GGR 2022

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Tunznath

New member
16
4
I myself am becoming increasingly disillusioned with this race, it all seemed a good idea but has now turned into.... I have no words....., if Moitessier was involved in this version - I think he would have said F... It, long ago, probably at all the briefing stages, The globe 580 has done the same for me
 
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TheDragon

TheDragon

Super Anarchist
3,537
1,579
East central Illinois
Not a great ad for coppercoat



I had lots of gooseneck barnacles on my ablative AF after 37 days sailing from Panama to French Polynesia. They all died and fell off in the next two weeks of mostly anchoring. But then it was easy to scrape off their "calcium" foot pads using a plastic scraper so nothing could regrow attached to those, which appears to have been part of his problem.
 
Schakel

Schakel

Dayboat sailor
4,029
582
Delft, The Netherlands
Simon Curwen firmly in the lead.
Abilash Tommy and Kirsten Neuschafer following.
Golden globe race 25 1.jpg

Movie from Kirsten Neuschafer:
 
Reepicheep

Reepicheep

New member
4
3
Since TBT is such a clusterfuck for the environment & is rightfully banned racers are facing fouling issues that weren't faced in 1968. I wonder why they don't use ultrasonic antifouling devices? Is it because they are crap or is it because they are "new tech"?
 
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trisail

Anarchist
518
589
Good evening,

Simon Curwen is by far the most experienced offshore racing sailor in the fleet. He has done well in the Mini Transat and in more recent years have placed well in the shorthanded division of the Fastnet. I believe he is also a regular competitor in the RORC shorthanded offshore series of races.
He is a fast sailor and combined with his experience and a good boat he was always going to be the one to beat if you wanted to win the GGR.
Without taking anything away from Kirsten and with the utmost of respect to her, I don't believe she has ever sailed an offshore race or ocean race before this one. That lack of racing experience might be costing her.
If one looks at the Leader Board function on the daily tracker, and more specifically the "Distance Sailed" (even allowing for it is not being all that accurate) you would notice that when Kirsten passed through Hobart, she had sailed a course of about 800 to a 1000 miles more that Simon had up to Hobart. That would hurt anyone!

Jean Luc vd Heede also sailed a course substantially shorter than his rivals in 2018.

Regards.
 
spyderpig

spyderpig

Member
339
65
Europe
1815 UTC 28th January....Simon Curwen HOWDENS contacted race control to report failure of his Hydrovane wind vane, sailing in 40kts and in 6mtr seas. The boat may have experienced a surging slight knockdown, fast off a wave on the port side. He was not towing warps or a drogue at the time but maintaining course and speed. As a result of this surge it appears to have sheared a shaft on the top side of the Vane body that "appears" irreplaceable. There is a bit of mess down below, but he is OK and the boat is OK. All other equipment and systems are working. He is Currently sailing slowly under storm jib and lashed tiller while he assesses the best course of action. He requires no assistance and is all OK, but realises all is "pear shaped" at the moment and he needs to think of a plan going forward. He will contact again in the next hour with a further assessment. He is currently 1200 miles west North west of Cape Horn.
 
Kolibri

Kolibri

Anarchist
531
661
Haleiwa, HI
spyderpig said:
1815 UTC 28th January....Simon Curwen HOWDENS contacted race control to report failure of his Hydrovane wind vane, sailing in 40kts and in 6mtr seas. The boat may have experienced a surging slight knockdown, fast off a wave on the port side. He was not towing warps or a drogue at the time but maintaining course and speed. As a result of this surge it appears to have sheared a shaft on the top side of the Vane body that "appears" irreplaceable. There is a bit of mess down below, but he is OK and the boat is OK. All other equipment and systems are working. He is Currently sailing slowly under storm jib and lashed tiller while he assesses the best course of action. He requires no assistance and is all OK, but realises all is "pear shaped" at the moment and he needs to think of a plan going forward. He will contact again in the next hour with a further assessment. He is currently 1200 miles west North west of Cape Horn.
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Damn! Good to hear Simon is OK, but it really sucks to hear that his Hydrovane is broken. Hopefully he has the necessary materials onboard to make repairs.
 
S

Slark

Member
154
51
East Coast USA
Well if there is a solution, Simon certainly has the lead enough to work it through. That said seems he had diverted already so might be he's given up.

If he is out, the last thing of interest becomes the race between K and A. I'd put my money on K, she has the right boat within the rules and is back ticking off miles. Of course, long way to go and a lot can happen especially in the Atlantic.
 
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oschonrock

New member
8
4
It seems Don is so rattled by these repeated HV failures (his major sponsor) that he is now engaging in censorship and unable to act professionally.

He DMed me on FB claiming I had made false statements and threatened to block me. When questioned about which statements I had made that he objected to, he refused to respond and just went ahead and blocked me. Why so touchy? Why not allow objective discussion?Why so unprofessional?

Irony is, what Don appeared upset about, is that he claimed that I had said he was hiding things. I had made no such statement. However his actions in blocking me, seem to be evidence of that exact thing? -- have the full FB Msg exchange screenshotted.

It's messy in there.
 
Jambalaya

Jambalaya

Super Anarchist
6,926
235
Hamble / Paris
trisail said:
Good evening,

Simon Curwen is by far the most experienced offshore racing sailor in the fleet. He has done well in the Mini Transat and in more recent years have placed well in the shorthanded division of the Fastnet. I believe he is also a regular competitor in the RORC shorthanded offshore series of races.
He is a fast sailor and combined with his experience and a good boat he was always going to be the one to beat if you wanted to win the GGR.
Without taking anything away from Kirsten and with the utmost of respect to her, I don't believe she has ever sailed an offshore race or ocean race before this one. That lack of racing experience might be costing her.
If one looks at the Leader Board function on the daily tracker, and more specifically the "Distance Sailed" (even allowing for it is not being all that accurate) you would notice that when Kirsten passed through Hobart, she had sailed a course of about 800 to a 1000 miles more that Simon had up to Hobart. That would hurt anyone!

Jean Luc vd Heede also sailed a course substantially shorter than his rivals in 2018.

Regards.
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I've known Simon for 25 years. I've beaten him in J105 OD and occasionally in inshore double handed races. I've never got anywhere near him in offshore. He was 2nd in the Mini Transat (best ever result by a Brit and done whilst having a full time job and 3 kids). He also won the double handed class in the Fastnet. His racing and offshore pedigree is second to none in this and many other races

EDIT: I should add he's beaten me more in J105 OD than I have him and he won UK J105 Nationals too (ok not the biggest fleet but proof he sails well inshore too)
 
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oschonrock

New member
8
4
Jambalaya said:
I've known Simon for 25 years. I've beaten him in J105 OD and occasionally in inshore double handed races. I've never got anywhere near him in offshore. He was 2nd in the Mini Transat (best ever result by a Brit and done whilst having a full time job and 3 kids). He also won the double handed class in the Fastnet. His racing and offshore pedigree is second to none in this and many other races

EDIT: I should add he's beaten me more in J105 OD than I have him and he won UK J105 Nationals too (ok not the biggest fleet but proof he sails well inshore too)
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All very well an matches what I've heard about Simon from friends.

But the GRR is "not a race". It is a more of a farcical demolition derby which also lacks proper race management.

IMO, it should be "a rally", that would fit the spirit and the organisation's capabilities much better.
 
shebeen

shebeen

Super Anarchist
1,896
981
cape town, south africa
Slark said:
Well if there is a solution, Simon certainly has the lead enough to work it through. That said seems he had diverted already so might be he's given up.

If he is out, the last thing of interest becomes the race between K and A. I'd put my money on K, she has the right boat within the rules and is back ticking off miles. Of course, long way to go and a lot can happen especially in the Atlantic.
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Sorry to hear for Simon, but for everyone else it makes the race more interesting now.

At what stage could A and K hear the news, they will be business as usual for a while?

To finish first, first you need to finish as you've no doubt heard countless times before. I wonder what the weight penalty would have been for a spare?
It is possibly too intricate a part to fashion a replacement from, but he has the gap to make a plan if at all possible.
 
shebeen

shebeen

Super Anarchist
1,896
981
cape town, south africa
Jambalaya said:
Simon looks to be back in the game ?

View attachment 570957
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looks like he's averaged 5knots dead downwind in about 25knots of breeze for the past 24hr sched.
not sure if that means he has fixed his self steering for real or just the easiest course to jimmy it for now.

1675062053258.png


of course 3 days now since the "BREAKING NEWS", but this juts came in the fb/soundcloud

ENGLISH & FRENCH UPDATE:
🇬🇧
GGR 2022 - Simon Curwen called to explain the Knockdown, steering now and intentions all on this Soundcloud. WAVE was NOT expected, It was a Massive wave , Mast head in water, Dodger folded down but still ripped off, down below asleep at time, Not sure if concussed?, now sheet tiller/hand steering, maybe headed to Ushuaya , at end of this call more descriptions and feelings and considering option to keep sailing to Les Sables d'Olonne as SUHAILI did without windvane and reasons why.
 
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