9 months alone at sea — how these sailors prepped for the race of a lifetime
A new documentary follows participants in the Golden Globe, a solo non-stop round-the-world sailing race
Imagine spending eight or nine months alone at sea: no GPS, no iPhone — just you, your boat and the endless ocean. For sailors in the Golden Globe Race, this isn't a daydream inspired by endless work meetings — it's a reality they willingly embrace.
The Loneliest Race, a new documentary from The Passionate Eye, follows participants in the 2022 edition of the Golden Globe, a solo non-stop round-the-world sailing race. The event's roots go back to 1968, when British skipper Robin Knox-Johnston became the first to sail non-stop around the world single-handedly.
The current Golden Globe Race was resurrected in 2018 out of a desire to show the world the adventure and purity of sailing without today's modern technology. It's considered a "retro" race: with a few exceptions for safety, sailors can only use the same, or similar, equipment and technology that was available to Knox-Johnston in 1968. They compete in simple, strong boats using paper charts and a sextant (what one skipper calls a "glorified protractor") to keep themselves on course.
Participants spend years readying themselves and their boats for an unimaginable challenge, squeezing everything they need to survive for up to nine months into a space about the size of a one-car garage.
'Bucket and chuck it'
Packing food for that length of time isn't as simple as throwing some sandwiches and carrot sticks in a cooler — every calorie (and inch of space) counts. Sailors rely on canned food and dehydrated meals, along with staples like rice, pasta, cereals and powdered milk. For a bit of indulgence, American sailor Guy deBoer packed 200 cigars and a few bottles of rum and sambuca.
Despite being surrounded by water, sailors also need to plan how they'll have enough fresh water for drinking and cooking. DeBoer started his race with two massive stainless steel tanks — almost 200 litres each — but as it is depleted, he said, "the only way I can recover it is with rainwater."
Then, there's the toilet — many sailboats come equipped with one. But if skippers want to lighten their load, they can opt for what British sailor Ian Herbert-Jones calls the "bucket and chuck it" method.
Participants also need to pack medical supplies like bandages, painkillers and antibiotics, so they can treat themselves if the need arises.
Missing 'one little bearing' can mean the end
Skippers in the Golden Globe Race must sail a boat that was designed before 1988. They carefully select their vessel and refit, repair and customize it (within the rules) to handle months at sea, with a focus on durability.
While they can't plan for every possible equipment failure — not having "one little bearing on the wind vane" ended one sailor's race, as Golden Globe founder Don McIntyre put it — participants pack as many spare parts as they can. Self-reliance is key. At any point, they might need to patch up their boat's hull or replace a sail in the middle of a storm.
Sailors also need to prepare for the worst, like getting lost or hurt. "Just making sure we have all of our emergency communications and lights and whistles and flotations and a life raft," said American sailor Elliott Smith.
'What sort of a mind'
For most of the months-long race, sailors' days are filled with checking the weather, navigating, making repairs, eating or sleeping. Mental and physical exhaustion is a significant challenge. To stay alert, Herbert-Jones's approach is to sleep for about 20 minutes at a time and hope all those catnaps add up to six to eight hours over 24 hours. "So you literally get up, get out of your sleeping bag, come on deck, check the horizon, check the sails, check the course, check the boat's doing what she should be doing," he said. "All safe, you go back down."
When participants have spare pockets of time, they might fish or listen to music on cassette tapes (remember Spotify or iPods did not exist in 1968). Smith brought along a harmonica and a guitar, and South Africa's Kirsten Neuschäfer, the only female competitor in the 2022 race, would occasionally write letters.
Skippers have weekly check-ins with race organizers and might occasionally speak with loved ones or the outside world when long-range radio allows, but otherwise face months alone with their thoughts. To prepare for long stretches of isolation, they use coping strategies like meditation and try to enter into a "state of mind where time is immaterial," as British sailor Simon Curwen described it.
Some tapped into their spirituality, while others made friends with the birds that landed on their boats. "The question is not what sort of a person can do this," said Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy, "but what sort of a mind is able to do this."
Each sailor in the Golden Globe has their own reasons for signing up for the race, whether it's an outsized love of adventure or a desire to test themselves. Ireland's Pat Lawless smiled broadly as he talked about the sheer folly of attempting it. "I only have so many years left in my life, and to spend four preparing [for] and doing this race, like, it's kind of daft," he said. "It's madness."
Where to watch The Loneliest Race
Watch now on CBC Gem and the CBC Docs YouTube channel.
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