Golden Globe Race 2022
On 14 June 1968 Sir Robin Knox-Johnson left Falmouth in his 32-foot (9.8-metre) boat Suhaili for the start of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. He sailed one of the smallest boats that entered the competition.
Despite losing his self-steering gear off Australia, he rounded Cape Horn on 17 January 1969, 20 days before his closest competitor Bernard Moitessier.
Moitessier had sailed from Plymouth more than two months after Knox-Johnston, but he subsequently abandoned the race. The other seven competitors dropped out at various stages, leaving Knox-Johnston to win the race and become officially the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and single-handed on 22 April 1969, the day he returned to Falmouth.
In 2018 the Golden Globe Race was run again, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Entrants were limited to yachts similar to those used by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Except for safety equipment, no modern technology was allowed.
Eighteen sailors started the 50th GGR anniversary event, organised by McIntyre Adventures in the spirit of 1968 – but only five finished.
Golden Globe Race – 4th September 2022
The next Golden Globe Race (also organised by McIntyre Adventures) will start on the 4th Sept 2022. Again, it is a solo non-stop yacht race around the World, starting and finishing in Les Sables-d’Olonne.
There will be thirty five starters sailing simple, strong old fashioned boats with long keels between 32′ & 36′, using traditional seamanship to keep them moving fast in a safe way.
The 2022 Race introduces for the first time a JOSHUA CLASS II made up of identical steel one design replicas of Bernard Moitessier’s original JOSHUA. Previous designs used in the 2018 Edition and again in 2022 are now grouped in the SUHAILI CLASS.
The total number of Entrants is limited to 35 made up of 30 SUHAILI CLASS, 3 JOSHUA CLASS and 2 special invitations. A Wait list is established once all spots are full. When a current Provisional Entry fails to meet a particular deadline, or decides to withdraw from the Race, the next available Waitlist entrant is offered a provisional Entry.
The class of boat approved are in accordance with the following rules:
- Of fibre reinforced plastic construction.
- Designed prior to 1988 and have a minimum series of 20 yachts built from one mould.
- Have a hull length of between 32 to 36 feet (9.8 to 11.0 m). Bowsprits, wind vanes and outboard rudders, boomkins, pushpits and pulpits are not measured.
- Have full-length keels with rudders attached to the trailing edge.
- A minimum design displacement of 6,200 kilograms (13,700 lb)
- Twenty-two classes were approved, with one exception to the rules made for a wood-epoxy Suhaili replica (the Suhaili being the yacht that Knox-Johnston sailed in 1968).
The equipment used on-board also has to be from the original 1968 race. So, GPS, chart plotters, electric autopilots, log’s, wind instruments, iPhones, digital cameras, computers, electronic clocks or watches, water makers and many more modern items are not allowed.
Navigation will need to be done in the old way with a radio direction finder and sextants. They will hand-write their logs and determine the weather for themselves. Only occasionally will they talk to loved ones and the outside world when long-range high frequency radios allow.
For the followers of the race, entrants will use safety sat-phones to make two 20 min calls a week and four tweets on social media a day that will be streamed around the world. There is also a plan to make a television series of the race and each boat will be fitted with three cameras.
Round the World Challenge
The Golden Globe Race challenge is pure and very raw, placing adventure ahead of winning at all costs. It is for ‘those who dare’, just as it was for Sir Robin.
It will be a big test for those taking part – less than 100 people in the world have managed to do it so far. Sailors will only be able to use the supplies they carry on the boat. If they run out … they do without or leave the race.
For around nine months they will be sailing in extreme conditions, from cold and damp to hot and humid. Sleep deprivation will also play a major factor in such a small, cramped area. The cockpit of a typical boat taking part is smaller than a double bed, with a hatch 2’x2′ to climb in and out.
Golden Globe Race 2022 Route
The Golden Globe 2022 course is an east-about circumnavigation starting and finishing in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France.
Competitors will sail down the Atlantic from North to South leaving:
- An inshore Canary Island mark (TBA) to Port.
- Island of Trinadade to Port.
- An inshore Cape Town mark (TBA) to Starboard.
- 44 degrees South latitude to Starboard till 100 degrees East.
- Cape Leeuwin to Port.
- To a ‘Gate'(TBA) in Storm Bay, Tasmania.
- Snares Islands to Starboard.
- Bounty Islands to Starboard.
- Waypoint 47 degrees South latitude and 174 degrees West longitude to Starboard.
- 47 degrees South latitude to Starboard until east of 115 degrees West longitude.
- 50 degrees South latitude and 90 degrees West longitude to Port.
- Cape Horn to port.
- Sail up the Atlantic from South to North. Then to the Finish line (TBA).
There will be several “film gates” along the route, where the skippers will be interviewed as they sail past without stopping and where they can pass over films and letters.
The 2022 Golden Globe Race will be another fitting tribute to the first edition and on this occasion highlight the exploits of French hero Bernard Moitessier and his JOSHUA.
FeatherStream Round the World
We are extremely proud that several Golden Globe Race 2022 competitors have chosen to use a FeatherStream prop on their round the world journey.
See below a list of entrants that have our FeatherStream, along with their installation information.
Pat Lawless
(Saltram Saga 36, 18” 3B FeatherStream, Volvo Penta MD2040 engine with a 2.4:1 reduction ratio)
Pat Lawless from Ireland will be sailing a Saltram Saga 36, for his boat similar to “Suhaili”.
“I have always dreamed of sailing in a race solo around the world and when the affordable Golden Globe Race turned up I just had to go for it. The boat I have chosen, a Saltram Saga 36 is capable of winning, I can but try my best now.”
We will be following Pat’s progress this year and wish him well on his voyage.
http://www.patlawlessggr.irish/
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