Three retire from Golden Globe Race
Self steering gear issues have been causing no end of problems for the skippers in the Golden Globe Race 2018, which is now in its second month.
For two of the entrants – Kevin Farebrother and Nabil Amra – the difficulties left them with no option but to retire.
Farebrother made the decision after days of hand steering his Tradewind 35, Sagarmatha, which led to severe fatigue. He called it a day at Rubicon Marina in Lanzarote, telling race organisers that he’d also struggled with solo sailing
Amra faced a weld failure in his self steering gear, which left him pointing the bow of his Biscay 36, Liberty II, towards the Canary Islands. The Palestinian skipper struggled to prepare for the race, completing his qualifying 10,000 solo miles just days before the start on 1 July.
He said it was with a ‘heavy heart’ that he had decided to retire but ended on a positive note, saying: “The truth lies in the statement ‘To make it to the start is the win’.”
British entrant Ertan Beskardes also retired from the race for personal reasons, pulling into Spain’s A Coruña five days after the start.
Both French skipper Antoine Cousot and American Istvan Kopar have struggled with their self-steering which forced them to pull into port to make repairs or wait for replacements. They are now in the Chichester Class, for entrants who are forced to stop once during the race, which is being sailed without the use of modern electronic navigation aids.
Italian Francesco Cappelletti failed to make the deadline to start the Golden Globe Race, which is designed to take competitors back to the ‘Golden Age’ of sailing. He is deemed to have retired from the race but still plans to circumnavigate in his Endurance 35, 007.
Meanwhile, French offshore racer, Philippe Péché is continuing to lead the fleet, although former Vendée Globe skipper, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede and Dutchman Mark Slats are continuing to apply the pressure. All three are sailing in Rustler 36 yachts, and were just coming out of The Doldrums as PBO went to press. They are currently one week ahead of the time set by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in Suhaili during the original 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.
There is also a battle mid fleet, with Britain’s Susie Goodall and Ireland’s Gregor McGuckin vying to catch Are Wiig of Norway, closely perused by Estonia’s Uku Ramdmaa and Tapio Lehtinen from Finland.