The 2018 Golden Globe Race travels back in time to the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing. Robin Knox-Johnston’s 9.75m traditional ketch rigged yacht Suhaili was heavily built of teak and carried no computers, GPS, satellite phone nor water-maker, and Robin completed the challenge with no outside assistance or aid of modern day shore-based weather routing advice. He had only a wind-up chronometer and a barograph ‘borrowed’ from an English pub to face the world alone, and caught rainwater to survive. Only one other of the original 9 entrants, Frenchman Bernard Moitessier, had any chance to challenge Knox-Johnston to become the first to sail solo non-stop around the world, but after rounding Cape Horn 2 weeks behind, decided he’d had enough of civilisation and, ‘to save my soul’, continued sailing round the Southern Ocean rather than return to Europe. He eventually dropped anchor in a Tahiti lagoon.
This anniversary edition of the Golden Globe Race is a celebration of the original event, the winner, his boat and that significant world-first achievement. Competitors in the 2018 race will be sailing simple boats using basic equipment to guarantee a satisfying and personal experience. The challenge is pure and very raw, placing adventure ahead of winning at all costs. It is for ‘those who dare’, just as it was for Sir Robin. They will be navigating with sextant on paper charts, without electronic instruments or autopilots. They will hand-write their logs and determine the weather for themselves. Only occasionally will they talk to loved ones and the outside world when long-range high frequency and ham radios allow.