{"id":50591,"date":"2023-09-11T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=50591"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:17:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:17:52","slug":"kneuschafer-wins-golden-globe-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/people\/kneuschafer-wins-golden-globe-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo Act: Kirsten Neusch\u00e4fer Wins the Golden Globe Race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kirsten <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n After 235 days at sea, Neusch\u00e4fer crossed the line in Les Sables d\u2019Olonne, becoming the first woman to win a round-the-world race.<\/span>\n Kirsten Neusch\u00e4fer<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n\n

When Kirsten Neusch\u00e4fer decided to compete in the 2022-23 Golden Globe Race, she searched for a fast, safe and stable boat. She studied designs with a good ballast-to-weight ratio, and sought out a hull and rig that could withstand a hard beat to windward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She found Minnehaha<\/em> in Newfoundland and knew that the tough, sturdy Cape George 36 was the one. The quick cutter with a generous sail plan met all of the official requirements\u2014a production boat with a full keel, less than 36 feet long, designed before 1988\u2014and a few requirements she had set for herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted a super-secure boat for the Southern Ocean, which was fast as well,\u201d Neusch\u00e4fer says. \u201cMinnehaha<\/em> suffers a little in light airs, but I knew I had a good chance of surviving. It was clear to me that the GGR was a bit of a race of attrition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her instincts, along with detailed preparation, hard work and a bit of luck, served her well. Eight months after 16 skippers set out from the west coast of France to race solo 30,000 miles eastbound around a Southern Ocean course, Neusch\u00e4fer and Minnehaha <\/em>caught one last whisper of wind off Les Sables d\u2019Olonne, ghosted over the line, and sailed into history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"2022-2023 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The 2022-2023 Golden Globe Race starts and finishes in Les Sables d\u2019Olonne, France.<\/span>\n Steve Sanford<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t actually know that I\u2019d won until the boats came out to meet me,\u201d the South African sailor said of her historic finish. \u201cI knew I was very close to Abhilash, so I was pushing hard. I knew we were very close.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indian skipper Abhilash Tomy battled the same light airs that Neusch\u00e4fer faced near the end of the race and arrived a day after, taking second place. Austrian Michael Guggenberger finished third, as the final skipper to complete the race in the racing class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Golden Globe Race is a nonstop, solo, unassisted round-the-world race with the start and finish line in Les Sables d\u2019Olonne. Competitors are required to sail small boats using paper charts, VHF radio, sextants and celestial navigation. No modern weather-routing software is allowed, nor satellite communication, electronic instruments and autopilots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kirsten <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Minnehaha<\/i> suffers in light airs, but I knew I had a good chance of surviving, Neusch\u00e4fer said. The GGR is a race of attrition.<\/span>\n GGR\/ETIENNE MESSIKOMMER<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The route takes the sailors south through the Atlantic before heading east to Cape Town, South Africa, and around the Cape of Good Hope. After crossing the Indian Ocean and keeping Tasmania to port, sailors traverse the storm-plagued Southern Ocean and round Cape Horn. The \u00adfinal stretch leads north through the Atlantic and back to Les Sables d\u2019Olonne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 16 skippers who started the 2022-23 race, 11 retired and two others made a single stop, moving them out of competition and into the Chichester Class. Neusch\u00e4fer\u2019s victory made her one of only three people to win the race\u2014and the first woman ever to win a solo circumnavigation<\/a> yacht race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201c<\/em>Minnehaha suffers in light airs, but I knew I had a good chance of surviving. The GGR is a race of attrition.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The race is based on the 1968-69 Sunday Times<\/em> Golden Globe Race, won by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston aboard his 32-foot Bermudan ketch, Suhaili<\/em>. Knox-Johnston was the only skipper to finish; in doing so, he became the first person to solo-circumnavigate the globe nonstop. Nine others retired, one was dismasted, and one committed suicide. The race was run once more in 2018, on the 50th anniversary of the original race. Eighteen sailors set out, and five \u00adfinished. French sailor Jean-Luc Van Den Heede won the 2018 edition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More people have gone into space than have sailed singlehanded around the world. The small nature of the club means that the sailors, while competing, still look out for one another\u2019s health and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first dash south down the Atlantic in the 2022-23 race, Neusch\u00e4fer relayed to the race committee the VHF-radio mayday call of fellow sailor Guy DeBoer, who\u2019d hit rocks near the Canary Islands. After a night spent grinding over the rocks, DeBoer abandoned his boat the next morning with the help of a local rescue team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two months later, 450 miles southeast of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Tapio Lehtinen\u2019s Gaia 36, Asteria<\/em>, flooded after taking on water from astern, and sank in less than 20 minutes. Lehtinen had just enough time to activate his EPIRB, put on his survival suit, and swim to his drifting life raft. \u201cI gave Asteria<\/em> a last standing salute as she went down,\u201d the Finnish skipper said. Neusch\u00e4fer, the closet sailor to his position, altered course and hand-steered through the night to assist in his rescue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe emergency handheld GPS showed Tapio\u2019s coordinates,\u201d Neusch\u00e4fer says. \u201cI followed the track, but it was very difficult to spot a small, orange life raft. I was able to reach him on the VHF, but the early morning light was behind him, and I couldn\u2019t see him. He fired off a flare, and I approached him on a beam reach. He\u2019d been waiting 24 hours and was ready. He threw me a line, and I caught it on the first try, pulled him in, tied the life raft to Minnehaha<\/em>, and helped him aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Neusch\u00e4fer <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Neusch\u00e4fer and a grateful Lehtinen share a glass of rum after the rescue.<\/span>\n Kirsten Neusch\u00e4fer\/GGR 2022 <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The two sailors shared a glass of rum. An hour later, Neusch\u00e4fer managed Lehtinen\u2019s dangerous transfer from Minnehaha<\/em> to bulk carrier Darya Gayatri<\/em>, a freighter that had responded to the emergency call as well. \u201cWhen I saw he was on board, I was just relieved for him,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neusch\u00e4fer\u2019s own heavy-weather plan focused on mitigating risks and staying true to strategies she\u2019d set. When a low-pressure system approached on her way south to Cape Horn, she set a warp off her stern and held on for 12 hours until the storm blew over. In strong winds north of the Falklands, she hove-to, knowing that beating to windward in the extreme conditions risked damage to her boat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this time in her life, she was no stranger to adventure. Neusch\u00e4fer\u2019s early years had led her from South Africa to a set of jobs in Europe, followed by a solo trans-Africa biking trip, where she pedaled the continent north to south in her 20s. Her later experience working for Skip Novak on his Pelagic Expeditions exposed her to the wind and weather systems of the Antarctic Peninsula, Patagonia and the Falklands, and built her familiarity with the Southern Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kay <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Kirsten Neusch\u00e4fer presented with the Kay Cottee First Lady trophy.<\/span>\n Tim Bishop\/GGR\/PPL<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cYou need a great deal of self-sufficiency on these expeditions,\u201d she says. \u201cYou need to know which tools and spares to bring. You need to be able to do all kinds of troubleshooting, refit the boats, change out a propeller, or fix a rig under difficult weather conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neusch\u00e4fer had also done several long-distance \u00addeliveries, including taking a Leopard catamaran from the South Africa factory to Australia, and completing a singlehanded delivery from Portugal to South Africa on what she calls a labor-intensive boat. \u201cThis, that and the next thing needed to be done, and I discovered that I can solve problems out at sea,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she followed the 2018 Golden Globe Race, she liked its spirit of adventure. \u201cThere are a lot of reasons to decide not to do something,\u201d she says. \u201cHaving succeeded and followed my heart in other decisions, I knew that the GGR was something I should do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her plans were nearly derailed early when she left her boat in Newfoundland and flew to South Africa, and then COVID-19 restrictions kept her from returning to Canada. She was eventually able to get back to Newfoundland and sail to Prince Edward Island, where she spent a year preparing for the race. She fell in love with the people there and made lifelong friends. Several were present at the Golden Globe Race finish line in Les Sables d\u2019Olonne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kristen <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Minnehaha<\/i> checks in at Cape\u00a0Town, South Africa.<\/span>\n Ocean Frontiers OGR\/GGR <\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

For her part, Neusch\u00e4fer makes light of the fact that the race dubbed a \u201cVoyage for Madmen\u201d was won by a woman. \u201cI entered as a sailor,\u201d she says. \u201cI competed as a sailor and won as a sailor. On the same token, it\u2019s a male-dominated race. If what I did inspires someone, then good will come of it, and I\u2019m happy for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neusch\u00e4fer clearly has inspired the sailing world. On the final night of her race, as Minnehaha <\/em>made its way up Les Sables d\u2019Olonne channel, thousands of supporters lined the harbor walls, cheering and waving flares. Neusch\u00e4fer\u2019s smile lit up the night. When she reached the dock, a friend handed her a bottle of champagne, which she sprayed into the air. Dressed in her sailing bibs and bare feet, she stepped off her boat and onto dry land for the first time in 235 days, and hugged her mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theresa Nicholson is <\/em>CW\u2019s senior editor.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A life of adventure leads to victory in the GGR’s challenging round-the-world race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":50595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Theresa Nicholson","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"ad_targeting":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true},"categories":[165],"tags":[617,731,197,1967,195],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50591"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}