Leg 2 of the Ocean Globe Race begins

Katy Stickland

11 teams have crossed the start line of Leg 2 of the Ocean Globe Race, with the remaining three yachts to start in the coming days

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Leg 2 of the Ocean Globe Race started with three boats – Sterna, Explorer and Godspeed missing from the Cape Town start line on 5 November 2024.

Under race rules, each team must reach the finish port no later than 48 hours after the restart of the next leg or will be disqualified.

Ocean Globe Race Director, Don McIntyre confirmed to PBO that if Race HQ believes a team can catch up with the rest of the fleet, then the crew will also be allowed to continue in the race; and McInyre believes Godspeed can.

Both Sterna and Explorer are already in Cape Town, but Skeleton Crew, aboard their Swan 51, Godspeed, still has 127nm to sail to reach the South Africa port, and should arrive by tomorrow.

The American team, which is made up of military veterans led by Taylor Grieger, had to divert to Cascais in Portugal during Leg 1 to make repairs to their boom. This is allowed under the Notice of Race as long as the team have no outside assistance.

Both Explorer and Sterna are making repairs and will be setting sail for Auckland shortly.

The skipper of the Swan 53, Sterna, Rufus Brand said Leg One was hard.

“Unfortunately, we’ve broken quite a few things regarding the rig. But I’m so happy today as our team did incredibly well. The first leg was just about team building in the end. I couldn’t be happier about how our team got through all the challenges. We limped in today. And of course, we were gutted to have missed the rugby. For one moment I thought we were going to make it but then we blew out our A3 and we knew we weren’t going to make it in. But we’re here,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 11 Ocean Globe yachts are already making their way into the southern Indian Ocean.

Translated 9, which won 1, was first across the line, followed closely by Pen Duick VI and Galiana WithSecure, skippered by Finnish sailor, Tapio Lehtinen.

Pen Duick VI has fallen to 7th place in the IRC ratings after the team was given a 72 hour penalty. This was because of a broken seal on a crew comms bag and evidence of skipper Marie Tabarly’s WhatsApp account active after the start Sept 10 2023, in the UK.

Ocean Globe Race HQ carried out an investigation and concluded

  1. Ocean Globe Race cannot prove conclusively the cause of the Active WhatsApp account notice, as two phones are involved and one was onshore. It is possible the phone ashore could have been used, which is not a breach of the Notice of Race. On this issue, no action is taken.
  2. The Ocean Globe Race security seal on the comms bag was broken. It cannot be proven if it was an accident or with intent. It may be as a result of the entrant not having an onboard management plan to protect the comms bag.
  3. It is the responsibility of the entrant to maintain the integrity of the seal. Not reporting the broken seal is the fault of the entrant. Other than the regret of the crew member responsible for regularly moving the bag to access food in the same locker, not being aware of the seal and its importance, there are no mitigating circumstances.
  4. Under the NOR 3.1.7.C… Banned Equipment, a broken seal of the comms bag imposes a 72-hr time penalty. The seal of this comms bag was broken.

Continues below…

Skipper Marie Tabarly took to Facebook to defend herself and her crew.

“I am sickened … working that long to be called a cheater… A seal has been broken. I’m not contesting for it. Maybe it wasn’t solid enough, maybe we should be more careful. Be it. The penalty is very heavy, 72 hours. But we accept it.”

She said the entire fleet was demanding a revision of the sanction as well as stronger seals for the bags and that Ocean Globe Race HQ had access to their communication bills, “in full transparency”

“The OGR statement is clumsy, and leaves room for a misinterpretation, relayed by some media outlets.
Seeing the end of our race, it’s clear we didn’t have the weather… 😅
So tomorrow we get back on the water and settle our scores on this beautiful playground that is the ocean.
See you in Auckland in 5 weeks The goal is clear: no faster than the bottom. And a first place actually.
Pen-Duick VI : out.”

Pen Duick VI is currently at the front of the fleet, with Spirit of Helsinki (Leg 1 line honour winners), Translated 9 and Maiden close on their tail.

Leg 2 of the Ocean Globe Race

Leg 2 of the Ocean Globe Race: Less than 48 hours after the start, Pen Duick is leading the fleet. Credit: Ocean Globe Race/YB Tracking

For many of the crew members, this will be the first time they have sailed so far south.

Translated 9‘s Baptiste Gillot Devillers said he was excited about heading into the Indian Ocean.

“I really want to discover this part of the sea and world – nobody I know has gone there. We have some people on board who have explained how it’s going to be and it makes the desire to go there grow a lot. Now that we are nearly ready to go the excitement is building but it is also a little bit scary. My family is probably more scared than I am at the moment,” he added.

Yacht crew wearing blue jackets on the deck of a boat

The crew of Triana arrived in Cape Town after 46 days at sea. Credit: OGR2023/ Aida Valceanu

For other entrants, it is the case of the second time around – or seventh time, as is the case for Triana’s first mate Sébastien Audigane.

“In the Southern Ocean, you need to be a good sailor. You need to anticipate the weather because the wind is often very strong and the depression systems pass by very quickly. You have to have a keen eye weather-wise. And then equally, as it’s very cold you need to pay attention to being well dressed, you need to eat well and just be a good sailor really. I think it’s the most dangerous because the depressions pass by really quickly and the sea changes angle several times a day, which means you can have crossing seas which make it difficult to make the boat progress forwards. But I am not nervous, I like the Southern Ocean. I speak to the albatross,” he said.

Positions of the 2023 Ocean Globe Race fleet – Leg 2: Cape Town to Auckland at 1200 UTC on 07 November 2023. These positions will change under the IRC rating. Line honours are shown below. 

Pen Duick VI (France)
Spirit of Helsinki (Finland)
Maiden (UK)
Translated 9 (Italy)
Triana (France)
L’Esprit d’Equipe (France)
Neptune (France)
Outlaw (Australia)
White Shadow (Spain)
Evrika (France)
Galiana with Secure (Finland)

Yet to start Leg 2

Sterna (South Africa)
Explorer (Australia)
Godspeed (USA)

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