Globe40 arrives in Brazil

The 2022-23 Globe40 is an eight-leg doublehanded round the world race in Class40s. Seven teams were at the beginning on June 26, with five teams having started the 3273 nm Leg 6 on January 8 from Ushuaia, Argentina to Recife, Brazil. Here’s the finish line update on January 28, 2023:

The Anglo-American team AHMAS (Class40 n° 127) crossed the finish line of leg 6 today at 11:48 pm local time. After 20 days and 10 hours of racing, Craig Horshield and James Oxenham brilliantly conclude a particularly difficult leg which put the GLOBE40 crews to the test.

From the start, teams were faced with a particularly unusual situation in Patagonia, namely several days of calm, while the day before the start nearly 50 knots were blowing in the area of Le Maire Strait, Falkland Islands / Malvinas.

While making the ascent to the North in nerve-wracking light weather, MILAI Around The World broke away thanks to a very successful option to the east and had a 100 mile lead. But it was an advance which was brutally interrupted on January 12 in the morning by a violent shock with a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object).

With the boat seriously damaged, the Franco-Japanese crew (Masa Suzuki / Estelle Greck) reached the Argentinian port of Mar Del Plata on January 16. To date MILAI has undertaken the repair work in the local shipyard and has affirmed its desire to resume racing as soon as possible.

For the other crews, a second phase began in a particularly unstable weather zone with a succession of areas of calm, depressions, squalls, fishing fleets with up to 100 units within a radius of 30 miles constituting a formidable obstacle.

This was a trying episode for the competitors which continued to the latitude of Rio de Janeiro with brutal changes in the classification; SEC HAYAI, which had also managed to take a hundred-mile lead over its pursuers, lost this lead in two days for an option to the west that pays much less than those which had remained offshore, such as AMHAS and GRYPHON SOLO2, which had a great race.

Finally, it was not until they were only 500 miles from Recife that they hit the long-awaited south-east trade wind from South Africa which propelled the teams on a steady course towards the goal.

GRYPHON SOLO 2 and SEC HAYAI are expected on January 29, while the Canadian competitor on WHISKEY JACK should instead reach Recife on January 31. This short stopover will conclude on February 5 with the start of leg 7 towards the island of Grenada in the West Indies, 2000 miles in 8 to 10 days.

The final Leg 8 proves the transatlantic return of the fleet to Lorient which starts February 24 from Grenada.

Race details – Entries – Tracker

Note: The scoring format gives extra value to the longer legs.The coefficients for the last two legs has Leg 7 as coefficient 1 and the return sprint across the Atlantic to Lorient for leg 8 is coefficient 2.

Standings (after five of eight legs):

The inaugural Globe40 is an eight leg round the world race for doublehanded Class40 teams. As all legs count toward the cumulative score, the longer distances more heavily weighted. The first leg, which took seven to eight days to complete, had a coefficient 1 while the second leg is ranked as a coefficient 3 leg. The race is expected to finish March 2023. Seven teams were ready to compete, but a Leg 1 start line collision eliminated The Globe En Solidaire with Eric and Léo Grosclaude (FRA) while the Moroccan team of Simon and Omar Bensenddik on IBN BATTOUTA retired before the Leg 2 start.

Start:
Tangier, Morocco – June 26

Stopovers:
Leg 2 start: Sao Vincente, Cape Verde Islands – July 17
Leg 3 start: Port Louis, Mauritius – September 11
Leg 4 start: Auckland, New Zealand – October 29
Leg 5 start: Papeete, French Polynesia – November 26
Leg 6 start: Ushuaia, Argentina – January 8
Leg 7 start: Recife, Brazil – February 5
Leg 8 start: St Georges, Grenada – February 24

Finish:
Lorient, France

Source: Globe40