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(September 22, 2022; Day 19) – Damien Guillou, the French favorite for the Golden Globe Race, made it through the Lanzarote Rubicon Marina film drop under his biggest spinnaker on a tight reach this morning. A wind vane repair returning to Les Sables d’Olonne had cost him six days on the rest of the fleet, but the last twelve days have been an impressive comeback.
A renowned sailor, ocean racer and boat captain in the IMOCA fleet, Guillou is consistently posting the top 24 hour distances of the fleet, having already caught up with the other French sailor Arnaud Gaist and the Australian mariner and GGR 2018 Mark Sinclair “Captain Coconut”.
However, a lack of weather information this week from a defective Weather Fax, and a high-pressure system with light winds, while the wind came back in the south, favoring the leaders, hampered his efforts to catch-up. Sitting in 12th position, the leader has a 700 mile advantage but the mid-fleet pack is only 3 to 4 days ahead.
“The Bay of Biscay, I sailed it twice!” noted Guillou. “The first time it was hard in strong winds and seas right from the start, and the second time I had different conditions with lighter but more unstable winds, before getting over 30 knots upwind at Cape Finisterre.
“Now, in my mind, I’m taking it step by step. I’m happy to be here, happy with the way I’m living on the boat, happy to be back in the race, and with the way I’m living this experience. This is great!”
Another impressive comeback is South African Kirsten Neuschäfer who exited the Bay of Biscay in 10th position, and did not hide her disappointment at being 6th at the Lanzarote gate. But she has now joined the lead pack in 4th position and has been working very hard, spending a lot of time at the helm of Minnehaha to average 7 knots over the last 24 hours. – Read on
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