
At five minutes past noon on Sunday 29 September 1996, Princesse Anne fired the cannon
to begin the second Global Challenge Race. The brainchild of Chay Blyth, who was the
first to circumnavigate this route non-stop in 1970 aboard the ketch British Steel II, this
race circles the globe against the prevailing winds and currents, justly earning it the title
of the World's Toughest Yacht Race.
Ocean Rover powers out of the Solent towards Rio. (© 1996 Allsport USA/Mike Hewitt. All Rights Reserved.)
Each of the 14 identical 67ft steel Bermudan Cutters carries 13 novice crew and an
experienced skipper. The crews - comprised of people from all walks of life and all ages -
have paid for the chance to throw themselves into the teeth of the elements. The fact that
very few of the competitors had sailed before signing on to the project helps to make the
Challenge a unique event - "a crusade, a fanfare for the common man and woman" as
Michael Calvin, a veteran of the first race, describes it.
After the gun, the 14 strong fleet crossed the line off Gilkicker Point and headed west
along the Solent into gale force winds and driving rain. This baptism of fire began the
5,000 mile first leg to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where the leading boat is expected to arrive
on 29 October.
The second and most demanding leg - 6,600 miles - is estimated to begin on 20 November.
It takes them around Cape Horn and west across the Southern Ocean against the Roaring
Forties and Furious Fifties, dodging icebergs and 'growlers' along the way, to Wellington
in New Zealand. The leg winner will be expected into port around 30 December.
After New Year festivities, the fleet will leave Wellington on 9 February 1997 and begin
the comparatively short leg of 1,230 miles, arriving in Sydney, Australia around 15
February. On the 2 March, the fleet is expected to leave for Cape Town in South Africa.
The boats should arrive there - after 6,200 miles - on 8 April.
At 7,000 miles, the longest leg leads the boats north from Cape Town and through the
Doldrums towards Boston, USA where the final 3,000 mile dash across the Atlantic to
Southampton, UK will begin.
Having sailed a total of 29,030 gruelling miles against some of the most extreme weather
systems anywhere in the world, the fleet will be welcomed back into the Solent by a huge
fleet of spectator craft before returning - an estimated 290 days later - to Ocean Village in
Southampton.