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Velux 5 Oceans- The race in context - 28 years of history and drama

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THE FUTURE OF OCEAN RACING

Sailing boats are zero carbon vessels that may one day make a comeback in terms of scheduled cargo transports, more than likely not in the form enjoyed in current yacht racing sport, taking seamanship out of the equation.

Importantly, races such as these keep the ocean in the public eye, but don't portray the current issues facing the planet in terms of climate change and marine pollution . Rather, they present a romantic image of the sea. This is not to detract from the enormous skills of the competitors, the designers of the boats or the good intentions of the organizers - of which we hugely applaud - and which endeavors should continue for the sport of sailing.

Most large luxury yachts afloat today rely on diesel engines . They can fairly be described as gas guzzlers , contributing to global warming . The owners of these gleaming plastic palaces have made their money in a society based on fossil fuel consumption before scientists drew attention to the need for more environmentally sound transport, heralding a need for a change in technology if we are to stay afloat with a clean bill of health.

Those with a love of the sea can remain on the water by moving to sails and employing a crew for the chore or move to automated rigging, or by using motorized vessels that are solar powered . You will see from the history of sailing events that there have been numerous brand lead and formula changes to attract philanthropists as responsible corporations willing to invest in clean energy . It is certain then, that electric yachting will eventually gain attention as promising technology in the battle against global warming.

THE ELIZABETH SWAN - [Left] The graceful lines of this beautiful solar powered boat complements the zero carbon cruising ideal that many designers and United Nations planners aspire to under SDG13 . When built the Swan's hull will be the largest solar powered boat in the world at 43 meters (140ft). She could also prove to be the world's fastest blue water cruiser.

A NEW BREED - [Right] On the 4th of May 2012 , the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar set a world record for the fastest solar powered circumnavigation of 584 days also going into the Guinness Book of World Records for other electric boat achievements. PlanetSolar began its epic adventure from Monaco , also coming home to the harbour for a solar powered celebration. Though nearly seven years ago, we wonder if the success of this venture might one day lead to solar ocean races, where it is technically feasible to equal the times of most yacht sailing races.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en

https://www.routedurhum.com/fr

https://goldengloberace.com/

https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

  This website is provided on a free basis as a public information service. Copyright © Cleaner Oceans Foundation Ltd (COFL) (Company No: 4674774) 2019. Solar Studios, BN271RF, United Kingdom . COFL is a charity without share capital.

BOC CHALLENE WORLD OCEAN SAILING EVENTS YACHTS RACING

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The BOC Challenge around the world 1986-87

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• Swan 51 Challenge

The BOC singlehanded Challenge around the world 1986-87

s/y Belmont is part of the illustrious group of historical Swans built over the years by Nautor (together with Swans like: Tarantella, Casse Tette, Sayula II). s/y Belmont is the Swan 51 which Harry “Hjallis” Harkimo successfully competed with in the BOC Challenge 1986-87.

The singlehanded around the world race started on the 30th of August 1986 and s/y Belmont crossed the finish line in Newport, RI on 8th of May 1987. Of the 25 boats that started the race only 16 boats made it to the finish, with 9 boats forced to retire due to the extreme conditions the boats and the sailors had to endure. After 168 days alone, two capsizes, a great number of storms and doldrums on the seven seas, s/y Belmont safely finished as third boat in its class – an achievement which to date has not been exceeded in Finnish sailing history!

“It hasn't been easy, I can assure you. I have gone through several unbelievably difficult moments. Only with strong faith and relentless effort have I made it.”

— harry "hjallis" harkimo, hjallis harkimo & s/y belmont - boc challenge 1986-1987.

You might also be interested in: The BOC Challenge 1986-87 30th Aniversary

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Around The World Solo In a Sailboat: What Does It Take?

It takes stamina, humor, planning—not to mention hanging from a line 60 feet up, over waves the size of a house, in gale-force winds

Wendy Mitman Clarke

Imagine being alone on the ocean for five or ten weeks, sailing in snow, ice and spray cruel as needles. The wind belts you like a prizefighter. The boat is your only haven, yet it throws you like a bronco. Amid all this you must eat, sleep, navigate, find the quickest route and handle every problem yourself, from sprained wrist to snapped mast. This is the endurance test facing the 20 competitors in the BOC Challenge — a single-handed, round the world race that takes place every four years. The sailors began in Charleston, South Carolina, and after stops in three ports along the 27,000-mile route, they will end up in Charleston next month.

One of the racers, Steve Pettengill of Middletown, Rhode Island, gives a nearly day-by-day account of what it takes to prepare for and sail one leg of the race, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Sydney. We're "on board" as he stocks his boat, Hunter's Child, with freeze-dried meals and favorite cassettes, fine-tunes his computerized navigation station, battles freezing rain and stomach churning storms while making repairs and learns the sometimes sad fate of his competitors.

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Wendy Mitman Clarke | READ MORE

Wendy Mitman Clarke is director of media relations for Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and a lifelong sailor obsessed with the ocean and all the wonder and weirdness that lives within it. Besides Smithsonian, her non-fiction stories have appeared in Preservation , and Chesapeake Bay Magazine . She's also a published poet.

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Van Liew: The Last American Soloist

• By Mark Chisnell
• Updated: February 11, 2020

Today, the only American to have completed three solo-­circumnavigation races is rarely seen in anything resembling a sailboat. To find him, you have to look skyward. Maybe he’s the guy buzzing the Low Country in a Beechcraft Premiere—because 51-year-old Brad Van Liew now prefers the open skies to the open ocean. It was back in 2010-11 when he last raced his Eco 60 Le Pingouin , taking victory in the Velux 5 Oceans race. Before that he won Class II of the Around Alone in 2002-03 with the Open 50 Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America . Those two victories came after a debut third place in the Open 50 class in the Around Alone in 1998-99.

The Around Alone started out as the BOC Challenge and was the premier solo ocean race until the advent of the Vendée Globe. This nonstop ­circumnavigation gathered momentum, public attention and competitors during the 1990s; by the early 2000s, it had eclipsed the Around Alone.

No French sailors competed in the Velux 5 Oceans 2010-11, but Van Liew could only beat the sailors who did show up.

It takes a great deal of persistence, talent, determination and sheer bloody-mindedness to get a commercially funded boat to the starting line of one of these races, never mind getting all the way around the world not once but three times. And yet Van Liew’s once-illustrious career in ocean racing ended badly in the wake of the 2010‑11 victory with Le Pingouin .

He suffered bankruptcy and the boat was repossessed—­everything that he and his first wife, Meaghan, had built together over those three races and 15 years was lost.

Since then, Van Liew has largely disappeared from the sailing scene. He did a few record attempts with Italian circumnavigator Giovanni Soldini and his Maserati crew in 2012, but that’s about it.

“That was a pretty great way for me to decompress right after the Velux,” Van Liew says. “I love Gio to death, and we had a lot of fun and did some really cool stuff; so, I was with him for a little while… And at that point in my marriage we had a lot of financial problems….”

They were “big problems,” he says, which led to his personal bankruptcy. The business, Van Liew Adventures, that he ran with his wife Meaghan, folded in early 2012. Divorce soon followed.

“Commuting to Italy and ­training there was probably a good way for me to process the transition in my life,” he says. “So, I did that for a while and then eventually ended up meeting my current wife and just settling back down in Charleston. I also decided that because my third back surgery was coming up, I was going to go back to flying.”

Today, Van Liew and his wife have a new residential real estate venture in Charleston, but over the past few years, his day to day was focused on flight instruction and flying charters. “I’d been doing that for the past number of years and helping my wife with her business; just kind of…quite frankly, hanging out in the woods, you know, at my place. There’d been a lot of coverage of me here, and it got to the point where I couldn’t even really go anywhere without having to talk about sailing with somebody I didn’t know,” he says. “It’s finally just kind of chilling out. I’m just really enjoying going out fishing and flying airplanes and doing what I do.”

The Velux 5 Oceans was expected to see a fleet of 12 or 15 boats, but only five made it to the start, with one of them pulling out soon after.

“I think the economy was such a hard part of the last chapter of my career and of the race. It was the end of me. It was the end of the race to be honest,” Van Liew says. “It was hard to have dedicated so much to the sport, to watch it all fold in on itself like that, including my own business and my own finances. It was a pretty hard pill to swallow.”

In the wake of the 2010‑11 victory with Le Pingouin, he suffered bankruptcy and the boat was repossessed—­everything that he and his first wife, Meaghan, had built together over those three races and 15 years was lost.

He’s not bitter, however. He was content managing, flying and brokering jet aircraft and airplanes, and now he’s in the real estate business. “It is what it is,” he says.

Life now is better than it’s ever been, he adds. He’s happily remarried, and all is well with his kids. “I have a beautiful home and a beautiful life, it’s great,” he says. “So, it’s not like I’m crying over spilled milk. It’s just the truth of what happened is—in the time frame that it had—some things are just bigger than anybody’s ability to make them go away.”

Van Liew’s story started with big dreams and great ambition. Born in Los Angeles, he grew up in San Diego, but sailing wasn’t a significant part of his early childhood. “I was more involved in motocross and horseback riding and stuff like that,” he says. “But when I was like 6 or so, I went to a summer camp up in Puget Sound; there was a lot of sailing, and I got pretty hooked. A large portion of my father’s side of the family lives on the East Coast, and in the Newport, Rhode Island, area, and they have sailing programs in the family. The Johnstones, of J/­Boats, are cousins of mine.”

Van Liew started to spend his summers in Newport, working on his uncle’s IOR boat [Alfred Van Liew’s Palmer Johnson-built two-tonner Fiddler ]. “The family scene was a big influence because it was easy access to a fairly high-level program,” he says. “It was kind of a New York Yacht Club summer scene, you know…And then fairly early in the game we did a Bermuda Race, and I really enjoyed that. I think the first time I did that I was 14 or so, and just really enjoyed the long-distance ­voyaging component of racing.”

RELATED: Van Liew Is Unleashed Once More

What he remembers most, he says, is the sense of “really ­having gone somewhere.”

“One of the things that always attracted me to it was getting to a destination that makes you feel like you’re voyaging, something different: different cultures, different accent, a different language, whatever. So that’s when the long-distance stuff started, and it just blossomed from there until one summer—I think it was in 1987 maybe—the BOC Challenge was coming back into Rhode Island, and I thought it was the coolest damn thing I’d ever seen. So that’s when dreams of single-handedly ­winning those races started.”

There were a couple of other factors; the innovative mindset of the Open 60s was one; the great American solo star of the time, Mike Plant, was the other. “I was completely enamored with and motivated by watching Mike Plant’s development of his career. He had been very supportive; I worked for him while he was building his boats, while I was trying to make my thing happen. I really thought, ‘I’m going to get in on this, and I’m going to get in on it at a young age and make it happen.’ ”

By the time Van Liew decided he wanted to make a go of it, college was calling. “I was way too young,” he says, “and if I had accomplished my goal of doing the first one that I wanted to do, I would’ve killed myself.”

His first attempt was the 1990 edition, and it was, as he describes, “a disappointment, a huge disappointment. I thought I was one of those people that if I put my mind to it, I could do anything. And I failed. I had said I was going to do something that I didn’t do, so I had to tuck my tail between my legs and go finish college, get my life put back together after saying I was going to do this and not pulling it off.”

Van Liew went back to school and ended up following a path into the aviation industry. He started working as a flight instructor and flying aircraft charters from Santa Monica.

He met Meaghan, bought a 26-footer and joined the California YC.

“That was also the time frame in which Mike Plant was lost [Plant disappeared on his way to the start of the Vendée Globe in October 1992, his yacht Coyote was later found capsized], and so I had a lot of it on my brain. I guess it had been just enough time for me to heal from my disappointment.”

He married Meaghan in 1996, and decided, “You know what, I’m going to give it another try. ” His new bride was a marketing professional, and the pair put together a program that got them a boat and got Van Liew around the world.

“It was a kind of… The Last of the Mohicans race, you know? And it felt like a family. I was just living on the outer end of sanity I guess. It was crazy. And I did a lot better—I think—than anybody would’ve anticipated. And I did it on 10 cents on the dollar. And I did it from the heart. It was just…it was me; me buried to my soul and proving I could do something I had said I was going to do and failed at.”

And then when it was over, he says: “I was like, ‘Well am I going back to flying? Or what should we do here?’ I sailed the boat up to Newport to put it up for sale, flew back to California…did some soul searching, and basically just said, ‘You know what, if I can, if I could really have a boat, could really have a program, I might be pretty good at this.’ And it’s all history from there.”

The clock has ticked through almost two decades since then. It’s more than enough time to get it all in some sort of perspective. So how does Van Liew feel about it all with the benefit of time and hindsight?

“That’s a tough one to answer,” he says. “I sure hope my son doesn’t turn around and say he wants to do it, I can tell you that…I mean, in some ways it really defines me. Mike Plant was a really important mentor to me. I’m honored to share the role that I have in the history of the sailing scene in the United States with a guy like Mike.

“I feel like I really broke the mold in some ways, because I had to be very corporate or European in the way that I had to do my programs because I didn’t have the money to do them without corporate involvement and without a corporate message.” Van Liew adds. “In some ways they’re the greatest memories I have. In some ways they’re the worst nightmares I have. I think it had a huge impact on my life and my marriage with Meaghan. And you know it’s…I’ll tell you, it doesn’t seem as important as it did when I was doing it.

“I wanted to bring more media to the sport. I wanted the story of these races to become familiar to a grander public in the United States. And it just never really did; it never clicked—it didn’t become what it is in England and France. And I wanted that to be my legacy. I was hoping that story would click and become a big deal. And it just didn’t.

“So, in that sense, I feel like I didn’t get the job done. But in the same sense, nobody else has done what I’ve done, so here I am,” he says. “It’s left me hurt: I’ve had three back surgeries; I’ve got a permanent limp; I’ll never run again. And you know, it comes with a price—it’s not a light way to live.”

These days, Van Liew doesn’t sail much. He and his second wife, Amy, charter a boat sometimes. “I don’t want to sound pompous or whatever,” he says, “but I’ve never really been a ­sailing-around-the-buoys kind of guy, so it’s never been my jam. I like voyages. Our biggest project right now is we recently moved into a house on the water that we really love. It was Amy’s parents’ place, and it’s just very peaceful.”

Would he ever pack the house up one day and head for the wide-open spaces of the Pacific? Not likely.

“Meaghan ended up ­passing away a couple of years ago, so that’s a big part of my current story,” he says. “She went in for a medical procedure, a ­transplant—and she never came out, January of two years ago. And my kids were, at that time, in ninth grade and sixth grade.

“That completely derailed my ability to make decisions without putting them first,” Van Liew adds. “And obviously, the type of sailing that I was doing…the solo voyaging and even the record-breaking stuff is pretty dangerous; when you’re a sole-surviving parent of two kids that you love a great deal, and you’re a husband, and a stepdad to another kid—all of a sudden none of this stuff that we’re talking about seems very important. So, I just shut all that down and enjoy being a dad and a husband.”

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Watch CBS News

Sailing Around The World Alone

By Tatiana Morales

September 3, 2002 / 5:25 PM EDT / CBS

The only American to return to compete in this year's grueling and dangerous "Around Alone" competition is aiming to take first place. Brad Van Liew and his newly refurbished 50-foot yacht, named "Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America," sets sail September 15 on an eight-month, 28,000-mile race around the world.

From the interior of his boat, Van Liew talks to The Early Show about the competition.

The "Around Alone" race began 20 years ago over beers in a Newport bar. Up to that point only a handful of people had managed to sail alone around the world. The race, held every four years, attracted a mixture of eccentrics and adventurers drawn to the challenge of sailing through the planet's most dangerous and isolated areas. As the race grew in popularity, more and more experienced sailors joined the race with their deep-pocketed corporate sponsors in tandem.

The success of the race was due to the involvement of the BOC Group, a British conglomerate that spent millions to market and organize it. The race was originally named the BOC Challenge and had its starting point in Charleston, S.C.

In 1998 the BOC Challenge made a turning point, which the BOC Group withdrew its sponsorship and organizers renamed the event the "Around Alone." The organization still faces the challenge of finding a corporate sponsor, but will continue to push ahead with the contestants who can afford to participate.

This year's race officially starts Sept. 15 from New York City, passing popular landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and ground zero instead of the originally planned starting point of Newport, R.I. Race chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, who won the first solo race around the world in 1968 and whose company acquired the rights to "Around Alone" last year, said he was swayed to move the starting point to New York City after receiving a letter from Mayor Bloomberg inviting them to join every yacht in the world to fill New York's harbor with sailboats in a symbolic remembrance and tribute, called "Sail for America," honoring victims of Sept. 11.

A feeder race from Newport to New York will launch the race on Sept. 12. Approximately 14 sailors are expected to participate in this year's "Around Alone" race.

The race is divided into three boat categories and five legs of the journey. The three boat categories are:

• 40-footers to 60-footer Venturers,
• Class II 50-footers
• Class I 60-footers.

Van Liew's team will meet him at each port. There they have a limited amount of time to do maintenance and repair on the boat before he sails on to the next port. They are expected to arrive in Rhode Island sometime in April or May 2003.

Van Liew, a 34-year-old resident of southern California, is one of three Americans competing in this year's race. Californian Bruce Schwab and Great Lakes skipper Tim Kent are the other two Americans who will be participating this year's race. The difference between Van Liew and the other two sailors is Van Liew's 6-figure sponsorship by clothier Tommy Hilfiger and the fact that Van Liew is the only sailor returning from the last race in 1998-99, in which he finished third in his class despite being dismasted on the event's final leg.

"Around Alone" is the ultimate test of endurance and courage. Some participants have expensive, professionally designed boats worth several million dollars and lavish corporate sponsorship, while others sail homemade boats on a shoestring budget. "Around Alone" is a grueling dangerous trek because the sailors face torrential storms and fierce oceans alone. Everything that happens on their boat, they are responsible for, whether it is repairing the boat or taking care of their health and well-being.

The last time he sailed in this race, Van Liew was on the last leg of the race and had to return to the port, barely making it, because he had to repair the mast, rigging and sails of his Open 50 that had been ripped apart by wind and tossed into the Atlantic Ocean. Van Liew was miraculously able to make his boat sail again with an aluminum mast. In little more than a week he overcame a 1,000-mile deficit to pull into fourth place overall.

Van Liew says this year he has come back to the race with a mission. "The last race was very emotional thing for me. I'd wanted to do it for literally decades, to experience the adventure, the friendships, all the special aspects of the race. This time I've come back not to necessarily enjoy it, but to win it." Van Liew was the youngest and sole American sailor to finish the 1998-99 "Around Alone" sail. The clincher is that if he does win... there is NO prize. NO money, no trophy... nada. He says it is simply the satisfaction of winning!

The cost of participating in the race is approximately $2-$3 million to maintain the 50-footer for eight months and landing such a large sponsorship was notable because in Europe, such deals for solo sailors are commonplace, but not in the United States.

Tommy Hilfiger said of the sponsorship, "It's a great match. Our company's heritage and designs are strongly tied to the nautical theme." He added that the company would begin a product line around the campaign in Spring 2003, to coincide with the race's end." Van Liew also renamed his boat "Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America" as part of the sponsorship deal.

Van Liew will be racing a Groupe Finot 50-footer boat, which he purchased from his arch rival in that last race, British skipper Mike Garside. This boat placed Garside in second place in Class II division in the 1998-99 race. Van Liew originally had his sights set on purchasing a new Open 60-footer yacht, but the deal fell through.

Van Liew has spent several months getting the ship into shape. Since it was purchased used, he has had to refit the vessel. Van Liew said he kept the rig and hull, while everything else had to be refurbished. The boat was officially christened on June 4, 2002 at Chelsea Piers in New York Harbor, by Tommy Hilfiger model, Lauren Bush.

Hilfiger said, "Brad is the United States' premier solo sailor and we are very proud and extremely excited about this opportunity to support him. It takes hard work, resourcefulness, perseverance and courage to succeed. Brad and Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America team personify these qualities and are an embodiment of the American dream."

The interior of Van Liew's boat is about the size of a small bedroom. It lacks refrigeration and toilets. Van Liew says in conjunction with not having the comforts of home, he suffers from severe lack of sleep because he can only take short 30-minute naps at a time. He lives on dehydrated food, and also packs his own clean water. (Last time he raced he ran out of clean water.) And just in case he falls ill, Van Liew says he took a course in basic medicine and surgery because he will be his own doctor for more than eight months.

More from CBS News

Around-the-World Single-Handed Race : Canadian Sails Dismasted Sloop Around the Horn to the Falklands

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Canadian John Hughes, 26, steered his crippled sailboat into port in the Falkland Islands after sailing for 45 days and 4,400 nautical miles without a mast.

Hughes’ 41-foot sloop, Joseph Young, was dismasted Feb. 6, about 1,500 miles east of New Zealand on the third leg of the BOC Challenge single-handed sailing race around the world.

Hughes, 26, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, had exceptional luck on his 400-mile run from Cape Horn to the Falklands. The 35-knot tailwind was perfect for his jury-rigged boat, which had only a small jib sail flying.

With the wind dying shortly before noon Monday, Hughes sailed into East Cove, where a British naval base is located. He took a tow only after he was well within two miles of his goal to avoid breaking a race rule.

He was escorted in by a British patrol vessel. At the dock, he was greeted by naval personnel, headed by Rear Adm. Chris Leyland, the commander of naval forces in the Falklands.

Hughes told of his dismasting by telephone to race headquarters here:

“I was asleep in the quarter berth when the mast broke off at the deck. The bottom of the mast had jumped a foot to port and crashed through the deck. It was rocking around from side to side.”

Hughes cut away the mast before it could go through the hull. As it went overboard, though, it ripped away the safety lines on the starboard side of the boat as well as the bow pulpit.

With the mast and the boom gone, as well as the mainsail and a jib, Hughes said he “erected a spinnaker pole in the cockpit to set a steadying sail to ease the boat’s rolling, and to replace my radio antenna, which had gone overboard with the mast. I was able to contact Hal Roth and Mark Schrader (fellow racers) and pass the word along.”

He then built a jury rig with two spinnaker poles lashed together in an A-frame. The poles’ bottoms rested in coffee cans filled with rags, so they would not damage the deck further.

With a wire to the bow and the stern of the boat from the top of the rig, Hughes still was able to hoist only his smallest jib.

Initially, Hughes headed for Chile, 3,500 miles away and 1,200 miles north of Cape Horn. But he concluded that he could not reach Chile.

“After I headed north, a big high pressure came over me and I ran out of wind,” he said. “Then I started running low on food and water, so I had to change my strategy.

“I had very little sail and my jury rig was very strong, so I changed course and headed for Cape Horn and the Falklands. There is more wind toward the Horn.”

As he drove farther south, Hughes maintained contact with land through a network of amateur radio operators in New Zealand, Chile and the United States, coordinated by Fred Chew of Fall River, Mass.

Bob Rice of Weather Services, Inc., in New Bedford, Mass,, volunteered his time to provide Hughes with up-to-the minute weather forecasts covering the Cape Horn area.

Hughes almost ran out of water, but 400 miles before the Horn he managed to catch some hail and melt it.

“I ran out of water one day before reaching port,” he said. “I’ve been drinking a lot since I got here--lots of water, and getting lots of sleep.”

Hughes said the Cape Horn passage was frightening.

“For a while, I didn’t think I would make it. The winds were blowing more than 50 knots, and the shallow water made each wave break.

“Twice, I was knocked down--giving me a good scare. Everything was a mess inside--broken glass bottles, chutney everywhere and lots of salt water in the boat. The waves were 40-footers, not so big, but every wave was breaking. They were very steep. I was really relieved to get into deeper water.”

Back home, the drama of Hughes’ mastless odyssey caught the attention of fellow Canadians, inspiring them to contribute money to his cause.

A new mast was bought with donations. It was supposed to have arrived by March 22, but engine problems forced a Canadian Air Force transport to miss a connection with the RAF plane that was to fly the spar to the Falklands.

The rig’s late arrival will almost certainly prevent Hughes from making it to Rio de Janeiro by April 11, in time to start the last leg of the race home to Newport, R.I.

Hughes intends to provision his boat for the entire journey to Newport, so that he only has to cross the finish line in Rio before resuming the race.

The racers will begin to arrive home in early May.

The 27,500-nautical mile race started August 30, 1986, with 25 competitors. Sixteen, including Hughes, remain. One boat has sunk; two besides Hughes’ have been dismasted, and one skipper, Jacques de Roux of France, has been lost overboard.

The fleet leader is Philippe Jeantot of France, sailing the 60-foot Credit Agricole III. Jeantot has a three-day lead over fellow Frenchman Titouan Lamazou aboard Ecureuil d’Aquitaine.

The leading American is Guy Bernardin of North Kingston, R.I., who is in fourth place aboard Biscuits Lu. Mike Plant of Jamestown, R.I., leads Class II for yachts up to 50 feet long.

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Around Alone

The Around Alone is one of the world’s toughest sailboat races. The Around Alone is the longest race on earth for any individual in any sport. Formerly the BOC Challenge, the Around Alone course spans about 28,755 miles of the world's roughest and most remote oceans. It is a grueling single-handed sailing race, one of the most difficult and dangerous ever conceived, where competitors are both the captain and crew, pitting themselves and their craft against the elements, alone, and where the finish line is literally a world away.

Boats entered in the Around Alone are broken down into 2 classes. Class one boats are open design yachts 50 feet long or greater, but no more than 60 feet according to the IMOCA class rule C-3 on LOA. Class two boats are between 40 and 50 feet according to the IMOCA class rule C-3 on LOA.

The Around Alone is the dream of David White. It started, like many grand ideas do, in a bar over a couple of drinks. The scene was the Goat Island Marina Pub in Newport, Rhode Island . White had just returned from sailing the Bermuda One Two . While at sea he had thought about the idea of a solo race around the world, and that night, after many beers, he proposed his plan for a new race, which he called the Around Alone. His idea was met with inebriated enthusiasm. A course was quickly sketched out on a napkin, plans for a new design were floated, and a set of rules devised. It was the summer of 1979 and it would be three long years before White’s Around Alone idea took hold.

Finally in 1980 White managed to get the British company BOC to sponsor the event. The inaugural BOC Challenge finally got away at the end of August 1982 with a fleet of 17 boats setting sail for South Africa and the Southern Ocean. They were a rag-tag bunch of people, among them one entry stood out, an unknown Frenchman by the name of Philippe Jeantot. He arrived with a purpose-built 56 foot sloop named Credit Agricole , and went on to win all four legs of the race with an overall elapsed time of 159 days, 2 hours, 26 minutes and 1 second. Class 2 was won by a Zen Buddhist cab driver from Tokyo by the name of Yukoh Tada. The year before Tada had been a support leader for a North Pole expedition, and during the race he entertained his fellow competitors by playing the saxophone during each stopover.

As you can expect the race had its dramatic moments. There were two rescues; one on leg two where American Francis Stokes plucked fellow countryman Tony Lush from the cold waters of the Southern Ocean after Lush’s boat had pitch-poled and sunk. On leg three Richard Broadhead rescued Jacques de Roux after his boat was dismasted and began to sink. The low point of the race came when Desmond Hampton fell asleep near the finish in Sydney and ran his boat, Gipsy Moth V aground, wrecking it on the rocks. In a much less dramatic, yet poignant incident, David White retired on the first leg when his boat began to fall apart. White was never able to realize his dream of a solo circumnavigation, but despite that fact, the race was a huge success with eight of the original fleet finishing back in Newport after nearly 10 months of sailing through punishing seas and harsh conditions.

The second BOC Challenge continued the success of the first with 25 sailors setting out from Newport. This time there was a more professional attitude. Eleven new boats were specifically designed and built for this race. Philippe Jeantot returned to defend his title aboard a brand new 60 foot Credit Agricole III , he had hoped for an easy win but instead found himself up against some very stiff competition. South African John Martin won the first leg while Titouan Lamazou took Leg 2. It was only Jeantot’s consistent performance that finally led him to his second victory, clipping almost 25 days off his previous time. American Mike Plant won Class 2 sailing his home-built Rodger Martin designed Airco Distributor . Plant managed to finish in 157 days. The first fatality in the history of the event occurred when Jacques de Roux, returning for his second attempt at the race, was thought to have been washed overboard near the end of Leg 2 after his boat was found drifting 250 miles from the finish line.

By the third race, Philippe Jeantot had his name firmly affixed on the event and returned once more to defend his top spot, but it was not to be. By this time the radical Open Class designs had become even more extreme, with beamy, water-ballasted , carbon fiber boats carrying massive elliptical sail plans. Jeantot’s highly conservative design was no match against the speed machines of his fellow countrymen Christophe Auguin sailing Group Sceta , and Alain Gautier aboard Generali Concorde . Auguin and Gautier took first and second places respectively leaving Jeantot a distant third. Auguin’s finish was a bit of an upset considering his position in leg 3. By the end of Leg 3 it looked as if Gautier had the race in hand with a commanding 21.5 hour lead. Gautier had underestimated Auguin’s determination. Auguin secretly ordered a huge mainsail for the last leg where he knew boat speed in the light winds of the doldrums would be key. Auguin won the final leg and in doing so slashed a total of 14 days off the record. Yet another French sailor, Yves Dupasquier, won class 2, managing to win all four legs.

By the time the 4th Around Alone rolled around. The event had become firmly established on the racing calendar with stopover ports fighting to host the fleet. For the first time race organizers forsook Newport as the start and finish port, choosing instead to begin and end the race in Charleston, South Carolina . Christophe Auguin returned in his brand new boat Sceta Calberson , but like Jeantot, he too found that a second victory was not a sure thing. From the outset France’s Isabelle Autissier sailed a flawless race arriving in Cape Town a full six days ahead of second place finisher Steve Pettengill on Hunter ‘s Child . Auguin came down generator problems and limped in more than a week behind Autissier. Unfortunately the tenacious Autissier capsized and was dismasted on Leg 2 forcing her to stop at Kerguelen Island ; a windswept outpost in the Southern Ocean. A jury-rigged mast was erected and Autissier set off in pursuit of the fleet only to be rolled and dismasted a second time. Autissier was stricken this time just south of Australia . She finally abandoned her boat and was rescued by the Australian navy . Harry Mitchell, the oldest competitor sailing one of the smallest yachts, was not so fortunate. He disappeared on Leg 3 and no trace of his body or boat has ever been recovered. Auguin meanwhile found his stride and went on to take overall honors. In Class 2 a real cat and dog game took place with Australian David Adams who finally beat Italian Giovanni Soldini after the two boats sailed much of the race in sight of each other.

April 2001 Clipper Ventures plc, the AIM quoted yacht racing, marine events, hospitality, and training company; acquired Around Alone from Great Adventures Ltd. The acquisition marks the first time that a single-handed event of this scale is to be run by a UK based company, at a time when British sailing is at an all time high. In addition to the change in hands the Around Alone was also changed to it’s new name the Around Alone from the BOC challenge as it was called from 1982-98.

In the 20 years after the first running of the Around Alone, it has grown to be recognized as one of the premier offshore races. As of the 6th running it holds a coveted place in the offshore racing calendar and a bright future. This next running holds the same promise for a hard fought, highly dramatic event as the first run did back in 1982.

Sources: www.aroundalone.com http://www.imoca.org Interviews with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston

This write-up was compiled mainly from e-mails and phone conversations with Sir Robin. If anything in this piece sounds familiar; it might just be, considering that Sir Robin wrote the article for the Around Alone website and was the source for much of the information in Don Holmes The Circumnavigators

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

10 things to know about the 2022 Golden Globe Race

• Katy Stickland
• August 11, 2022

Follow the build-up to the 2022 Golden Globe Race as the skippers prepare to race solo around the world without the use of modern technology

The 2022 Golden Globe Race started on 4 September 2022. The 2018 race started on 1 July 2018. The change in the start date is to prevent boats entering the Southern Ocean too early. Credit: © Ville des Sables d'Olonne - Christophe Huchet Credit: © Ville des Sables d'Olonne - Christophe Huchet

What is the 2022 Golden Globe Race?

The 2022 Golden Globe Race is a solo, nonstop yacht race around the world with no assistance and without the use of modern technology.

This means the skippers can’t use GPS, chartplotters , electric winches , autopilots , mobile phones, iPads or use synthetic materials like Spectra, Kevlar or Vectron.

Their only means of communication is via registered, licensed maritime-approved HF Single Side Band (SSB) Radio , with discussions generally limited to the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) weather. They are allowed to listen to HAM radio, but are not allowed to transmit.

All of the Golden Globe Race skippers must use paper charts and sextants to navigate. Modern technology, like GPS and chartplotters, are banned. Credit: GGR

Each skipper is allowed a weather fax to receive weather charts.

They can only navigate using paper charts and a sextant, which is used to determine the angle between the horizon and a celestial body, such as the sun, moon or a star, to determine the boat’s longitude and latitude. All their calculations and celestial navigation notes need to be kept for inspection after the race. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

When does it start?

The 2022 Golden Globe Race will start on 4 September 2022 from the port of Les Sables d’Olonne on France ‘s Atlantic coast.

How many skippers are taking part?

To enter the 2022 Golden Globe Race, skippers must be over 18 and have at least 8,000 miles ocean sailing experience, another 2,000 miles singlehanded , in any boat, as well as an additional 2,000 miles solo in their Golden Globe Race boat.

There are 16 skippers who are confirmed for the start. Four of them are from the UK including professional skipper Guy Waites , 54, Mini Transat veteran, Simon Curwen , 62, and Clipper Round the World Race sailor, Ian Herbert-Jones , 52.

The UK has by far the most entries in the race. Pat Lawless , 65, is Ireland’s only entrant.

Kirsten Neuschäfer has Southern Ocean experience, having worked for Skip Novak. Credit: Kirsten Neuschäfer

Kirsten Neuschafer , 39, will be representing South Africa, and is the only woman taking part in the race.

Guy DeBoer , 66, from the USA, France’s Damien Guillou , 39, and Austria’s Michael Guggenberger , 44, have previous race experience.

Others like Arnaud Gaist , 50, from France, and Edward Walentynowicz , 68, are long term cruisers.

The youngest skipper is Elliot Smith , 27, (USA) whilst Jeremy Bagshaw , 59, (South Africa) is racing in the race’s smallest yacht, the OE32.

2018 skipper Ertan Beskardes will be on the start line for the 2022 Golden Globe Race. Credit: GGR/Ertan Beskardes

Some of the skippers who took part in the 2018 event are also back to race again – UK skipper Ertan Beskardes , 60, Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen , 64, who came fifth in 2018, Australian Mark Sinclair , 63, and Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy , 43, who was left with a broken back after his boat dismasted in the Southern Indian Ocean.

What boats will be raced during the event?

Skippers were allowed to choose from a range of pre-1988 yachts, with hull lengths from 32-36ft and full length keels with rudders attached to the trailing edge.

They include the Westsail 32, Tradewind 35, Saga 34, Saltram Saga 36, Vancouver 32, OE 32, Eric (sister ship to Suhaili), Aries 32, Baba 35, Biscay 36 , Bowman 36 , Cape Dory 36, Nicholson 32 MKX-XI, Rustler 36, Endurance 35 , Gaia 36, Hans Christian 33T, Tashiba 36, Cabo Rico 34, Hinckley Pilot 35, Lello 34 and Gale Force 34.

The Rustler 36, which won the 2018 Golden Globe Race, is the most popular, with four taking part.

Four Rustler 36s will be taking part in the 2022 Golden Globe Race – the most popular boat chosen for the race. Credit: Yann Riou – polaRYSE / PRB

There are also two Biscay 36s and two Tradewind 35s.

Other yachts in the race include the Lello 34, OE32, Gale Force 34, Gaia 36, Cape George Cutter CG36, Tashiba 36, Barbican 33 Mk2 and Saltram Saga 36.

The suitability of the boats to survive the Golden Globe Race lies with the skippers.

All the boats have to undergo refits and survey to make sure they can stand up to the rigours of sailing offshore and ocean passages.

Most of the skippers in the 2022 Golden Globe Race, like Ian Herbert-Jones, have done much of the refit work on their boats themselves. Credit: Ian Herbert-Jones

The refit must stay true to the original design; mast height, boom length, bowsprits and ballast are not allowed to exceed original design specifications.

Owners are allowed to strengthen the vessel and have extra standing rigging .

What is the 2022 Golden Globe Race route?

The Golden Globe Race course for 2022. For this edition there will be four gates. Credit: Ocean Frontiers OGR/ GGR/CG580

The skippers will leave from Les Sables d’Olonne in France and have to sail around the world, returning to the French port.

During their circumnavigation, they will have to sail around four compulsory rounding marks: Lanzarote, Cape Town in South Africa, Hobart in Australia and Punta del Este in Uruguay.

They will also have to keep the island of Trinidade to port as they sail down the South Atlantic.

This follows the Clipper route taken by Bernard Moitessier in the first Golden Globe Race in 1968-69.

Continues below…

Golden Globe Race 2022: The Long Way

Katy Stickland meets the skippers turning their backs on modern technology to take part in the slowest yacht race around…

Golden Globe Race course: changes for 2022 edition

23 skippers from around the world are preparing for what is arguably one of the longest sporting events in the…

Windvane steering: why it makes sense for coastal cruising

No electricity needed and built for gale-force conditions; windvane self-steering makes sense for coastal cruisers as much as 
offshore voyagers.

Sailing singlehanded across oceans: lessons learned

Chris Ayres realised a childhood dream when he sailed from Britain to New Zealand, via Panama, in a 28ft yacht…

How do you sail non-stop for 9 months?

All the skippers will be relying heavily on their windvane steering , which is a non-electric device mounted on the transom which steers the boat.

The vane is directed into the wind, and as the wind hits the vane, it tips, transferring this action through the mechanism below to either a rudder or a servo pendulum which acts on the main rudder, altering the boat’s course.

Although windvane self-steering cannot hold a boat on a compass course, it does mean the skipper isn’t having to helm 24/7, giving them time to eat, sleep, prepare sails, make repairs, write up their log or just relax.

What happens in the case of an emergency?

All the skippers must carry a race pack on board which can be used in case of an emergency.

Inside is a stand-alone satellite tracking system, which the skippers can’t see, for web tracking updates, a two-way satellite short text paging unit which connects only to race headquarters, two handheld satellite phones for up to four short messages per day and a sealed box with two portable GPS chart plotters for emergency use only.

All skippers who enter the 2022 Golden Globe Race have to complete an approval survival training course. Credit: Paul Quaglian

All entrants will be tracked 24/7 by satellite, and will be able to use this information in an emergency by breaking open a sealed safety box containing a GPS and satellite phone. By doing this, they will be deemed to have retired from the race.

Prior to the start, all entrants must complete an approved survival course and be deemed medically fit to enter the race.

If a skipper is approaching a dangerous weather situation or drifting ice, then the race HQ will provide all the necessary information so the dangerous areas can be avoided.

How do you follow the 2022 Golden Globe Race?

The 2022 Golden Globe Race can be followed at www.yachtingmonthly.com/goldengloberace

All the boats will be fitted with three YB3 trackers so their positions can be followed.

What is the history of the Golden Globe Race?

Believed to be a ‘voyage for madmen’ when it was first announced, the first edition of the Golden Globe Race was held in 1968-69 and was sponsored by the Sunday Times, Initially, it was thought to be an impossible feat.

Nine set out including then novice sailor Chay Blyth , his former Atlantic rowing partner John Ridgway, British Navy submarine commander Bill King, Royal Navy officer Nigel Tetley, French sailor Bernard Moitessier, who famously kept sailing ‘to save my soul’, eventually sailing one and a half times around the world before stopping in Tahiti, and the ill-fated ‘weekend sailor’ Donald Crowhurst, who gave his life while trying to achieve what no-one had done before.

It was later found out that Donald Crowhurst had not left the Atlantic during the 243 days he was at sea. Credit: Getty

Robin Knox-Johnston was the only skipper to finish, arriving in Falmouth 312 days after leaving the Cornish port aboard his 32ft ketch, Suhaili .

It earned him fame, but the race had its own legacy.

Together with Blondie Hasler’s OSTAR , which started in 1960, yacht racing had captured the public’s imagination, with many going on to achieve their own offshore sailing adventures.

It nurtured the likes of the Whitbread Round the World Race , BOC Challenge and the Vendée Globe .

The 2022 Golden Globe Race will celebrate French sailor Bernard Moitessier, who took part in the 1968-69 Golden Globe Race. Credit: Getty

Two years after the 1968-69 Golden Globe Race, Blyth solo circumnavigated the world nonstop against the prevailing winds and currents, a feat repeated by Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the winner of the 2018-19 Golden Globe Race, the second edition of this round the world solo yacht race.

Australian sailor Don McIntyre was responsible for founding the 2018 Golden Globe Race, which was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1968-69 race.

The 2022 Golden Globe Race is being held in celebration of Bernard Moitessier.

What happened in the 2018 race?

Only 18 skippers started the 2018 Golden Globe Race on 1 July 2018, with just five finishing.

French sailor, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede aboard his Rustler 36, Matmut was an early leader in the race and was the first entrant to round the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa, 53 days after the start. By this time, six skippers had retired from the race, either due to equipment failure or lack of experience to continue.

As the fleet headed down the Atlantic into the Southern Indian Ocean there were further casualties.

Norwegian sailor Are Wiig was dismasted 400 miles south west of Cape Town, and was forced to sail to port under jury rig.

Four skippers needed rescuing during the 2018 Golden Globe Race, including Abhilash Tomy, who broke his back after his boat dismasted in the Southern Indian Ocean. Credit: Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Irish skipper, Gregor McGuckin and Indian Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy were both caught in the same southern Indian Ocean storm. Both of their boats were dismasted, with Tomy breaking his back in several places. Both were rescued by the French patrol vessel, Osiris .

French sailor Loïc Lepage’s Nicholson 32 Mk X was dismasted 600 miles south-west of Perth, Australia, and was rescued by the crew of the bulk carrier Shiosai after the yacht began sinking.

British sailor Susie Goodall was one of only six 2018 skippers to make it to the Hobart gate in Australia.

Her Rustler 36 was later pitchpoled and dismasted in a Southern Ocean storm, around 2,000 miles west of Cape Horn.

She set up a jury rig, but lost this in heavy weather, and had to be rescued by the crew of the Hong Kong-registered cargo ship, Tian Fu .

A triumphant Jean-Luc Van Dan Heede after coming first in the 2018 Golden Globe Race. Credit: Christophe Favreau/PPL/GGR

The 2018 Golden Globe Race was won Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, who finished after 211 days at sea. At 73, he also claimed the record for being the oldest person to complete a solo round the world yacht race.

Second place went to Dutch skipper Mark Slats , who finished in 216 days in his Rustler 36, and had been Van Den Heede’s greatest rival in the race.

Estonia’s Uku Radmaa crossed the finish line after 254 days at sea, having almost ran out of food during the race which left him 2okg lighter.

Istvan Kopar from the USA finished fourth, in 264 days.

The final skipper to cross the line was Tapio Lehtinen from Finland, who took even longer than Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in the original 1968-69 race.

Barnacle growth on the hull of his Gaia 36 meant he sailed around the world in 322 days; Sir Robin had done it in 313 days.

2018 Race Results

1 Jean- Luc VDH (FRA) Rustler 36 Matmut 2 Mark Slats (NED) Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick 3 Uku Randmaa (EST) Rustler 36 One and All 4 Istvan Kopar (USA) Tradewind 35 Puffin 5 Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria

6 Mark Sinclair (AUS) Lello 34, Coconut (Chichester Class)

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1990-1991 DOC: The Knock Down

Yachtsman Don McIntyre shares the video of his terrifying experience in the Southern Ocean during the 1990-91 solo BOC Challenge round-the-world sailboat race. Battling 70 knot winds, he captures a moment when his vessel is knocked flat by the storm.

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Boc Challenge, 1986-87, Single Handed Round-the-world Yacht Race

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The New Film Company's Exciting Adventure Films -- seen on PBS, Discovery, National Geographic Explorer, and Outdoor Life. Sailing and ocean racing:  Dodge Morgan, the STAR (Singlehanded TransAtlantic Race), the Two-STAR (Doublehanded TransAtlantic Race), the BOC Challenge, the Around Alone Race. Boat building:  the Friendship sloop.  Outward Bound.

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Seventeen sailors set out from Newport, Rhode Island at the start of the First BOC Challenge -- a solo race around the world that would take at least 8 months to complete.

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE gives an inside view of what happened during this 27,000-mile race around the world -- the longest, most treacherous solo yacht race ever devised . Each sailor is tested to the limits of his skills and ingenuity and must find the will to survive and the courage to continue. Loneliness, fear, fatigue, gear failure, capsize, injury, illness, equatorial heat, dead calms, Antarctic ice, gales in the Roaring Forties: all these are only part of their adventure. Viewers see two dramatic at-sea rescues made by fellow sailors and orchestrated by ham radio operators. Only ten of the seventeen cross the finish line, but for each it is an ultimate victory.

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The Loneliest Race: 27,000 Miles Sailing Alone Around the World-The Story of the Boc Challenge 1994-95 Hardcover – January 1, 1995

• Print length 169 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Sheridan House Inc
• Publication date January 1, 1995
• Dimensions 7.75 x 0.75 x 10 inches
• ISBN-10 0713642025
• ISBN-13 978-0713642025
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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sheridan House Inc; First Edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 169 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0713642025
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0713642025
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
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• #3,148 in Sailing (Books)
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