Globe 40 race

r_h

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 Jun 2006
Messages
674
Location
West coast France, Solent + E. Med
www.rupertholmes.co.uk
Anyone following this double handed race round the world in Class 40s?

I'm competing on Jangada 40. We left Sydney on Jan 1 for the start of Leg 4 and have just passed south of New Zealand at 48.5 degrees south.

After a week at sea and 1400 miles, the two Scow bow boats are only 200 meters apart and four of the older sharp bow boats are all within 20 miles of each other.

Here's a piece I wrote for Yachting World while in Sydney: What it’s like racing double-handed around the world in a 40-footer - Yachting World
 
Rupert - yes, have been following you all since the start!
It's a long race in a boat as brutally stripped out as a Class40! Is Janganda (a Verdier 40 from 2017?) any more comfortable than the latest boats?
Anyway, good luck - will be watching you!
 
Rupert - yes, have been following you all since the start!
It's a long race in a boat as brutally stripped out as a Class40! Is Janganda (a Verdier 40 from 2017?) any more comfortable than the latest boats?
Anyway, good luck - will be watching you!
Thanks Ed!
Yes, she's a 2017 Verdier - the same design in which Yannick Bestevan won the 2015 Tranast Jacques Vabre.
The newer Scows have an even more violent motion, but we are just as stripped out as they are. One advantage we share with the scows that the other older sharp bow boats lack is a decent cuddy with a couple of seats at the front of the cockpit - it makes a huge difference.
 
Rupert enjoys Jangada’s cuddy:

G40 RH.jpg

G40 Jangada NZ.png

Three way fleet split: Two scows duel out front (Credit Mutuel & Belgian Ocean). Four way fight between the sharps (Jangada, Whiskey Jack, Barco & Wilson).

Screenshot 2026-01-08 095232.png

Free Dom (sharp) in Sydney, repairing UFO damage.

G40 Free dom.jpg

Richard reports “champagne sailing,” aboard Jangada. With rivals to all sides. Facebook vid.
 
Last edited:
From the Jangada Racing FB page​

G40 9.1.26.png

Here pictured leaving Sydney

G40 Jangada 2.jpg

Where the scow Mutuel Credit made a full crew change for the Big South: British Vendee Globe aspirant Alan Roberts (co skipper to Clarisse's L'Occitane / Alex Thomson Racing VG campaign in 2024 &, until sponsorship was terminated, on the Holcim / Rosalin Kuiper VG 2028 team).........

G40 credit alan roberts.webp

G40 credit alan roberts quote.png

........pairs up with Antoine Carpentier, the 2021 Class40 champion

G40 credit carpentier pic.png
G40 credit Carpentier.png
 
Last edited:
459nm day for (scow) Belgian Ocean Racing. Putting her ahead of (scow) Credit Mutuel by 19nm

Yacht Racing, Tech and Design 613720830_1292284492935355_555991731239693953_n (1).jpg


Screenshot 2026-01-10 120635.png

EDIT Helen Fretter interviews designer Sam Manuard (aka M. Scow Bow) fresh from Class40 success in the 2021 Fastnet. A strong advocate for the power of the scow and the simplicity of the Class40.


 
Last edited:
I'm surprised that there are only 8 entries when the McIntyre plodfest gets three times as such and when the costs are split between two it probably doesn't cost that much more.
Given that you would have to be of an adventurous mind to buy a class 40 in the first place and it avoids the deep south so much less chance of dying/losing the boat.
 
Weather warning issued by Race Control (auto-translated from original French....)

G40 weather warning.png

Whilst on the subject of unwelcome news: UFO damage to Free Dom looking “compliqué,” now that she has been lifted in Sydney. Not 'just' a bent rudder stock (post #6 ) but structural hull damage too. Thibaut setting to, with resin, rollers & rovings.

G40 Free Dom UFO damage.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised that there are only 8 entries when the McIntyre plodfest gets three times as such and when the costs are split between two it probably doesn't cost that much more.
Given that you would have to be of an adventurous mind to buy a class 40 in the first place and it avoids the deep south so much less chance of dying/losing the boat.

Not sure on the costs aspect, but Globe40 routes around Cape Horn (56 South) v Mini Globe through the Panama canal. Big adventures both!

Screenshot 2026-01-10 165238.png
Screenshot 2026-01-10 165544.png
 
I was referring to his GGR thing that also goes round the horn.
My mistake. In that case, I share your surprise. Particularly given the strength of the Class40 fleet in the home of shorthanded ocean racing, Atlantic France. Fingers crossed that edition 3 of the Globe40 attracts more entries. Melodie, on Whiskey Jack, is back for her second ‘go.’….
 
Last edited:
Exactly, given where it starts and finishes, and you can change crew so nobody has to take 6 months off work there should be a waiting list.
 
Top