There is much going on in the world of offshore sailing and all of it good and all of it very inspiring. The Ocean Race Atlantic started from a virtual startline off Long Island after a slow motor/sail from downtown Manhattan. The start was offshore because the area around the entrance to New York harbor has a lot of marine mammals that need to be protected from sharp edged IMOCA foils.
They had to postpone the start because some of the boats were not making it in time for the actual start. IMOCA’s look like modern day rocket ships when they have wind and are flying on their foils, but they look like forlorn ducks on a seaweed covered pond when there is no wind and the foils are just there creating drag.
Lucking an easterly breeze kicked in for the delayed start and the fleet took off for Lorient in France. It should take them about a week to cross the pond. As of now Boris Herrmann aboard Team Malizia has a narrow lead. By the way, the website is quite interesting. They have live video streaming from the boats and it further reinforces the old adage that “watching sailing is a bit like watching grass grow.” (even on board an IMOCA)
Meanwhile further down the Bay of Biscay in Les Sables d’ Olonne a group of intrepid sailors have gathered to prepare for what I think is one of the last remaining great unspoiled adventures left to do on our ever shrinking planet. I am talking about the sailors who will be competing in the McIntyre Golden Globe Race. For those unfamiliar with the event, it’s a recreation of the original GGR which took place back in 1968 which was the first, solo, nonstop, unassisted around-the-world race. This took place in the days when the word was flat and beyond the horizon maps read “Here be Dragons.” Out of nine starters there was only a single finisher; Robin Knox-Johnston on his home built double ender Suhaili. It took Robin, now Sir Robin, 313 days to lap the planet.
Australian madhatter (said lovingly) Don McIntyre had the idea to recreate the event 50 years later and it proved to be a huge success. By recreate I mean the sailors had to transport themselves back in time and use a sextant for navigating, a book to read instead of a Netflix streaming service and almost no communication with the outside world. That sort of thing. There were 18 sailors who crossed the startline; five finished. Four years later the race was run again and South African sailor (I say that with pride) Kirsten Neuschäfer won handily. Of 16 starters, three finished. Now 16 scraggly dreamers and doers are ready for the start which will be this Sunday, September 6.
The fleet is in the same marina where the Vendee Globe boats assemble and is open to the public and with great weather the docks have been crowded with curious people trying to get a look at the skippers knowing that some may falter along the way, but they at least had the courage to start. People often ask me what’s the hardest part of doing a circumnavigation and I always reply, “leaving the dock.” And it’s true.
Further to the north is another intrepid sailor who goes by the moniker ‘Old Man Sailing’. Of all the sailing taking place and will be going on over the next few months, this is my favorite story. John Passmore is a 77 year old from England. He spent his life working hard and raising a family, always hoping to one day have enough money (and time) to go sailing. It took him seven decades to get the right boat and get going (there is still hope for all of you dreamers out there).
Passmore is on his way sailing solo in the wake of the great Sir Francis Chichester. As one (me) who had a poster of Chichester and Gypsy Moth rounding Cape Horn in a full one gale stuck to the wall above my bed where I could see it and vow to one day round Cape Horn myself, I am a huge fan of his. And now I am a huge fan of Passmore who left Plymouth, England from the same dock where Chichester set off from, and will sail solo to Sydney, Australia which is where Chichester stopped briefly before finishing his circumnavigation to become the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation. His voyage inspired the original Golden Globe Race and so the world turns.
I will be updating the trials and tribulations of Old Man Sailing in this space over the seven odd months that John thinks it will take him to get to Australia. I urge you to follow his voyage. His daily Instagram updates are about as dry as the inner thigh of a camel, but they are entertaining and I must say, quite inspiring. If I don’t lose any more toes (I am down to seven now) I might just follow in the wake of some long (almost) forgotten sailor and write my own blog.
Personally I find this a very exciting time to be a sailor. Retro sailing in particular inspires me. It’s going to be tough for all of them out there chasing their dreams, but at least they won’t have to eat hard tack and face a potential death from scurvy. And since those days it has been determined that the world is in fact round. – Brian Hancock.
