Ten days from the start of the Golden Globe Race from Les Sables-d’Olonne, the 16 solo navigators face the Gulf of Biscay and head towards the Canary Islands. Among courageous tactical choices and weather pitfalls, stands out the excellent performance of Italians Andrea Lodolo and Guido Cantini. The race, which requires physical resistance, maritime ability and ability to manage the boat with analog navigation tools, takes place without GPS, electrical desalinizers or internet connections, following the rules of the original philosophy of 1968.
An epic challenge without modern technology
The Golden Globe Race, founded in the wake of the historic edition of 1968-69, is considered the last true adventure of the past. Navigators, on board of standard fiberglass monoscaphs between 32 and 36 feet out of everything, must navigate without technology back to 1968. Only, official paper nautical maps, mechanical clock, barometer and HF/VHF radio communications are allowed. The route includes a circumnavigation of the globe from East to West, for about 30,000 miles, leaving left the three great leaders: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Cape Horn.
The challenge requires skill, determination and ability to manage the boat with analog tools. In the first part of the race, without the usual navigation software, the main challenge for many skippers was to find the “inner time” of manual surveys. More than one skipper told by radio that he spent hours re-inhabiting the ephemerids and the sender, forgetting for a moment the frenzy of modern technology and finding the charm of the horizon line.
Two Italians in the head with tactical caution
Andrea Lodolo, under the guidance of his “Bibi” (a Buster 33), demonstrated an excellent tactical performance. With precise choices in positioning and constant speed in the bearing ranges, he managed to climb up the fleet until he consolidated a third provisional place, remaining hooked to the head duo. Guido Cantini, at the helm of “Hannah” (a Vancouver 34), embodies the patience and experience of scrupulous preparation. Maintaining in the pursuit group close to the first, it is managing the boat with great tactical prudence in order not to affect the equipment in view of the passage of the Alisei and the long descent to the South Atlantic. The race is an epic challenge of marine alone, physical resistance and psychological seal. The two treads, Damien Guillou and Pat Lawless, are recording almost identical daily routes around 100-110 miles, approaching the Canary Islands area. The Golden Globe Race, with its philosophy of return to its origins, represents a unique experience, where man and boat face the ocean in the old way, without any technological support.