Pat Lawless (66) of Limerick may still have 24,455 miles to sail before he becomes the first Irishman to sail non-stop solo round the world. But in the Golden Globe Race 2022, he has been getting remarkably competitive performances out of his hefty Saltram Saga 36 Green Rebel, despite his boat having one of the lowest sail-area-to-weight ratios of the entire fleet.
Because the rules of the race stipulate that the competitors use only 1968 technology and have no contact whatsoever with anyone ashore, we can only speculate as to the secret of his success as deduced from the Race Tracker. But the central tenet of Lawless Sailing Lore seems to dictate that you should sail no further than you need to, a strategy he demonstrated early in exiting the Bay of Biscay in difficult and extremely flukey headwind conditions, following the start from Les
Sables d'Olonnes on September 4th, and subsequently in getting past both the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands.
Other theoretically faster boats have readily scurried hither and yon in an often futile search for the best conditions, but Green Rebel has somehow been making southing so efficiently that she has probably logged fewer miles than any other boat in the fleet to put her where she is now (Sunday). She is well south of the Cape Verdes at third overall, behind Simon Curwen leading in a Biscay 36, and Kirsten Neuschafer second, close ahead of Green Rebel in a Cape George 36.
After the 2018 race, it was felt that clearly the ideal boat to comply most competitively with the rules was the Holman & Pye-designed Rustler 36. Also as a result of 2018's race, Ireland's Gregor McGuckian was awarded the Cruising Club of America's Rod Stephens Trophy for Seamanship for the role he played in the rescue of fellow-competitor Abilash Tomy of the Indian Navy. Tomi is back this year witha Rustler 36 supported by the Indian Navy, yet so far at no stage has he been ahead of Pat Lawless, and currently lies 5th, more than 200 miles astern of Green Rebel.
The Golden Globe 2022 started with a smaller fleet than the 2018 event, and the active competitors now number 12 boats. Perhaps the "re-enactment of a re-enactment" doesn't have the same zing, and of course, the deteriorating international security and economic situations have been particularly discouraging for an event of this nature. Yet there are twelve boats out there, still gallantly racing in this challenge of a lifetime. And while we wish them all well, we know they'll understand us
in our hope that Pat Lawless leads them all back into Les Sables d'Olonne next Spring.
Live Race Tracker below
