Globe40 begins leg to New Zealand

Mauritius (September 11, 2022) – The GLOBE40 competitors began the third leg today, a course of nearly 7,000 nm from Mauritius to New Zealand. The ranking remains wide open and at the end of this leg the five Class40 boats will have covered over half the planet in this doublehanded round the world race.

Just a few miles to the south of Port-Louis, the capital of Mauritius, off the lighthouse marking the Pointe aux Caves, the teams began a southerly course around the iconic basaltic Morne Brabant Mountain before initially setting a course for the south-west tip of Australia across an Indian Ocean renowned for its complexity.

After this first section spanning nearly 3,000 nautical miles, the skippers will have to negotiate a gate formed by Eclipse Island close to Cape Leeuwin, the second of the three legendary capes of this circumnavigation of the globe together with the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.

Up next will be a 1,500 nautical mile passage across the Great Australian Bight bound for the dreaded Bass Strait separating mainland Australia from Tasmania, the competitors also remaining free to go around the southern tip of Tasmania if desired.

Once they officially make it into the Pacific Ocean, the competitors will cross the Tasman Sea to get around New Zealand’s North Island at Cape Reinga before making the turn to begin the sprint down the north coast to the finish in Auckland. Overall, the course should take around 30 days to complete.

“The competitors will set sail in a well-established SE’ly trade wind,” noted race meteorologist Christian Dumard. “Their primary objective will be to beat towards the south or south-east to get around the high-pressure systems to the south of Mauritius.

“Their mission is to hunt down a W’ly wind synonymous with downwind conditions to the south, which should carry them as far as Eclipse Island. This transition between the two wind systems is always tricky to negotiate with its zones of calm.

“Once they’re into the W’ly wind pattern, the competitors should accelerate as they benefit from some great surfing in the Indian Ocean. This region has a reputation for not being easy as it often features complicated sea conditions.

“Over the second part of the course, conditions may be varied with what could well be a difficult passage around Tasmania. The skippers will be able to round to the south or north, depending on the weather, before they climb northwards towards New Zealand in what will be early spring in the southern hemisphere.”

Four new skippers have joined the race for this leg: Italian Luca Rosetti on MILAI Around The World, American Brian Harris and Canadian Kyle Hubley on AMHAS, and Spaniard Jéronimo Santos Gonzalès on WHISKEY JACK; the GLOBE40 once again confirming its status as an international race, with Briton Josh Hall also taking over as Race Director for the next two legs.

On a sporting level, the team on AMHAS will be keen to defend their lead (6 points) over MILAI Around The World (13 points), winner of the prologue and the first leg, who will be determined to regain the upper hand after their technical pit stop in Cape Town during the previous leg.

SEC HAYAI (8 points) have been very consistent with two second places to date and now have their sights on the top step of the podium this time around, whilst WHISKEY JACK (15 points) and GRYPHON SOLO 2 (20 points) complete the ranking.

As the scoring format gives extra value to the longer legs, Leg 3 is similar to Leg 2 as it is worth a coefficient 3.

Race details – Entries – Tracker

Leg Two Results:

Leg One Results:

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
Leg 5 start: Papeete, French Polynesia
Leg 6 start: Ushuaia, Argentina
Leg 7 start: Recife, Brazil
Leg 8 start: St Georges, Grenada

Finish:
Lorient, France