The 2022 Golden Globe Race was the third edition of the original Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. The race, a solo around-the-world sailing race, started on 4 September 2022 from Les Sables-d'Olonne in France. Similar to the 2018 event, the solo-sailors gathered for the SITraN Prologue in Gijón (Spain) on 14 August 2022, before sailing to Les Sables-d'Olonne for the GGR Race Village, which opened on 21 August 2022.[4] The race was won by South African Kirsten Neuschäfer, who returned to Les Sables-d'Olonne on 27 April 2023, after an official time of 233 days, 20 hours, 43 minutes and 47 seconds at sea, approximately one day ahead of her closest rival.[5][2]
The race set a number of records: Neuschäfer was the first woman to win any round-the-world race via the three great capes, including solo and fully crewed races, whether non-stop or with stops. She was the first South African sailor (male or female) to win a round-the-world event.[6][7] She was also the first woman to complete the GGR in the race's history, the first woman to win the GGR, and the only woman skipper who participated in the 2022 GGR.[8]
Retro sailing
As with the 2018 Golden Globe Race, entrants were limited to sailing similar yachts and equipment to what was available to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the winner of the original race in 1968–69. That means sailing without the use of modern technology such as satellite-based navigation aids.[9] Safety equipment such as EPIRBs and AIS were carried, however the competitors were only allowed to use the technology in an emergency.[10]
Competitors could apply to have their class of boat approved, providing it complied with the following rules:[10]
Constructed of fibre reinforced plastic.
Designed prior to 1988, with a minimum series of 20 yachts built from one mould.
Has a hull length of between 32 and 36 feet (9.8 and 11.0 m). Bowsprits, wind vanes and outboard rudders, boomkins, pushpits and pulpits are not measured.
Has a full-length keel with rudders attached to the trailing edge.
A minimum design displacement of 6,200 kilograms (13,700 lb)
Route
The race started on 4 September 2022 in Les Sables-d'Olonne and leads around the world eastward, leaving Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port. There were four "film gates" along the route - Lanzarote, Cape Town, Hobart and Punta del Este - where the skippers could be interviewed as they sail past without stopping and where they passed over films and letters.[4]
The race started on 4 September 2022, with the competitors passing a rolling gate between the yachts Galiana and L’Esprit d’Equipe. The official starter was Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the winner of the original Golden Globe Race.[15] The race concluded on 15 June 2023 with the last competitor, Jeremy Bagshaw, arriving back at Les Sables d’Olonne.[16]
