Looking ahead at the Mini Globe Race, Vendee Globe news, US Sailing update
by David Schmidt 17 Dec 16:00 UTC
December 17, 2024
Charlie Dalin - MACIF - IMOCA - Southern Ocean - December 1, 2024 © Charlie Dalin
While the eyes of the sailing world are rightfully glued to the Southern Ocean-exploits of the ongoing Vendée Globe sailors (see below), another round-the-world race is beginning to capture my imagination. Six years ago, Australian Don McIntyre launched the Golden Globe Race 2018 as a retro race that would challenge singlehanded entrants with the same kind of navigational and seamanship challenges that the competitors in the original Golden Globe Race faced in 1968-1969. McIntyre's retro races caught on, and his latest round-the-world venture—the Mini Globe Race—will commence on Saturday, December 28, 2024.
Unlike McIntyre's GGR races, which use period-appropriate vessels that round the three great capes eastabout and sans stops, the Mini Globe Race uses 19-foot boats that are built to a race-approved design, and which will circumnavigate in a westabout direction, passing through the Panama Canal, and stopping at least five times en route.
The first leg will take the fleet from Lagos, Portugal, to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. It's expected that the fleet will take about 28 days to complete this passage (N.B. competitors have flexibility with when they opt to start each leg). From there, they will continue - after a rest of at least eight days - to Antigua, then on to Panama.
While the course sounds interesting, it's the part about sailing around the world in a 19-footer that has my attention. Even more impressive is the fact that many entrants will be building their own race boats out of plywood.
North American interests in the race are being represented by Joshua Kali, a son of the Pacific Northwest who has spent time in the big mountains (read: Alaska, the Alps, and Patagonia), and on the open ocean between Washington State and Hawaii.
While Kali is new to sailing (he started in September of 2020), his appetite for adventure seems strong, and I'm sure his time in the mountains will serve him well on the open ocean.
Race officials estimate that the Mini Globe race will take entrants about 400 days to complete, so Sail-World readers will have plenty of time to get familiar with the events and the competing skippers.
Meanwhile, in the Vendée Globe, skipper Charlie Dalin, sailing aboard the IMOCA 60 Macif Sante Prevoyance, continues to lead the hunt. That said, Dalin's lead has dwindled to just over 10 nautical miles (as of this writing, on Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time) ahead of Yoann Richomme, who is racing aboard Paprec Arkea, and who has been making strong gains. Richomme recently passed Sébastien Simon, who is sailing aboard Groupe Dubreuil, and who had been in second place, however a broken foil has slowed his race.
While a 10-mile lead is solid on a 100-mile course, it's borderline microscopic here, given that the fleet has now sailed more than halfway around the world.
Sadly, the weekend brought bad news for British-flagged skipper Pip Hare, who suffered a dismasting aboard Medallia some 800 nautical miles south of Australia. According to reports, Medallia launched off a wave just wrong, and when it landed the mast broke in two places
Hare thankfully wasn't injured and is sailing under jury rig towards Australia at roughly four knots.
"I don't think right now I can unpack how I feel," Hare told race officials. "It's just a case of doing the practical things to look after me in the boat, and making some progress towards the shore so that we can sort this out.
"I'm so sorry that it's ended this way," Hare continued. "It's not the end. I hope that by the time I get to the shore, we'll have a really good plan for how to get Medallia sailing again and get back to Europe, and then get back on the race track in 2025."
Sail-World wishes Pip Hare safe passage to Australia, and we wish the other 37 competing skippers safe and fast sailing en route back to France.
Meanwhile, much closer to home, Miami's Biscayne Bay delivered a bit too much of the goods for the 46 Melges 24 and J/70 teams competing at the first event of the Bacardi Winter Series (December 14-15). The RC managed to get off a single race on Saturday, before the gusts started tickling 30-knots, forcing the event to cancel racing for the rest of the weekend.
"Although the conditions on the water were demanding, it was still a fantastic weekend," said Allan Terhune, who was racing aboard the winning J/70. "We were all in to race, but the Race Committee made the right call. It was great to catch up with other teams ashore, and we truly appreciate the exceptional Bacardi hospitality, which makes the experience unforgettable. We can't wait to be back in January!"
And for Olympic sailing fans, US Sailing recently announced their Tiered Pathway, which will integrate all levels of high-performance sailing, from youth athletes all the way up to members of the US Sailing Team. These groups will be linked by seven tiers, which range from the youth national team (Tier 7) up to Podium Potential Athletes (Tier 1), with plenty of development opportunities in between.
"The US Sailing Team has been tiered and formally structured for a long time, but extending this concept down into the ODP and Youth programs is a big step forward for the American Olympic sailing movement," said Marcus Lynch, US Sailing Team High Performance Director, in an official US Sailing communication. "This pathway is a continuous and clear trajectory for athletes and an investment in the talent that will make up our future Olympic teams. I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of this effort come to fruition even beyond Brisbane [Olympics] 2032."
With some luck, the Star-Spangled Banner will be heard at Olympic medal ceremonies much sooner than 2032.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor