With 20,000 miles and five months at sea — 70% of their voyage complete — the leading yachts in the Golden Globe Race are starting to show little signs of fatigue requiring constant maintenance, just as they are undertaking the most difficult part of the course.

They had 1,800 miles to run between the end of the exclusion zone and the Cape Horn but now a storm has changed all that.

The window that had opened last week for Simon Curwen to reach Cape Horn before Wednesday 8 February has now closed and a succession of low-pressure systems are entering the area, affecting all of the GGR entrants. As summer wanes in the southern hemisphere, the number of low pressure systems passing is sure to increase.

In fact, no one in the leading trio has arrived after 20,000 miles unscathed. Simon Curwen (GBR) has a list of 13 items to sort in Chile onboard Clara besides his broken wind vane and a ripped dodger. Abhilash Tomy (IND) spent 22 hours straight repairing Bayanat after his heavy front on 26 January, ranging from sail damage, mainsail sheet track, rigging and windvane maintenance. GGR leader and sole woman competitor Kirsten Neuschäfer (ZAF) has broken her spinnaker pole and can no longer fly her twin headsails.

A large storm is pounding Abhilash Tomy and Kirsten Neuschäfer right now 1,100 miles northwest of Cape Horn

This comes as the biggest low pressure encountered by the fleet so far is crossing their path en route to Cape Horn. There is no escaping this beast the size of Brazil. It jumped out of the exclusion zone before heading down the coast of Chile.

Following GGR weather alerts and routing suggestions, Abhilash and Kirsten sailed northeast away from Cape Horn for two days, climbing to 45 south latitude, positioning themselves in the safer quadrant.

They both expressed concerns about stressing their yachts with 10,000 miles still to go. Kirsten is watching her rig very carefully with a feeling that it is working hard and has prepared her warps and chains ready to slow the boat. This “go north” tactic should allow them to spend less time in extreme weather and ride more manageable seas, but 36 hours in winds exceeding 60 knots gusts and 11-metre seas is assured. Only Simon who is in advance on his plans at 43°S 77°W will not be exposed.

The back of the fleet has not been spare,d either, with Jeremy Bagshaw (ZAF) having the highest number of low-pressure systems encountered in the fleet so far and Guy Waites (GBR) having the worst weather to date, until today: he lost his life raft last week during a knock-down in winds over 60 knots and 10 metre seas. He was running under bare poles with 140-metre warps and heavy anchor chains out in the steep low-pressure system for days. He experienced a few knockdowns but all was OK. While strapped in his bunk he felt a massive wave bigger than the best and a sudden powerful Knockdown with his mast in the water. The raft was gone!

Kirsten Neuschäfer’s (ZAF) twin headsails | Credit: GGR2022/DD&JJ

Sagarmatha had stopped in Cape Town to remove barnacles and moved to Chichester class. He is now making headway towards Hobart. He will assess options on arrival, but feels too many things are stacking up against continuing. It is now early February, late in the season for a Cape Horn passage. Regardless of his decision, once arriving in Hobart, he is out of the GGR as he missed the gate which closed on 31 January.

Time is of the essence for everyone

Guy is not the only one to be late on his voyage. Ian Herbert Jones (GBR), who passed the Hobart gate on 18 January, is only just past Bounty Island, not yet north of the exclusion zone. He is 3,000 miles behind Abhilash. South African sailor Jeremy Bagshaw (ZAF) in Chichester class has been pushing Olleanna hard, building a healthy 400-mille gap with Ian, but both had a hard time after New Zealand and now have an ETA at Cape Horn for the second half of March. This runs the risk of heavier and more frequent storms so the adventure continues.

Only Michael Guggenberger (AUT) is holding a relative position with the leaders, but is facing water issues and frustration along the exclusion zone. He inadvertently crossed into this NO GO area for 1.5 hours over the week-end. That generated a 4.5 hour time penalty to be served in the Atlantic Penalty Box on the way to Les Sables D’Olonne. This current storm passed just just a few hundred miles infront of him.

Guy Waites’s life raft on the back of Sagarmatha | Credit: Guy Waites/GGR2022

For Simon Curwen (GBR), leading the Chichester class, time is still of the essence. He would like to join his former runners-up to Cape Horn and land ahead of them in Les Sables d’Olonne. With no detailed map of the coastal area around Puerto Mount, GGR is assisting with navigational information and local coordination for his stop to make repairs. He is allowed to access his emergency GPS for the safest and easiest landing after 158 days at sea.

Rather than transit 60 miles each way to Puerto Montt, 120 miles in highly tidal waters with currents up to nine knots and strong wind gusts, the British sailor is now thinking to have the Hydrovane spares sent to him in the shelter of the entrance and carrying the repairs on anchor, in the bay of Ancud.

He has the support of his team that has been sent to Chile by his sponsor Howdens and local sailors who are following the GGR and Chile’s government agencies who have been informed of his imminent arrival.