Dateline May 2.  2018 - Les Sables d’Olonne, France. With just 2 months to the start of the Golden Globe Race from Les Sables d’Olonne on July 1st, skippers are working feverishly to complete their preparations ready to take part in the Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of Sail celebrations between 11-14th June.

French skippers Antoine Cousot (Métier Intérim) and Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (Matmut) have just had their boats baptised and are now busy sailing; Ertan Beskardes (GBR) has reached Vigo with just the Bay of Biscay to cross before reaching Falmouth during his long solo delivery voyage from Sardinia; Istvan Koper (USA/Hungary) set sail from Oyster Bay New York on April 29 at the start of his long transatlantic voyage to the start; Australian Kevin Farebrother now has his Tradewind 35 Sagarmatha sailing out of Les Sables d’Olonne and was joined last week by Philippe Péché (FRA) after making a 2-day solo passage to test his wind van self steering system.

Susie Goodall (GBR) is busy training with her distinctive red and yellow Rustler 36 DHL Starlight out of Gosport UK, and Uku Randmaa (EST) is returning to Les Sables d’Olonne for another week of trial sailing his Rustler 36 One for All out of Les Sables d’Olonne

Just launched
At the end of April, Gregor McGuckin relaunched his Biscay 36 Mary Luck in Malahide (Ire), Are Wiig watched his OE 32 Olleanna re-enter the water in Asker, Norway, Dutchman Mark Slats got his Rustler 36 Maverick back in the water in Wassenaar and completed his jury rig trial, and Russia’s Igor Zaretskiy finally got his Endurance 35 Esmeralda launched in Alicante.  All must complete their 10-mile triangular test sail under jury rig and set up their emergency rudder systems before commencing sea trials.

Still to splash
Mark Sinclair (Aus) arrived in Plymouth UK on April 30 with high hopes of launching his Lelo 34 Coconut on May 4 and start sailing on 8th – the same day that Nabil Amra (USA/Palestine) is due to launch his Biscay 36 (now re-named Liberty II) in Falmouth. Unlike Sinclair, Amra has still to undertake his jury rig trials and complete his1,000 mile solo proving trial within the final 4 weeks before returning to Falmouth for the Suhaili 50 celebrations in mid June.

Francesco Cappelletti (ITA) now has his Endurance 35 007, out of the shed in Pisa and plans to launch on 5-6th May. He too has to complete a jury rig test, but intends to save valuable time by sailing to the Camargue and relying on road transport to move the boat across France to Les Sables d’Olonne. It is going to be tight.

Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) is also in a race against time. His Gaia 36 Asteria came out of the paint shop at the Nordic Refit Centre in Larsmo on April 30 after a winter long refit and will be trucked to Helsinki in mid-May to catch a ship to Tilbury, London where the boat will be relaunched and sailed the final 340 miles to Falmouth. Another tight schedule.

Skipper Updates: 

Latest news from Abhilash Tomy, Antoine Cousot, Ertan Beskardes, Philippe Péché, Kevin Farebrother, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, Nabil Amra, Loïc Lepage, Igor Zaretskiy, and Robin Davie, Abhilash Tomy’s Suhaili replica yacht Thuriya, has been shipped to Rotterdam, but the Indian skipper is awaiting a UK visa before travelling to join her. Tomy intends to complete his preparations in Holland and set sail for Falmouth on June 1.

Following her baptism in Nantes, French skipper Antoine Cousot plans to sail his Biscay 36 ketch Métier Intérim solo across the Celtic Sea to Cork and Dublin before returning to Falmouth early June for a final haul out and antifoul in readiness for the Suhaili 50 Falmouth Parade of Sail and the SITRaN race back to Les Sables d’Olonne on June 14.

British/Turkish skipper Ertan Beskardes expects to return to his Rustler 36 Lazy Otter in Vigo, Spain on 7th May and complete his voyage to Falmouth where new sails are waiting.

Philippe Péché (FRA) sailed his Rustler 36 PRB to Les Sables d’Olonne at the end of April after an overnight trip from La Rochelle to test his new Beaufort self-steering system. “It was good – I’m very pleased with it.” He pronounced on arrival. Carpenters from sponsor PRB have since filled the forepeak of his yacht with foam buoyancy to provide additional safety in the event of a collision.

Australian fireman Kevin Farebrother made headlines in Les Sables d’Olonne at the end of April when rescuing a young deer that got into difficulties in the marina. “I was working on my boat when the Springbok swam passed. It was tired and needed to get out but got its legs stuck between the rocks and couldn’t move. Eventually, I got a rope around and dragged it up to where I could get hold of him properly. We put him on the grass and held him until the animal rescue section of the fire service arrived and took him to the vet.  It’s since been released so a happy ending.”

“My boat preparation is going well and I’ve had some great support since arriving in France. I intend to spend May testing the boat and practicing my celestial navigation.
The race is stirring up a whole range of emotions. I wake up different every day, anxious, excited or scared, but I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead. I’m not doing this race for the love of sailing but more to feed my passion for adventure, pushing myself to the limits, and to show that ordinary people can do extra ordinary things.
This is a true old-fashioned test of endurance and strength of mind. I think it will be harder than any of my climbs up Mount Everest. That’s a question many people ask and hopefully in a year’s time I will be able to give a truthful answer.”

Fresh from the baptism of his Rustler 36 MATMUT at the end of April, French veteran Jean-Luc Van Den Heede has only to antifoul the yacht and purchase his food supplies and says that he will be ready, a month ahead of the Race start on July 1st. 
US/Palestinian Nabil Amra has changed the name of his Biscay 36 yacht to Liberty II. One of the few truly amateur skippers in the race, the former foreign exchange trader from Minnesota says that he entered the GGR first for the adventure, but just as importantly to honour his Father, a Palestinian immigrant who became a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy. Nabil’s Father was a serving officer when the research/ surveillance ship USS Liberty was mistakenly attacked by Israeli fighters and torpedo boats off the Sinai coast during the Arab / Israeli 6-Day War in 1967. 34 US crewmen died in the attack. Nabil’s Team Palestine GGR campaign is supported by survivors from the USS Liberty. Work on Liberty II has been delayed and she will not be launched until early May, leaving Nabil with just three weeks to complete his jury rig trial and sail a final 1,000 mile qualification distance.

After several delays, French skipper Loïc Lepage is looking to relaunch his Nicholson 32 yacht Laaland in mid-May and base her in Crouesty prior to a shake-down sail out into the Bay of Biscay and across to Falmouth. Supported by his local cycling club and the Dept. of Mor’bihan, Lepage’s yacht is also carrying a message around the world. Her Race No 56 was chosen because it is the number code for Mor’bihan, Loïc’s year of birth - and the latitude of Cape Horn.

Russian entrant Igor Zaretskiy has been making waves both at home at in Alicante, Spain where is Endurance 35 Esmeralda was launched last week. Team spokesman Rasim Poloskin reports:  “Igor has just held a press conference in Moscow which has generated a lot of publicity. Igor has now spent a few hours at sea checking sails, wind vane system and his HF radio installation and managed to speak to a radio station 3,000K. away. This highlighted some issues with the sails, which have now gone back to the sailmaker for adjustment, and this week he will complete his jury rig and emergency steering tests. Then he will set sail for Les Sables d’Olonne and onward to Falmouth to arrive on June 11 for the Suhaili festivities.”

British solo circumnavigator Robin Davie had hoped to have had his Rustler 36 C'est La Vie ready for launch in March, but she is still in the yard at Falmouth having fibreglass work completed, engine installed, electrics and plumbing systems finished and rudder set up. “Another 2 weeks to launch, and much depends on the weather – which continues to be typically Cornish.” He says.