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The Anglo-American team AHMAS (Class40 n? 127) crossed the finish line of leg 6 of the GLOBE40 in Recife today at 11:48 p.m. local time. After 20 days and 10 hours of racing and 3,803 miles covered (7417 km), Craig Horshield and James Oxenham brilliantly conclude a particularly difficult leg which put the GLOBE40 crews to the test. In the heart of Recife, the “Venice of Brazil”, they inaugurated this evening the brand new RECIFE MARINA, a 250-berth marina in the center of Recife.
A leg that put a lot of strain on the crews
From the start of Ushuaia on Sunday January 8, the teams were faced with a particularly unusual situation in Patagonia, namely several days of calm, while the day before the start nearly 50 knots were blowing in the area; Le Maire Strait, Falkland Islands / Malvinas we had to negotiate this start of the ascent to the North in nerve-wracking light weather. Quickly MILAI Around The World broke away thanks to a very successful option to the east and had a 100 mile lead. An advance which unfortunately was brutally interrupted on January 12 in the morning by a violent shock with a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object); boat seriously damaged but with no injuries on board and no distress situation, the Franco-Japanese crew (Masa Suzuki / Estelle Greck) reached the Argentinian port of Mar Del Plata on January 16th. To date MILAI has undertaken the repair work in the local shipyard and has affirmed its desire to resume racing as soon as possible. For the other crews, a second phase began in a particularly unstable weather zone with a succession of areas of calm, depressions, squalls, fishing fleets with up to 100 units within a radius of 30 miles constituting a formidable obstacle not to mention the devastation of marine resources. A trying episode for the competitors which continued to the latitude of Rio de Janeiro with brutal changes in the classification; SEC HAYAI, which had also managed to take a hundred-mile lead over its pursuers, lost this lead in 2 days for an option to the west that pays much less than those which had remained offshore, such as AMHAS and GRYPHON SOLO2, which had a great race. Finally, it was not until they were only 500 miles from Recife that they hit the long-awaited south-east trade wind from South Africa which propelled the teams on a steady course towards the goal.
Recife Marina, a new tool for the development of racing
Capital of the State of Pernambuco, the great metropolis of the Nordeste, the “Venice of Brazil” built on islands, Recife offers GLOBE40 crews a particularly attractive destination with its equatorial climate, its large beaches such as Boa Viagem, and its role of cultural capital of Brazil; nearby the city Olinda, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its superb Portuguese architecture from the 16th century and also known for its carnival, like that of Recife which attracts several million people. With the support of the Sailing Federation of Pernambuco, the big club of the city the Iata club Cabanga, the city of Recife, and the partner Qair, this stage was able to benefit from the brand new marina RECIFE MARINE, inaugurated this night by the arrival of AMHAS; with its 250 places and its hotel, it offers a superb tool for hosting major nautical events.
2 steps to conclude the GLOBE40 epic
GRYPHON SOLO 2 and SEC HAYAI are expected on Sunday January 29, while the Canadian competitor on WHISKEY JACK should instead reach Recife on Tuesday. This short stopover will conclude on Sunday February 5 with the start of leg 7 towards the island of Grenada in the West Indies, 2000 miles in 8 to 10 days. And before a transatlantic return to Lorient, the departure of which will be given on February 24 from Grenada. A final conclusion to the epic of the first edition of the GLOBE40. And a first winner who will probably only be known at the end of the 8th and last leg at the end of the duel which is announced between the Americans of AMHAS and the Dutch of SEC HAYAI very probably separated only by two points to the end of the current stage and while 3 coefficients still remain to be distributed. A fantastic journey around the world, the GLOBE40 shows that it is also an uncompromising competition that has kept us on our toes since last June.
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The latest update from GS2:
Hello Friends-
Just wanted to send out a quick note to say we finished Leg 6 yesterday in Recife, Brazil at about 2 in the afternoon local time. We were greeted by a few RIBs with the Globe40 team and photographers and escorted across the finish line flying our purple (it's actually Lilac) A3 spinnaker in about 10-15k of breeze.
After motoring into the dock and tying up, a band commenced playing festive, local music with dancers in native costumes shaking it pretty good. Roger and I were a bit overwhelmed but enjoyed the show a lot and appreciated the warm local welcome to Brazil.
Recife looks like Miami Beach on steroids. It has high-rise buildings right on the beach for miles. It looks like fun. The boat is at a marina and apartment complex that is under construction so it is a little rough, but the race is headquartered at the local yacht club just upriver and that has nice facilities.
So to clarify our finish, we came in second over the finish line but then an 8-hour penalty was applied because we have changed more than 3 sails. With this penalty, we moved back to third place as Sec Hayai finished about 6.5 hours behind us. It's a bit of a bummer because I think we sailed a very good leg tactically and we also showed great boatspeed in the tight reaching conditions down the home stretch. On balance, we are happy to be on the podium and look forward to racing without the penalty next leg.
We will just be here in Recife for 6 days and then start Leg 7 to Grenada on Sunday, Feb. 5. I look forward to catching up on emails so will try to respond if you sent me a message over the last 3 weeks.
All best
Joe and Roger in Recife, Brazil on Jan. 30, 2023