Limits tested in Global Solo Challenge

by Marco Nannini, Global Solo Challenge
(January 18, 2024) – As the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge presses on, trouble is surfacing as the fleet crosses the southern oceans. While Ari Känsäkoski is safely in South Africa after his dismasting, it was around 1800 UTC on the 14th of January when Edouard De Keyser on his Solaire 34 Solarwind reported that he had broken his starboard rudder whilst sailing in 20 knots of wind from the North East.

Unable to sail in any meaningful direction on his only remaining port rudder, he was forced to stop the boat at sea by heaving-to, using two sails set on opposite tacks to drift slowly and wait for favorable winds. The forecast was indicating that by the following evening a cold front would have reached him bringing south westerly winds, more than he really needed to make progress towards a safe port.

On the 15th evening, he was hit by 30-35 knots of winds which allowed him to start sailing in the general direction of Kangaroo Island in front of St Vincent Gulf, Adelaide.

JRCC Australia was immediately informed of the situation and the boat’s tracker update frequency was increased to give everyone the chance to monitor De Keyser’s progress and be promptly able to react if the situation deteriorated, becoming a potentially dangerous situation to the skipper or vessel.

At the time of the incident, De Keyser was about 500 nm southwest of the nearest land in an area with no commercial traffic and only the occasional passing of high seas fishing boats. This brings us back to the refuelling operation by Japanese fishing vessel Tomi Maru No. 58 that gave Kanskoski a fighting change and renewed hope to reach continental Africa safely in his ordeal.

However, in De Keyser’s case, a similar operation would have been of no use, not only because his engine had broken irreparably just a few days prior, but especially as his inboard motor is electric!

His best option was quite simply that he should try to reach land by his own means, easier said than done with no engine, a broken rudder, and issues that were likely to prevent him from using the autopilot. The wind was followed by increasingly big seas with waves that pumped up to 3-4 meters but, luckily, nicely aligned with the wind.

He remained extremely apprehensive and whilst using the autopilot to set course towards land, he was worried that the broken rudder would cause significant damage to the boat and other rudder leaving him to drift helplessly. He had no choice but to disconnect and remove the broken rudder, he managed to achieve this and maintain the use of the autopilot which was a huge relief for De Keyser who now could make steady progress toward safety whilst hoping that no further technical issue would impede his sailing.

The hours turned into days and despite several involuntary jibes and difficult situations, he made it through the worst of the weather which started to ease on the morning (evening for him) of the 18th. The residual swell is still significant but the overall situation is quickly improving and hopefully Edouard is out of the worst part of his journey.

With JRCC Australia on standby, it was also time to plan his arrival in Australia as Australian Border Control requires that a VISA is obtained prior to arrival and, aside from the Search and Rescue Station, plenty more authorities become involved with the unexpected arrival of a vessel in difficulty such as the South Australia Police and the Maritime National Centre, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Customs, biosecurity and so on.

The latest weather update indicates that the wind will be veering to the north east making an approach to Adelaide an unwise choice, as De Keyser would find himself sailing within the Gulf of St Vincent with no engine and unable to tack. Therefore, based on the forecast, he decided he will be sailing to Port Lincoln, which is both closer and easier to sail to, given the wind direction.

Under normal circumstances, Volunteer Marine Rescue vessels only operate to a maximum distance of 30 nm from the coast, so it’s important for De Keyser to choose a course that takes him as close as possible to a safe port where he can receive assistance.

However, De Keyser is not the only competitor facing difficulties as Louis Robein continues his difficult navigation towards Hobart, his struggles with energy problems after the loss of a hydrogenerator have caused him more than just a headache.

With only one remaining hydrogenerator, he has been forced to spend a lot of time helming when on a tack where he can’t charge his batteries. His installation makes it impossible to move the hydro at every tack, and when he was hit by a squally front with 40+ knots of wind and prohibitively cold air rising from Antarctica, he had to take turns helming and using the autopilot knowing he was discharging his batteries too deeply.

When conditions improved, he decided he’d try to have only one battery charging out of his bank of three so that he could get some juice into the battery even on the wrong tack when the hydrogenerator only occasionally dips in the water.

After disconnecting the batteries and checking their state, he realized that part of the reason he was struggling to properly recharge batteries, even when he had the opportunity to, was due to two out of three batteries being dead, discharged beyond hope. Only one of the three batteries, reading just over 9 Volts, seemed salvageable. He wired this battery with the hydro and thankfully saw the voltage rise again.

However, the hydrogenerator control unit is flashing an unknown error repeatedly so Robein is left hoping this arrangement will keep him going till Hobart! He has now less than a 1000 nm to go to Hobart but his journey seems to be throwing constant challenges at him and we hope he can make it in time to effect repairs and restart within the time limit set for him.

The rules impose that a boat must be in a position to still reasonably round the Horn before the end of the Austral summer to ensure competitors do not venture off season into treacherous waters. The clock is unfortunately ticking fast for him and we can only hope he does not face further issues or encounters weather that does not allow him to make fast progress.

Further east, Pavlin Nadvorni on his Farr 45 Espresso Martini endured a testing crossing of the Tasman Sea under headsail only. When he was south of Tasmania, he realized he had serious damage to several sections of his mainsail track which forced him to lower immediately the mainsail and ponder his next move.

Since a few days before, he had a rope wrapped around his prop and the sea state made diving too dangerous, so without a mainsail he could not beat up to Hobart to find shelter to free his prop and attempt repairs to his mast track. He decided to sail further, under headsail only, toward Bluff Harbour on the southern end of South Island, NZ, just north of Stewart Island.

The Tasman sea tested his physical and mental limits by throwing at him strong winds and nasty seas. Nadvorni sounded exhausted and sleep deprived making his journey a test of endurance and in the early morning on the 16th of January, he was sailing along the North coast of Stuart Island in squally weather.

Finally, he reached Saddle Point – the very northeasterly tip of the Island and turned south in search of a good anchoring spot. This was far from easy given he had no propulsion and could not sail close to the wind.

After managing to stop the boat at anchor whilst wind and current were causing the boat to turn on itself, and causing the rode to pass between rudder and keel, he was finally ready to get some much needed rest. At that moment he realized he was reaching a lull in the current and immediately decided to dive to free his prop.

Unfortunately, a problem with his diving kit meant the pressure gauge was leaking and he ran out of air before he could address the problem. At that time a RIB appeared out of nowhere with Murray, who knows Cole Brauer, and is following the GSC decided to pop by on his way out fishing to see if Nadvorni needed anything. After a brief chat it turned out that Nadvorni and Murray knew each other from many years ago. Tired, cold and exhausted, Nadvorni finally hit his bunk.

Whilst having morning coffee the next day, however, he noticed a new noise and he knew his anchor was dragging and the current and wind were pushing him ashore. As he put it, call it luck or call it Providence Murray appeared right then, he had a gut feeling he should go and check on Nadvorni again and he reached Espresso Martini just when it was needed the most.

Murray helped him change anchorage so he could attend to his fouled prop, after that he sailed to Bluff Harbour and berthed under engine. He was met by very understanding and accommodating officials who have cleared him to step ashore in New Zealand and begin thinking about the repairs he needs to carry out. We will post updates as the situation develops but he seems to have found renewed enthusiasm and is far from out of the Global Solo Challenge.

As for the leading boat, Mowgli, sailed by the extraordinary Philippe Delamare, he has been dealing with complex South Atlantic weather. I don’t want to say “told you!” But I will! Too many people had looked at boats whilst barely past the halfway mark and started drawing conclusions as to the final rankings as if boats were a few miles from the finish sailing in stable trade winds.

I follow the event with the same passion as many of the members of the public, perhaps with a little more knowledge of the potential pitfalls or as to what can be expected. Let’s just say that Cole Brauer has narrowed the gap to Delamare by over 500 miles in less than a week! And, she has strong following winds forecast for days whilst Delamare negotiates windless patches and upcoming headwinds.

I am totally impartial and wish the best to every competitor but as a watching fan I can get excited just as much as you all in following this gripping duel which many who were too quick to call it finished when Brauer was forced to take a conservative route to avoid two nasty storms last week. The duel is far from over!

Andrea Mura on Vento di Sardegna meanwhile has risen to 7th place on the water and has exchanged positions with Ronnie Simspon on Shipyard Brewing a few times in the expected time of arrival ETA ranking. This is currently the duel for third place and the ETA gap between the two boats has often been in the order of hours or even minutes!

This duel is impossible to call, and I think there will be fire between the Italian and the American skipper. This can lead them to push harder than they might have otherwise done, and keep closing the gap on Philippe and Cole, potentially opening the door for even more excitement.

The duel for 5th and 6th place is between Riccardo Tosetto on Opbportus and Francois Gouin on Kawan3 Unicancer. Francois had managed to briefly overtake Riccardo but the Italian skipper slipped away gaining miles on the french rival in the past few days. They both sail Class40s so this is a pure match race for them.

Race details – Entry list – Start times – Tracking

Attrition List:
DNS: Peter Bourke – Class40, Imagine
DNS: Ivan Dimov – Endur37, Blue Ibis
DNS: Curt Morlock – IMOCA, 6 Lazy K
DNS: Volkan Kaan Yemlihaoğlu – Open 70, Black Betty

RTD: Juan Merediz – Class40, Sorolla
RTD: Dafydd Hughes – S&S 34, Bendigedig
RTD: Ari Känsäkoski – Class40, ZEROchallenge

The inaugural Global Solo Challenge 2023-24 seeks to be a budget-friendly solo, non-stop race around the world. Using a pursuit format for the 2023-24 race, 20 entrants from 34 to 70 feet have start times between August 26 to January 6 from A Coruña, Spain, with the first boat to return deemed the winner.

Source: GSC