Posted by Graham Cox
George Bernard Shaw, referring to the themes of his 1913 play, PYGMALION, and the personality of his main character, Eliza Doolittle, is reported to have said, “Life is not about finding yourself; it is about creating yourself.”
As the Mini Globe Race fleet heads for Cape Town and the second half, more or less, of their circumnavigation race, this truism has never been more apparent. Since departing Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, earlier this year, all of the sailors, even the few ocean-racing veterans among them, have visibly grown in stature, both as sailors and as characters. If I was going to race a 580 in the 2029 MGR (I am not), I would be tempted to call it ELIZA DOOLITTLE!
Saturday, 26 July 2025, was a beautiful, tropical winter’s day off of Vuda Marina, Viti Levu, Fiji. The 12 remaining ALMA Class Globe 580s reached serenely across the start line in an 8-10 knot NW sea-breeze, before hauling to windward for the long beat north through the lagoon. With almost 10,000 NM ahead of them, including a transit of the notorious Torres Strait and the Cape of Good Hope, the skippers might have been a little apprehensive, but they were all smiles as they waved farewell to family, friends and race officials. By this stage of the voyage, they knew their boats, and they knew what they were capable of. It was beautiful to watch
As soon as they had cleared the line, the tactical game began, with a number of skippers concentrating on their helmsmanship, determined to give nothing away. It was a close start (too close, some might aver), but the truly amazing and inspiring thing is that, one week after the start, it is still a very close race.
If the start was languid, it soon freshened up, and the first night at sea proved to be a bumpy ride for some, possibly because they were pushing hard to retain their position, or because they went north looking for stronger breezes and currents. Others slipped quickly into cruising mode, staying further south where conditions were lighter.
Ertan, one of the latter group, went below, closed TREKKA’s hatch against the rain, and retired to his cot, the bunk he sets up on the cabin sole. This cot has two advantages – being the place in the vessel with the least motion, plus you cannot possibly fall out of it, presuming the boat is not upside down! As always, TREKKA sailed through it all perfectly well under Hydrovane, as Ertan never pushes the boat hard enough to overpower the unit.
Jasmine also went below, but on one occasion when she looked out, was shocked to discover TREKKA’s bowsprit almost pecking NUMBATOU’s stern. That’s taking close-quarters racing too far! They both have AIS units, but Jasmine admitted that hers was not switched on, as it uses a lot of power and takes a long time to activate, so she can’t switch it on and off at will. I am not sure if Ertan had his on, but when Jasmine called him on VHF radio, he said he had been asleep.
Jakub also stayed south for a day or two, despite knowing a northern course would be faster, because he was still suffering from an ear infection and was feeling generally unwell. He has since bounced back, and BIBI is putting up its best performance yet, with Jakub hanging onto 5th place, only 100 NM behind Renaud on CAPUCINETTE, who is once again leading the pack.
Dan reported encountering 20-30 knot squalls, lumpy seas and rain squalls during that first night. He was pushing IMMORTAL GAME really hard, and had the glory of leading the fleet out of the lagoon, and for a day or two held his main rival, Renaud on CAPUCINETTE, at bay, if only by a few miles. They were in sight of each other the whole time.
The rivalry helped him forget the loneliness of leaving his family behind. After flying from Fiji to Adelaide unannounced to surprise them, they had returned with him in force, to bolster his spirits during preparations for the third leg. His daughter, Searrah, was due to turn 21on the day after the start of Leg 3, and the occasion was celebrated by the entire MGR family at the prize-giving ceremony for Leg 2 on the evening of 24 August.
Gary, on QUESTION 2, was thrown out of his bunk that first night and landed on his kettle, which now has a dent in it. He was pleased to discover he could still use it. Adam reported that his first night out of Vuda Marina on LITTLE WREN was as rough as any he could remember. It would have been a shock to the senses after several weeks enjoying the lush surroundings of the marina! On day 3, he mentioned that conditions were still challenging, with NE winds of 25 knots, rain, and an uncomfortable sea state. He admitted that he was not yet back into racing mode, and that it hardly matched the dream of cruising the South Pacific.
Right from the start, Renaud did what he does best, keeping CAPUCINETTE moving at a steady but fast-paced speed, always assessing conditions and the fleet around him, sailing strategically, waiting for an opportunity to make a bold move. He has long said that his only regret so far was that he had no other MGR boats close to him, that he was essentially racing himself, but at this stage of Leg 3 he finds himself sailing in close proximity to both Dan and also Keri on ORIGAMI. He has been revelling in the competition. His attention to detail eventually paid off and he crept slowly ahead of Dan by the third day, but was having difficulty shaking him off.
As the two of them approached the Indispensable Reefs, which lie across the course south of Rennell Island in the Solomon Island archipelago, Renaud made his bold move and dove NW, which meant he was sailing away from the rhumb line for some time, while Dan took the southern and more direct route. It was a calculated risk for Renaud, based on an assessment that both wind and current would favour the northern choice, and it paid off, with him extending his lead over Dan to 10 NM during the next 24 hours. They had been racing almost neck and neck for days.
In his prescribed phone call on 4 August, Dan admitted that he had dithered over which way to go, choosing to stay south but later regretting it, as he realised he was sailing into a patch of lighter winds, plus he would miss the strongest current boost. By 5 August, Renaud had extended his lead over Dan to 22 NM.
The dive north also took Renaud closer to Keri on ORIGAMI. This may have been intentional on Renaud’s part, to cover Keri, realising that if he did not, it was possible that ORIGAMI would take the lead. From the start of Leg 3, Keri had taken off on an iconoclastic track, further north than the rest of the fleet, angling diagonally away from the rhumb line to Raine Island and the Torres Strait. He has often said that he can see no point in following the boats ahead of him, especially in a one-design class.
This strategy did not pay off on previous legs, but this time it may just do so. He has enjoyed consistently better winds and a stronger west-setting current to the north, and moved up into 3rd place soon after the start. At 0800 UTC on 4 August, he was only 15 NM behind Renaud and was gaining slowly on CAPUCINETTE, but by the following morning, Renaud had extended his lead by another 5 NM. There’s nothing like having a rival breathing down your neck!
With a steady SE tradewind settling in across the Coral Sea, after somewhat variable winds for a few days, and forecast to slowly build as the fleet approaches Australia’s Great Barrier Reefs, Leg 3 is shaping up to become a drag race. Two drag races actually. The first is between Renaud, Dan and Keri, and the second between the boats in the middle pack.
Pilar on PETER PUNK, just 85 NM behind Renaud, is leading the middle pack, and the close racing of this group is extraordinary. Late on the evening of 4 August, Jakub, in 5th place, was only 33 NM behind Pilar, then Eric’s SUNBEAR was just 6NM astern of BIBI, with Josh on SKOOKUM just a further 10 NM behind. To Jakub’s south, Adam on LITTLE WREN was stalking BIBI, with only 19 NM between them. Jasmin, on NUMBATOU, was about 53 NM behind Jakub, with Gary’s QUESTION 2 a further 7 NM astern. They have often been in sight of each other, and there have been many VHF radio chats between these skippers.
When Jasmine noted that she was having trouble with a tight rudder, there was lots of advice and encouragement from the boats around her. In the end, she had to do the gymnastics alone, of course. (Imagine doing vertical push-ups, with your feet up against a wall, and a bucket of sea water close to your face, to dunk you if you weakened).
The problem arose because she decided to tighten the bolts connecting the pintles and gudgeons on the primary rudder when re-installing it at Vuda Marina. The Hydrovane had previously been mounted on the centreline and the main rudder unshipped. Having been advised to secure the main rudder when underway, letting the now-offset Hydrovane do the steering, she’d decided to tighten the fittings rather than lash the tiller, but discovered that NUMBATOU was not happy with this arrangement, and the Hydrovane struggled to hold course.
Once the bolts were slacked off, the Hydrovane happily resumed its impeccable behaviour. She noted that when the windvane turned the Hydrovane’s rudder, the waterflow over the latter pushes the main rudder in the same direction. With both rudders happily waggling back and forth in unison, directional stability was restored.
Meanwhile, Christian continues to plough his solitary wake well to the south of the fleet, having chosen to pass through the southern islands of Vanuatu, instead of going over the top of the archipelago like the others. He had some issues with ARGO in the first few days, feeling that the boat was not handling well, possibly through poor weight distribution when reloading the boat before the start, or because his rig was not properly tuned.
He had a last-minute drama (the day before the start!) when he discovered that one of the swages on the new stainless-steel standing rigging, brought out from Germany by his manager, Thomas, had not been hydraulically pressed by the supplier (an internationally-known rigging company). This caused the wire to slip out of the terminal when under minimal pressure. A number of us examined the faulty terminal, and there were no swage marks on it.
The look of strain on Christian’s face at the final race briefing on Friday, 25 July, was intense, but after taking the mast down again and checking the other swages, no further problems were found. A brief trial sail later that day was without complication. Nonetheless, Christian could be forgiven for treading gingerly in the first few days.
He was unfortunate in that the southern route he took led him into a substantial wind-shadow in the lee of Vanuatu, which set him further back. He continued to work hard at keeping ARGO moving, though. When the wind did return, it was gusty, and from the north, ahead of a southerly change, and he was kept busy with sail drill. Mostly the wind was ahead, but sometimes it freed up for brief periods, and he quickly hoisted his reaching sails. At one stage he had the reefed main hoisted, with the A3 and A5 sails poled out as well.
Unfortunately, during the night of 3 August, he tore his A3 while lowering it, having to cut his tack outhaul line to prevent the sail getting under the boat. He succeeded, though in the process the sheet got tangled around the self-steering gear. Looking on the bright side (he always does), Christian noted that the sail was only slightly damaged, an ‘L’-shaped tear of about 100mm. On the morning of 4 August, he had washed the sail in fresh water and was drying it in the cockpit prior to repairing it.
Once he found the southerly wind shift, ARGO started barrelling NW at 6.1 knots, chasing the leaders. He is too far behind to join the leading pack, but by the morning of 5 August had overtaken Ertan on the leaderboard, moving up into 11th position. He is attempting to weave his way through the light-wind patches, angling slowly back up to the rhumb line.
After the unsettled conditions at the start, the last few days have given the fleet some of the best sailing they have experienced so far, with steady, moderate winds, smooth seas and lots of sunshine. The occasional shower is just refreshing, as Gary mentioned in a video, allowing him to have a wash and clean bird poop off his solar panels. He has found it hard to discourage the birds, who like to roost aboard during the night.
At least the birds have not attacked him. Dan ran afoul of a man-eating bird one day while trying to clean a fish. First the bird bit him while he was trying to hand-feed it. Then it attacked him seriously after he threw some of his catch up in the air, thinking the bird would grab the food mid-air. Instead, perhaps thinking that Dan was disposing of its dinner, the bird expressed its displeasure so savagely that Dan had to beat it off with his go-pro stick.
When he threw offal from the fish overboard, he was startled to find a pod of hitherto unseen orcas rushing up out of the depths to gobble it up. Initially shocked by their appearance, what with all the stories over the years of orcas (otherwise known as killer whales) attacking yachts, he soon realised that they were only interested in the food, not in attacking IMMORTAL GAME.
Adam was also startled by a close encounter with orcas during this time, but once again these impressive creatures, with their huge dorsal fins, showed no inclination to be aggressive, though he was initially apprehensive when they returned after the first visit for a second look. Once he realised that they were not going to attack LITTLE WREN, he was able to enjoy their magnificent presence without fear.
Despite enjoying the relaxed sailing conditions enormously, even having a tipple of whisky with his three-egg omelette one morning (only on the 1st of the month, he says!), and sometimes just flying his A5 asymmetric spinnaker, he is hanging onto 7th place. The rather tired, strained face visible in videos in the days after the start has been replaced by his usual, genial visage.
As the fleet close in on the reef-strewn waters of Australia’s Great Barrier Reefs and the Torres Strait, sleep management is likely to be on all of the skippers’ minds. There will be times, possibly for 24 hours or more, when they will be unable to sleep, unless they are able to anchor for a brief rest in the lee of a reef or island once inside the outer reefs. Dan mentioned that, in the first couple of days out of Fiji, he became overtired and struggled to wake up when his alarm-clock went off. Duelling non-stop with Renaud would not have helped.
The MGR race rules specify a loud, 75-decibal electric alarm-clock, but if you become over-exhausted you can sleep through anything, as Tapio Lehtinen discovered during the 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR). He slept through four alarms and nearly sailed into a cliff, awakening purely by chance just in time to avoid disaster. Ironically, later in the race, ASTERIA sank suddenly, SE of Cape Town, despite having four watertight bulkheads. All you can do is mitigate the risks. It is, after all, an adventure.
Jasmine mentioned during her mandatory phone call on 4 August that she plans to get plenty of sleep before NUMBATOU reaches waters where staying awake is critical. This was brought home to her by oversleeping a day or so earlier, thankfully in open waters. She heard the alarm-clock’s signal, but reached out and silenced it without getting up. When she next awoke, six hours had passed. She now plans to store the alarm-clock in NUMBATOU’s chart recess beneath the chart table, where its noise and vibration, amplified by being in the plywood locker, will force her to get up.
When conditions are settled, she gets her best sleep between 2000 and 2400, after which she gets up more regularly to check the boat, trim sails, etc. She does not sleep during the day, busying herself with boat affairs.
She said, “It’s just a bit of a mixture of everything, from jobs on board, sail changes, trying to sail, a bit of hand-steering. This morning, for example, it was: get my A5 up and then refill all my jugs with water; then plug in my outboard batteries, just so that they don’t completely die. You’ve got to plug them in probably once a week otherwise they just lose all the power. With no way to recharge them, it’s quite important that I’ve still got some battery left. So, I did that, tidied up, did some more stuff, had some food. I knew that afterwards I’d probably end up hand-steering the rest of the day.”
Jasmine says that the close proximity of the other boats has not awoken a competitive spirit in her, but she enjoyed having them around and chatting via VHF radio. At the time of our conversation, the middle pack had begun to spread out a little and she was no longer able to hear them on VHF radio, or see their sails or lights on the horizon. It was fun while it lasted.
Wanting to stay close to the middle pack incentivises Jasmine to sail the boat efficiently, and she has been busy with sail changes, although at the time of our call she was almost becalmed with flapping sails. She did say that the start of this passage has been the best ever, and she had been thrilled with the perfect conditions.
I asked her what sail combinations she found most useful. She replied, “I had my A3 up yesterday for the first time in a while, but then NUMBATOU got really overpowered and the wind picked up somewhat crazy. So, most of the time I’m on A5 or A7, or quite a lot of the time both, if the wind is directly behind me, or A7 and jib. Right now, I’ve got full main and A5, because the wind’s coming – when there is some wind – from the side. The A7 is probably my favorite sail. I like the combination of A7 and A5, but I feel most confident with the A7 and jib. I just go by the feel of it – for example, I won’t get out the A3 if I’ve got any breakers (whitecaps) … if there’s any white water on the ocean, the A3 doesn’t come out. Also, if there is a lot of white water, if the big, rolling breakers surf you at anything above 10 knots, then the A5’s put away.”
All this, mind you, from someone who still claims that she is not much of a sailor, and that she is not racing!
Jakub was also trying to stay rested aboard BIBI, but with LITTLE WREN and SUNBEAR close behind, as well as SKOOKUM not that far behind them, he was feeling a bit of pressure to keep up the pace. At the time he called, he was tempted to hoist the A3, but was concerned that it might stress the rig, as the sails were flogging a little in the light airs.
His plan was to position himself for a beam reach when the forecast southerly change arrived, as BIBI sails best on that point of sail. He is definitely in race-mode now, but is balancing his competitive spirit against the awareness that BIBI still has a lot of miles to cover before crossing the finish line in Antigua. Sailing in Poland in a time of scarcity honed his skills at husbanding his gear for the long haul. He is also one of the sailors who try and stay close to the rhumb line.
Eric has also been revelling in the ideal conditions. As a veteran long-distance ocean racer, he knows that these sorts of conditions don’t come along that often. He is also delighted with SUNBEAR’s new Hydrovane, which the majority of the fleet are now carrying, and which allows him to drive the boat harder off the wind. He has been consistently placed in the middle of the fleet, and on the morning of 5 August had captured 6th position, a mere 12 NM astern of BIBI. At 72, he may be the oldest skipper, but – as he showed during the fun and games during the Coconut Cup at Vuda Marina – he is surprisingly fit for his age.
Josh, is another skipper who has been sailing faster on this leg, though light airs have slowed SKOOKUM down in recent days, and he has slipped back into 8th place. He noted that there is a considerable incentive to push harder when in close proximity to other contestants. On previous legs, once he had slipped far behind the others, he just sailed his own voyage and cruised along.
There are limits though. He lost around 20 miles to the leading pack the first night out of Vuda, as it was raining and he just went below and stayed dry! This required sailing more conservatively, whereas the really keen racers continued to push hard through the squalls. Like Jakub, Josh is another sailor who is good at finding the balance between competitiveness and conserving gear, and SKOOKUM remains in perfect condition.
He has always hand-steered during the day, then done what is needed to get SKOOKUM to self-steer at night, often selecting a course that brings him back towards the rhumb line, while he cooks up a decent meal, reads, plays music, and gets a decent sleep. He admits that now he if often on deck at night, changing sails, etc, and spends a lot more time trimming the rig. There is still time for relaxation and fun, though, just not quite as much. Competitive sailing is fun in its own right, too.
During his sat-phone call on 4 August, he said, “It’s been a lot of fun. Jacob and I had a couple days where we were racing head-to-head before he passed me. And that was really cool, because we could see each other at night, and we were talking on the VHF. That’s all I really want. I don’t really care how well I do as long as I stay with the group, you know, just because I want to meet up with the other skippers when I get to the stops.”
Like several of the MGR skippers, he revels in a challenge, and is looking forward to the tougher passages ahead. He is definitely racing now, but is still sailing his own race. The MGR is more of an expedition for him than a drag race. Josh knows what reserves are needed to get up a mountain – and back down. The MGR has yet to face major gales at sea, and when they do, Josh will be one to watch. He is only 166.5 NM astern of Renaud on this leg (as opposed to overall).
Ertan is conducting TREKKA’s passage west in his usual, relaxed mode. I never fail to be impressed, during our video calls on WhatsApp, with his freshly-laundered, cleanshaven, relaxed appearance! Not that he does not work hard at keeping the boat moving well. He had just exchanged the A5 for the A7 before he called, so that we could talk in peace, as the A5 needed watching, given the wind-strength. He planned to rehoist the A5 as soon as we concluded our chat.
The previous few days had been heaven on a stick, with slight seas, 10-12 knot winds and sunny skies, but on the day that he called, the wind had increased to about 18 knots on the quarter, with the sea-state also kicking up a bit. Ertan said he was not bothered by the sea-state, as he spent most of his time below, reclining comfortably on his cot, low down on the fore-and-aft axis of the boat, where he hardly noticed the motion.
Ertan’s performance criterion is that he will push TREKKA as hard as he can, provided that he does not have to hand-steer. As soon as the Hydrovane starts to struggle, he reduces sail. Because he spends a lot of time below, he gets plenty of sleep, and almost always feels well-rested. He will snooze for 10 minutes at a time when really necessary, but when TREKKA is in more open waters will occasionally sleep for 2 hours at a stretch.
His plan is to go through the Raine Island passage into Great Barrier Reef waters during daylight, slowing TREKKA down if needed during his approach, and to be fully-rested before committing himself to the traverse. He then hopes to sail all the way to Horn Island or Thursday Island without sleeping, which should take no more than 24 hours.
Once again, at least so far, the MGR fleet has had a charmed, and fast passage on the first stage of Leg 3. John Guzzwell was famed for the fast, easy, and faultless passages passages he made aboard the original TREKKA, and it seems as if the sea gods, or possibly even the spirit of John Guzzwell himself, are equally favouring this fleet of ALMA Class Globe 580s. Long may it continue.
