Yachting World August 2022

This year’s Round the Island Race was a true Solent classic. A solid south-westerly powered 1,000-plus yachts around the Isle of Wight, kicking up a lumpy swell that turned many on the rail a fetching shade of green, for a few hours at least. But the motivating thing about a circumnavigation course, even a 50-mile race around a rock, is that there’s no turning back. Keep going until you’ve completed the circle. Australian sailor Mark Sinclair took this principle to extreme lengths when he completed his around the world solo circumnavigation – three years after he set off (see page 13). Sinclair became the last finisher of the Golden Globe Race when he sailed back into Les Sables d’Olonne 1,426 days after the race started, having paused in Adelaide to…

The second running of the Vendée Arctique Race, the newest event on the IMOCA calendar, had to be shortened and then abandoned after a 50-knot storm and cross seas swept the fleet in the North Atlantic. Twenty-five solo skippers began the 3,500-mile race which started on 12 June from Les Sables d’Olonne, and is the first of five qualifying races for the 2024 Vendée Globe. Unusually the Vendée Arctique course sends the fleet northwards towards the Arctic Circle. Twenty-four hours in the leaders had slowed to a crawl, as a high pressure ridge brought just 2-5 knots. However, two days later organisers had made the decision to shorten course, removing the planned passage around the north of Iceland, thanks to a forecast deep low pressure system set to bring 40-knot…

Australian solo skipper Mark Sinclair, an entrant in the 2018 Golden Globe Race, has completed his solo circumnavigation 1,426 days since starting. Sinclair, who is widely known by the name ‘Captain Coconut’, started the 2018 Golden Globe Race on 1 July but, running short on water and plagued by a barnacle infestation which was severely reducing his boat speed, decided to stop in his home port of Adelaide, South Australia in December. The Golden Globe Race has no finish time, and though the main competition is non-stop, skippers who make a single stop may continue in ‘Chichester’ class (ie completing a circumnavigation in the style of Sir Francis Chichester). Having entered the 2022 Golden Globe, former Australian Navy Captain Sinclair then resumed his 2018 race three years later, setting off…

A brisk and blustery south-westerly saw Ian Atkins’ GP42 Dark‘N’Stormy take a rare double victory in the UK's annual Round the Island Race on 25 June. Dark‘N’Stormy claimed both monohull line honours, and the overall IRC win for the coveted Gold Roman Bowl in the annual race around the Isle of Wight. They also took the class win in IRC 0. The last time the same boat won all three trophies was Simon Le Bon's Drum in 1988. Dark‘N’Stormy’s owner Ian Atkins was unable to take part in the race, but his boat was crewed by an all-star cast including Volvo Ocean Race winner Ian Walker, who was calling tactics, Cup veteran Nick Bonner, Abby Childerley and Mark Chisnell. The 91st running of the famous race saw a later than…

The westward cruising route across the South Pacific is beginning to reopen after two years, as countries including New Zealand and the Cook Islands ease entry restrictions for foreign yachts after the pandemic. New Zealand, which had some New Zealand, which had some of the strictest entry protocols in the world, is reopening its border to tourists and visa holders two months earlier than planned on 31 July. As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said: “New Zealand is now fully open for business.” This will include reopening the country’s maritime border to foreign flagged vessels. All yacht crews intending to enter New Zealand will still have to undergo Covid testing and complete advance notice of arrival forms. Opua is currently the only open Port of First Arrival, although more ports are…

A new double-handed around the world race, the Globe40, has started from the Moroccan city of Tangier. Seven double-handed Class40 teams set off on a 30,000-mile multi-stage around the world race on Sunday, 26 June, on the first round the world race to depart from Africa. Created especially for the Class40, the Globe40 entry list features more highly experienced amateurs than heavily sponsored professional teams. It is run over eight legs with the option for the two-man teams to switch out crew at several points in the race, making it easier for competitors to manage home life without the commitment of being offshore for nine months. All the crews include at least one amateur and most are only crewed by non-professionals, albeit non-professionals with impressive amounts of bluewater and offshore…