norwegian GGR skipper dismasted 8 days ago after his OE 32 Olleanna was rolled through 360° in the Southern Ocean, arrived in Cape Town at 21:06 UTC on Sunday, having sailed the 400 miles under jury rig with no outside assistance

Peter Muller, one of the Capetonians to have waited up to welcome Wiig when he docked at the Royal Cape YC yesterday reports: "His boat took a heck of a beating. The mast had broken in at least two places and the pieces were lashed down on deck. She had a cracked deck and popped porthole. Are said that the cracks and damage on the starboard side went right through the boat. He had only seen this type of damage before in his work (as a yacht surveyor) when boats had fallen over onto concrete when stored on land.

Recounting the fateful episode, Wiig said he was hove-to at the time and had just started repairing his self steering for the second time in two days. He was standing in the companionway working on repairing a part in the vice mounted on the top of the companionway. There was no warning. The boat got lifted up on a big wave and then dropped down.

Olleanna also suffered a bent pushpit and had only partial steering. Wiig managed to fix the self -steering and used it with his jury rig so that he could get some sleep. His main fuel tank was contaminated and he only had 15 litres of diesel in day tank, which gave him 20 hours of slow motoring.

But Are was well, with no complaints, was very factual and friendly. What a person!"

Wiig also said that he was very glad that he had built and trialled his jury rig system utilising two spinnaker poles before departure – a race requirement for all competitors – and praised the Yellow Brick satellite tracking system which gave Race HQ his position each hour and was used to send and transmit text messages between the boat and Race officials. "It was good to know that people watch out for us" he said.

Another useful piece of compulsory kit was the emergency Echomax inflatable radar reflector, which Wiig set up at the back of the boat after the dismasting. This helped a passing ship locate Olleanna a few days before her arrival in Cape Town. Wiig politely declined the Captain's offer of support, and made it to port unaided.
"This was a great display of seamanship" Don McIntyre, the Race Chairman said today, adding: "Harbor Master Steve Bentley has been extremely helpful in monitoring Are's progress and arrival, and The Royal Cape Yacht Club has been very welcoming. Many people are looking forward to hearing a report from Are about his experiences."

Another to make port safely yesterday, this time on the opposite side of the South Atlantic, was Frenchman Antoine Cousot who arrived in Rio de Janeiro under full sail but nursing shoulder and foot injuries sustained while attempting to change headsails on the bouncing foredeck of his Biscay 36 ketch Métier Intérim. The indication is that if he does this again, it will be with furling headsails rather than hanked sails.

Carozzo sailor Francesco Cappelletti who missed the start of the GGR by 21 days and has been following the fleet for the adventure, is now following in Cousot's wake to Brazil after the Italian reported last week that the self-steering wind vane on his Endurance 35 007 had broken. He has the same Beaufort Lynx wind vane that cost Palestinian entrant Nabil Amra and Frenchman Philippe Péché their races after weld failures on the vertical articulating arm proved unrepairable at sea.

At the front of the fleet, French veteran Jean-Luc Van Den Heede continues to belie his age (he turned 73 last month) as his Rustler 36 Matmut continues to steam ahead of the fleet. This morning she has a 900 mile lead over Dutchman Mark Slats rival Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick. In an area of the Southern Ocean where you expect westerly winds, Slats reported this morning "HEADWINDS AGAIN 20 [knots from the] EAST. UNREAL THIS. WHERE ARE THOSE WESTERLIES?

In his weekly conversation with Race HQ, Slats, like Cousot, said that he rued not having roller furling headsails. Now down to 38°S and on a SSW heading, the wind chill factor takes air temperatures well below freezing. Without gloves (Slats realised he had left them behind two weeks ago) hanked sail changes have to be performed with bare hands. Head winds apart, this could be why he has been losing ground to 3rd placed Irish skipper Gregor McGuckin's Biscay 36 Hanley Energy Endurance and Uku Randmaa's Rustler 36 One and All. During the past week, Gregor has closed the gap by 160 miles and the 4th placed Estonian, who found that he set sail without tea, coffee and a hat, is 86 miles closer.

By contrast, this morning's tracking data shows Jean-Luc Van Den Heede making 7.1 knots in the right direction and a run of 128 miles over the last 24 hours. Jean-Luc is now predicting October 3 as his ETA at the BoatShed.com film drop off Hobart.

The other big winner today is Indian Abhilash Tomy sailing his Suhaili replica Thuriya. He was making a remarkable 10.1knots having covered 194 miles during the same period. This is the best distance recorded so far, helped by a 3.1knot westerly current.

If there are winners, there have to be losers too, and this week that award goes to Britain's Susie Goodall sailing the Rustler 36 DHL Starlight. Caught up in a high pressure system west of the Cape, she has lost almost 800 miles on boats that 10 days ago were quite close. They went south while she went NE. At least she is back in the game now, having made 116 miles in the right direction overnight.

American Hungarian Istvan Kopar sailing the Tradewind 35 Puffin, will also be buoyed with his performance of late. He dropped to the back of the fleet after stopping in the Cape Verde Islands to repair his wind vane self-steering. Last week, he overtook last placed Australian Mark Sinclair and his Lello 34 Coconut and today is challenging 7th placed Frenchman Loïc Lepage in his Nicholson 32 Laaland. Lepage looks to be heading straight for Cape Town to replenish his water supplies and repair his SSB radio before heading into the Southern Ocean, so Kopar, trailing just 9 miles behind Laaland today, could be in mid-fleet position by this time next week – if he can fix his self-steering again. In a message received today, Kopar texted: MY SELF STEERING LEFT ME ALONE AGAIN IN A NASTY STORM DURING THE WEEKEND!

Latest positions at 08:00 UTC today 03.09.2018
1.Jean- Luc VDH (FRA)Rustler 36 Matmut
2.Mark Slats (NED)Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick
3.Gregor McGuckin (IRE) Biscay 36 Hanley Energy Endurance
4.Uku Randmaa (EST) Rustler 36 One and All
5.Abhilash Tomy (IND) Suhaili replica Thuriya
6.Susie Goodall (GBR) Rustler 36 DHL Starlight
7.Istvan Kopar (USA) Tradewind 35 Puffin
8.Loïc Lepage (FRA) Nicholson 32 Laaland
9.Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria
10.Igor Zaretskiy (RUS) Endurance 35 Esmeralda
11.Mark Sinclair (Aus) Lello 34 Coconut

I'm still a hank-on guy -- but a cruiser not a racer.  :-)

I'll remember my gloves and I'm a pretty conservative sailor.

A suddenly chafed-thru furling line, or a sail un-twisting in a gale would be just as bad or worse than getting body-slammed on the foredeck.

Agree - for me, hank on is the way. I have reef points on my jib to take it to storm jib size.

When I posted with the comment about hank on sails, I did not intend that the focus of the whole long post would settle there, just a view of the impact on the sailors in the conditions and personal strengths seen so far.  The overall successes and failures of the various skippers and rigs compared.  I might add that I believe the race organizers prefer furling sails, from their various comments, from the very start.

I believe that Are has decided that his boat is beaten, even if he is not.  He is expert in analyzing the structural damage in boats, and has decided that it is not safe to continue the race, but is adequate to sail to port.  He also made the part necessary to repair the vane steering, and retired below for some sleep.  He has his priorities in the right order.  The boat must be in safe order, then the skipper must be refreshed to be prepared for the next failure.

He is a wise man, not a quitter.  The sea has beaten his boat.

Looking at Are's rig reminds me of a sail on the Chesapeake bay many years ago.  I tied a loop around the mast, and hoisted it about to the spreaders.  The tack of a jib was tied to the loop, and the clew was tied to the bow cleat.  After it was up and tight, the head of the jib was brought to the stern, and sheeted in.  With this arrangement, I could sail slowly with a heading close to the wind, and a track that was just little to windward.

The purpose was to teach my son how to build a compromise and sail after a dismasting, and we did succeed.

The embarrassment came when a power boat some distance away came to my rescue!  I did express strong appreciation, and explained my reasons for the sail in such a ridiculous arrangement.  They were sailors too, and understood.

The assumption was that we had erected the boom, or a long oar that I had on board for sculling, as a mast, and then raised a sail supported by the jury rig.  This would also simulate the loss of the top half of the mast due to upper shroud failure.  Performance was very poor, but in such a condition, any performance at all is way better than none.  Our polar diagram would have been from 85 to 180 on reach side of the wind, but that was a guess, it might have been as bad as 120 t0 180 if I had checked with a GPS to see what our true track might have been.

Mark Sinclair chose to do his jury rig with a stubby substitute mast of the same sort, but Are's is much easier to raise single handed, and provides a very strong support for his sails.  I had not even thought of such a configuration until I saw it on his boat.  If I were planning a long cruise, I would now consider two similar size jib poles to combine as Are did.  They would store where my present pole is secured below deck, taking the same room as one does.  Such a rig requires much less lines and other tackle than erecting a mast, and would provide adequate support for one or two small sails, such as a storm jib and a 90 % jib.

There is a lot to learn from studying the actual jury rigs used in real life equipment failures.

To get the "green card" the sailors had to sail a distance with their intended jury rig. Are these shown somewhere on the site?

Sinclair and Wiig were the only ones that I noticed with pictures of the jury rig in the skippers pages.

Goodall could be at risk from the loss of her spinnaker pole early on.  It may have been a key part of her jury rig.

Robin had a hard knock down before turning the cape, which shifted his cabin top and broke 2 of his 3 water tanks.  He was thankful that he did not get rolled.

Norman

The southern ocean is no joke.
The Irishman McGuckin has rolled 360 and is dismasted but "ok", riding out the storm battened down trailing lines.
Indian Tomy in the wooden Suhaili-copy has rolled 360, lost the misen mast and has a serious back injury. Red alert is stated! Closest vessel is the dismasted McGuckin who will turn toward Tomy's position when the weather eases and if his diesel is uncomprimised.
Others report several knock downs.

It appears that Tomy is the object of a Major rescue operation involving ships from Oz, France, and the Indian Navy, and a number of planes and helicopters, as well as McGulkin making best speed to assist in his dismasted boat under jury rig.   Having problems with the jury rig due to gusts flexing the spinnaker pole.   The back injury is severe enough that he is bed ridden and more or less helpless.  He can wiggle his toes, though he has considerable numbness.

    With international rescue efforts running probably in the millions will there be pressure not to repeat this?   Who knows.  It's really rather amazing when you think about it that offshore boaters are not required to take out insurance against the costs of rescue already...............   

                                                                  H.W.

Here's a photo taken of Abhilash  Tomy's dismasted boat Thuriya in the Southern Indian Ocean by a P8 Orion overflight from the GGR site today.     Rescue ships are suffering heavy seas delaying their progress, the nearest from Reunion making only about 5.5kts.  It looks like Gregor McGulkin may be first on the scene, and may be asked to abandon his own boat to render aid until the ships with full medical facilities arrive..... possibly as long as 4 days.  The situation sounds dire, with Aghilash only being able to take liquids, unable to leave his berth due to his back injury, and vomiting continuously.  Both boats are dismasted, but Gregor is under jury rig and moving ever closer.
                                                                H.W.

As of this morning, Tomy and McGuckin are both aboard a French Fisheries Patrol Vessel. Tomy is conscious and talking. No mention of their boats. Hopefully, they've done the right thing and scuttled them.

QuoteSTATEMENT ON Scuttling GGR YACHTS.

Gregor McGuckin Empowered by Hanley Energy

During the controlled evacuation of Hanley Energy Endurance, McGuckin was instructed to leave the vessel afloat. The French fisheries patrol vessel Osiris instructed McGuckin that scuttling the vessel would be in breach of International Maritime Regulations. Hence, McGuckin removed all debris from the deck that could become separated, secured all equipment on board, and ensured the AIS beacon was active. The power source to the AIS device is solar panels which should remain active without any outside assistance reducing the risk to other vessels. Precautionary steps were also taken to ensure the relatively small amount of fuel onboard is secure.

Abhilash Tomy's Yacht THURIYA "MAY BE" towed to the anchorage in St Paul Island by the Indian Navy to attempt a salvage operation

I read that today too. Apparently it is against some Int'l reg. I respect that but it doesn't make any sense logically or from a seamanship perspective.

https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/disposal-vessels-sea (https://www.epa.gov/ocean-dumping/disposal-vessels-sea)

On the linked page it says "Fiberglass vessels are not be suitable for ocean disposal because fiberglass (fiber-reinforced plastic) can degrade or break apart, contributing to microplastic pollutant load and furthering marine pollution."

What do they think is going to happen if you leave it to float around in the southern ocean?!? Just a slow motion scuttling that will also be a hazard to navigation in the meantime.

Earlier on the page it also says:
"Vessels may be disposed at sea only under specified conditions in the MPRSA general permit published in the federal regulations at 40 CFR 229.3. Ocean disposal of a vessel that would not meet the general permit's requirements would require a special permit."

It seems like in addition to requiring $5 million in "Public Liability Insurance" GGR would require permits or some other contingency for dealing with an abandoned vessel.

Regardless of the Regs, I don't think it is good or proper to just leave a boat floating around in the Southern Ocean.

QuoteIstvan Kopar Solo Circumnavigator has successfully transferred 20 Ltrs of water across to Kjell Litwin of Sweden onboard SELENE his Vagabond 31 yacht mid ocean a short time ago. He was down to 1 Ltr of water!!!

SELENE is part of the "Longe Route" fleet.
Handpowered watermaker anyone?

Quote from: SeaHusky on September 27, 2018, 06:52:39 AM

QuoteIstvan Kopar Solo Circumnavigator has successfully transferred 20 Ltrs of water across to Kjell Litwin of Sweden onboard SELENE his Vagabond 31 yacht mid ocean a short time ago. He was down to 1 Ltr of water!!!

SELENE is part of the "Longe Route" fleet.
Handpowered watermaker anyone?

     Interesting that there is a "shadow fleet", if only consisting of a single boat...........This is the first I've heard of it.

     It's hard to believe anybody would go to sea these days without some sort of watermaker..... local water can be a problem in too many places.... availability, cost, purity.... 

     I've been working up a design for a pedal powered water maker.   The math shows that one can easily produce the energy required to make enough water for a day in just a few minutes.... a 20 minute light workout would produce enough for a nice fresh water shower.   On passage, lack of real exercise / loss of muscle tone, is an issue.  Your legs suffer the most, as you tend to use your upper body more.   A bicycle is a non-negotiable necessity for a voyager as far as I'm concerned.... your mileage may vary ;-).    Using parts of a folding or take down bicycle design to drive the pump for a watermaker just makes sense.

                                                  H.W.

I think that the water problem is a combination of failing to catch water aggressively when it is available, and too little storage.  Long distance sailors generally have effective hardware for catching rain from the sails and adding it to the storage tanks.  Failure to do that, anticipating plenty of rainfall later can produce problems when the desired rain fails to fall on time.  A manual water purifier would solve that, of course, but if the sea state overwhelms the time available, or the near rolls damage it, then you are in trouble.  Local water issues do not apply to non stop circumnavigators.

Both Moitessier and Knox Johnson had times of low rain input, or damaged storage tanks, forcing them to ration water, and also use sea water for cooking, leaving out added salt.  Half a cup of sea water contains the proper amount of salt for a normal person's daily needs  Both of them found that even a thick fog or heavy mist provided more water than was needed for a day.  Robin's shortage stemmed from the cracking of his two large tanks in the knockdown in the southern Atlantic, leaving only his smallest third tank safe to drink.  The other two now had bilge water in them.  He did not discover this until his small tank was practically dry, and water conservation became critical until rain could be caught..

Relative to the "failure to scuttle" the two vessels, both are being salvaged, not left drifting.  Abhilash Tomy's, in tow by the French Fisheries vessel, and McGuckin's drifting with the AIS functioning with solar power, until the  arrival of the salvage ship.

I have heard and read the two sides of an adrift small craft in the north Atlantic in the 60's.

First hand, from from an officer of an American sub on patrol which surfaced for some on deck exercise and fresh air.  The radar operator reported a faint blip at the edge of his detection range.  The skipper ordered the sub to investigate, expecting that the blip might be a sub schnorkle and they found a small daysailer drifting with no sails up, and no one in sight.  a voice hail produced no response, so the klaxon was sounded.  Out the hatch came a head half a sleep and completely wild eyed! The wind had died, and the skipper dropped sails, and was catching up on much needed sleep.  He was just fine, and not in need of any assistance.  They gave him some fresh fruit and other edible luxuries, and went their way.

Second version may be read in Robert Manry's account of his voyage across the Atlantic on Tinker Belle.  There is no significant difference in the two accounts, but from the point of view, a totally different experience!

Norman

http://longueroute2018.com/entrants.html (http://longueroute2018.com/entrants.html)

In a recent article on the GGR site they mentioned fouling issues as a major contributor to the huge spread of the contestants.   The modern antifouling paints seem not to be doing the job. A number of the contestants have gone into the water during calms to scrub the boat, and been shocked at the amount of fouling.   Below is a link to the article, as well as a quote from it regarding the different method used by Jean-Luc Van Den Heede.   It is well worth reading and considering.

                                                                H.W.

DAY 120: Barnacles – the scourge of solo circumnavigatorshttps://goldengloberace.com/day-120-barnacles-the-scourge-of-solo-circumnavigators/ (https://goldengloberace.com/day-120-barnacles-the-scourge-of-solo-circumnavigators/)

Lionel Regnier, who assisted both Uku Randmaa and GGR leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede during their final preparations, says: The antifouling was applied to Uku's boat just after Jean-Luc's. Uku's had only 2 coats applied, but Jean-Luc who used the same process and applicator, had a third coat plus a 'hot' top coat mixed with copper powder which erodes as the boat passes through the water. The only barnacles are attached to the gel coat."

Jean-Luc Van Den Heede was knocked down and had significant damage to his rig and will be going into Valparaiso for repairs.    This effectively knocks the leader out of the race, reducing him to the "Chichester Class".   The knockdown was said to be 150 degrees, which is nearly a full capsize.   No injuries and no emergency declared.  Temporary repairs will allow him to make Valparaiso under his own steam.

                                                                                                                              H.W.

I'm disgusted!!!   The GGR has gone off the rails as far as I'm concerned.... I followed the recent GGR avidly, and am on their mailing list.    I was very disappointed that they excluded multihulls.  Of the two that competed in the original, one was a fraud, and the other was sailed to destruction against an imaginary adversary, but that should not exclude them from the modern race.   The proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" IMHO with regard to the 2022 race is the compulsory recording of video by participants.  Below is a quote:

Increased media budgets in 2022 will enable a larger dedicated professional video production unit to cover the GGR and follow the fleet. They will utilize the latest equipment and talented editors to process among other things, entrant onboard vision passed across and live footage shot at the three film drops. Instant Video News Releases will be distributed to all international media. GGR will release these and many other comprehensive video productions on various social media platforms. Previously this was a challenge. Many entrants in 2018 were focused more on surviving, than filming, absorbed in their challenge, so with limited footage, a small management team and smaller budgets, we did our best under pressure. In 2022 the entrant requirement to provide comprehensive vision is compulsory and all have embraced that as part of the new challenge.

    Sailing around the world is personal...... it is man (or woman) against the elements, not a made for TV / Facebook..."reality TV" event, and reducing it to that level is utterly contemptible.

    I'm still an avid follower of the Jester  Challenge..............  One of the few sailing challenges that remains "real".    Real sailors........ gentlemen.... competing informally for NO PRIZE.......  Pitting their skills and judgment against each other, barely recognized.......  It really encompasses what REAL sailing is about.

                                                                              H.W.

disclaimer:  If Facebook is involved, or even taken seriously...........my automatic reaction is one of contempt!!