Globe40 2025 underway - From Andalusian perfumes to African scents

Globe40 2025 - From Andalusian perfumes to African scents © Jean-Marie Liot / Globe40

At 1:00 PM today, the GLOBE40 competitors regretfully left Cadiz, which gave the race an unforgettable welcome; but enthusiasm also prevails among the crews before tackling this first official leg of the race towards the city of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde.

After the 900-mile prologue from Lorient, which began to outline the sporting characteristics of the event, the Class40s now head south towards the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde archipelago, 1,500 miles away.

The pitch for Cadiz was already very attractive on paper; The oldest city in Western Europe, in the heart of Andalusia and a stone's throw from the Strait of Gibraltar, the climate is still very pleasant at the beginning of autumn. The reality lived up to expectations, both in terms of the welcome from the elected officials of the Ayuntamiento de Cádiz (municipality) and the Diputacion (department) of Cádiz, as well as the warm and interested Spanish population who flocked to the race village all week long. And how can we forget the incredible evening of the GLOBE40 Grand Départ, with tens of thousands of people in the village and the GLOBE40 logo appearing in the sky above Cádiz in a superb drone display...

A successful experience for a first major ocean racing event, and the charm of the evenings in the old town will remain a strong first memory for the competitors of this second edition.

On the sporting front, the prologue had laid the foundations for the race with the scow teams ("round noses") at the head of the general classification, who measured each other up; if CREDIT MUTUEL (n degrees202) took an advantage of around ten miles before arriving at Cape Finisterre, it was never able to ward off the threat of the young Germans of NEXT GENERATION BOATING AROUND THE WORLD (n degrees189) and the BELGIUM OCEAN RACING - CURIUM crew (n degrees187). With 3 scows from 3 different architects (in order David Raison, Guillaume Verdier, M.Lombard Yacht Design) and boats that all have their strengths and weaknesses, the cards are likely to be reshuffled depending on the characteristics of each of the upcoming stages and the weather conditions encountered. Among the sharps ("pointed noses"), the gaps were also very small with 5 teams determined not to give up anything between them. Skippers and observers alike are eagerly awaiting the upcoming legs.

The upcoming leg from Cadiz to Cape Verde is a traditional downwind leg in steady trade winds; with a passage between the Canary Islands, which always holds surprises given the influence of the terrain on the winds; in principle, therefore, a great downwind glide, a point of sail at which the German crew demonstrated remarkable speed during the prologue and is therefore the favorite for this first official leg. But the experience of the French team and the motivation of the Belgian team will certainly not leave the field open to the ambitions of the young ex-Ministers from across the Rhine. Among the top teams, FREE DOM (No. 139), currently leading the rankings, will also have to fend off the impressive pace of Brazilians BARCO BRASIL (No. 151), the talented Anglo-Austrian WILSON AROUND THE WORLD (No. 93), and the English RORC champions JANGADA (No. 152), not to mention the experience of the first edition of Team Canada WHISKEY JACK (No. 128).

The route between the start and finish is open, leaving the door open to all options, with the finish scheduled for a week from now, on the weekend of September 20-21, in Cesaria Evora's beloved "little country." We're cutting out Spanish—which we'll return to in Valparaiso—and switching to Portuguese. The adventure continues, this time with a touch of African flavor...

Finally, with Storm Erin causing terrible damage and numerous casualties in Mindelo, Cape Verde, on August 11th. Crédit Mutuel, in collaboration with Sirius Events, organizer of the Globe40, and all the skippers involved in the race, wanted to show their solidarity by allowing the hardest-hit children to return to school normally. In response to a need for supplies (backpacks, notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc.), all the skippers will set off with some of these supplies, which they will transport to Mindelo. The rest of the cargo will be transported by an airlift organized (courtesy of TAP Cargo) from Lisbon to Cape Verde. An adventure we'll return to later.

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