Attrition continues for Golden Globe

Sixteen solo skippers started the 2026-27 Golden Globe Race on September 6 from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. The fourth edition continues the “retro race” format in which 32-36 foot production boats designed prior to 1988, without modern technology, compete in the non-stop contest. Here is an update from November 9:

In 1968, nine sailors started the inaugural Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Only one finished: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston aboard SUHAILI. The 50th anniversary edition of the Golden Globe in 2018 had 18 starters and five finishers. In 2022, 16 started and just three finished.

The 2026 edition also began with 16 sailors, and just two months later and with 19,000 miles still to run, six have retired. How many will eventually cross that line remains an open question in this, one of the most grueling competitions on earth.

The story of featured 1968 entrant Donald Crowhurst adds a poignant historical note. Under intense financial and sponsorship pressure, he transmitted false positions suggesting a circumnavigation while remaining in the Atlantic.

As he headed north, the prospect of scrutiny threatened to expose the deception. His yacht was later found abandoned. He is presumed to have died by suicide, although the precise circumstances of his disappearance remain unknown.

More recently, three more entrants have left the 2026 race, for very different reasons.

While in third place, Italian Andrea Lodolo suffered a painful fracture around his knee after falling from the cockpit through the companionway into the cabin. Consultation with Medical Support Offshore (MSOS), GGR’s 24/7 telemedicine service, established that the injury was significant and might require evacuation.

Lodolo has chosen to sail to Cape Town rather than abandon his boat and stop sailing. Under close MSOS supervision, he is taking painkillers and trying to immobilize his leg. Race control is providing regular weather updates and assistance as needed.

American Guy DeBoer, who had retired from the race on November 4, was evacuated from his boat by Brazilian Navy helicopter on November 8 after injuries sustained in a fall aboard. He is now in stable condition and bound for Rio de Janeiro with an ETA of November 11. His boat remains adrift in the South Atlantic.

Mara Løvenskiold Kveseth has retired after being notified of two disqualification penalties, both suspended.

She had broadcast inappropriate social media posts which were brought to the attention of the GGR team. A preliminary assessment of more than 13 significant social media posts by her media manager, and was notified of a GGR investigation on October 28.

The investigation into her actions and her shore-based management and media team established multiple breaches of the Notice of Race, GGR WINDOW LIVE Code of Conduct, and Starlink usage regulations, including:

• The unauthorized uploading and publication of 865 restricted camera card files of onboard footage.
• Repeated breaches of WINDOW LIVE permitted media publication limits.
• The unauthorized use of the Starlink system to transmit onboard footage and send “covert” banned logistics communications to her shore team.

GGR considers these breaches particularly serious given clear instructions, rule briefings, and previous warnings, and their impact on the race’s ethos, fairness, restricted communications, and equal treatment of entrants. This has placed the event in disrepute.

The investigation determined that two breaches warranted disqualification from the event. However, GGR decided later to suspend both penalties “in the spirit of the GGR”, allowing Mara to continue as a full entrant and complete her solo circumnavigation, subject to no further NOR breaches.

Other penalties included permanent removal from the GGR WINDOW LIVE and reinstatement of a previously suspended 6-day penalty for multiple unauthorized phone calls, bringing her total to 16 days. They would be served in the North Atlantic while sailing north towards Les Sables-d’Olonne.

On November 6, Kveseth and her management team were given 24 hours to review the report and show due cause why the proposed penalties and subsequent suspension should not be applied. Instead, Mara formally announced her retirement from the 2026 Golden Globe Race on November 7 while in 5th place.

For those still racing, no serious issues are currently being reported. After a succession of storms and fronts, the weather has settled and the remaining fleet is steadily making progress east in more stable conditions.

Race leader Damien Guillou is well on his way into the Indian Ocean. Early indications suggest he could reach the Hobart check-in station around December 17, although that remains an estimate.

Ertan Beskardes holds 2nd place and, unbeknown to him, is currently riding a 2–3-knot flow in the Agulhas Current. Swiss sailor Etienne Messikommer has moved into 3rd. Several weeks ago, frustration in the Doldrums had brought him close to retiring.

Retired
September 26 – Selim Yalcin (TUR), Endurance 35, retired to Cadiz, Spain
October 17 – Pat Lawless (IRL), Saga 36, retirement port not yet known
October 27 – Louis Kerdelhue (FRA), Biscay 36 Masthead Ketch, retired to Recife, Brazil
November 4 – Guy deBoer (USA), Tashiba 36
November 7 – Andrea Lodolo (ITA), Rustler 36, retired to for Cape Town
November 7 – Mara Løvenskiold Kveseth (NOR), Saga 36, intends to continue outside of race restrictions

Race details – Entry list – Tracker – Facebook

In 1968, nine started the first solo non-stop sailing race around the World with 29 year old Sir Robin Knox Johnston as the lone finisher. He navigated only with a sextant, paper charts, and an accurate and reliable time piece, and the Golden Globe Race seeks to recreate the challenge.

Competitors must sail in production boats between 32-36 foot overall designed prior to 1988 that have a full-length keel with rudder attached to their trailing edge. Similarly, entrants must sail without modern technology or the benefit of satellite-based navigation aids.

In 2018, 18 started with five finishers for the second edition. When repeated in 2022, there were three finishers from 16 starters. Along the route there were several marks of the course and media requirements. For the fourth edition, after 29 solo sailors from 12 countries initially entered, 16 have fulfilled the requirements to start from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France on September 6, 2026.