Golden Globe: Descending the Atlantic

Sixteen solo skippers started the 2026-27 Golden Globe Race on September 6 from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. The fourth edition continues the “retro race” format in which 32-36 foot production boats designed prior to 1988, without modern technology, compete in the non-stop contest. Here is an update from October 5:

A month into the 2026 edition, the fleet has already split in two as Damien Guillou, a Frenchman in a Rustler 36 called Solarem, leads with Pat Lawless (IRL) on a Saga 36 in second, 222 miles back. Their next important waypoint is Trindade Island, off the coast of Brazil, which they must leave to port.

The third boat, Ertan Beskardes’ Miss Beagle, is the better part of a thousand miles behind them, finally breaking away from the light airs off the African coast while the two leaders ride an easterly down the South Atlantic. – Full report