Nearly 200 days since leaving Les Sables-d’Olonne in France, South African solo sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer leads the non-stop round-the-world Golden Globe Race.

Last week, Neuschäfer’s yacht Minnehaha was first of the fleet to meet the south-east trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean, having rounded Cape Horn in February. Her arrival back in the Atlantic Trade Winds coincided with International Women’s Day on Wednesday 8 March.

Neuschäfer is the first woman entrant in the retro sailing event. Participants must use vessels built before 1988 and designed to the standards of the late 1960s, the golden age of single-handed sailing. The rules prohibit the use of GPS and other electronic navigation aids, and entrants must depend on traditional celestial navigation techniques.

Neuschäfer is nursing a broken bowsprit, and leads Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy (aboard Bayanat ) by a narrow margin of only 300 nautical miles. However, she holds a significant advantage in terms of routing strategy. Tomy has also suffered several serious setbacks, including broken standing rigging and torn sails. Tomy’s Rustler 36 yacht is lighter and faster upwind, but Neuschäfer also holds an adjusted-time advantage, awarded because of her detour to rescue Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen in the Southern Ocean in November.

Such is the wear on the competitors that Tomy’s repairs include replacing rigging with steel handrail cables, and handrails with spare antenna cables. Throughout the Indian and Pacific Ocean legs, the race was led by British sailor Simon Curwen; he suffered both self-steering and rigging issues to such a degree that he was forced to stop for repairs. Curwen’s stop relegates him to the “Chichester Class”, and out of contention for the overall win.

Neuschäfer has a close connection to Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club (GBYC), with members having teamed up with Strand Rotary Club to raise around R60 000 to support her preparations. Her boat Minnehaha proudly displays “GBYC” on the hull, and she took a club burgee with her on the trip.

The other South African entrant, Jeremy Bagshaw, is approaching Cape Horn with at least two significant weather systems standing in his way. Bagshaw is a member of False Bay Yacht Club in Simon’s Town, and has also visited GBYC on numerous occasions in the past.

The original Golden Globe Race produced the first solo non-stop circumnavigation, by Robin Knox-Johnston aboard Suhaili . It also produced the enigmatic Bernard Moistessier aboard Joshua , who pulled out of the race after rounding all three Great Capes while still in line for a possible victory.

Moitessier didn’t give up his voyage, but sailed on for another two thirds of a circumnavigation, laying claim to the longest solo sail in history. Moitessier’s poetic account of his voyage, The Long Way , chronicled his relationship with his boat, the loneliness and joy of solo sailing, and his discovery of yoga. It was also an early and passionate plea for environmentalism.

Should Neuschäfer win the race across the Atlantic back to France, she will become the first woman to complete a solo round-the-world yacht race. Her webpage is https://kirstenggr.com/, and her competitor page is at https://goldengloberace.com/skipper/2022/kirsten-neuschafer/.

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