Indian Ocean Roulette

If the Pacific was a test of endurance, the Indian Ocean is a masterclass in controlled chaos. The McIntyre MGR fleet is 7000miles from Fiji and deep in the throes of Leg 3’s 10,000 mile marathon to Cape Town. The past few weeks have served up a potent cocktail of tropical paradise and sheer, unadulterated maritime punishment. From the windy anchorage of Cocos (Keeling) to the “rock n’ roll” of the open ocean, our tenacious skippers are earning their stripes one wild mile at a time. In the process they are re-writing the rules of solo racing around the world and making history.

COCOS CHAPTER: End stage 2 – PARADISE, INTERRUPTED

The entire fleet of eleven ALMA Globe 580s eventually congregated in the stunning, if blustery, lagoon of Cocos (Keeling) Atoll. Each arrival was a drama in itself.

The indomitable Renaud Stitelmann (#28 Capucinette / CH) led the charge, punching through 30+ knots and a chaotic sea state on September 6th to secure another stage win. His reward? Immediately becoming the fleet’s guardian angel.

Hot on his heels was Dan Turner (#05 Immortal Game / AUS ), who provided the stopover’s most cinematic moment. After a heroic entry, a gust caught his mainsail during anchor drop, swinging the boat and wrapping the anchor warp tightly around the keel. Stuck and helpless, Dan was rescued by Renaud, who let out his own chain to drift over and literally drag IMMORTAL GAME to safety. Rum was consumed. Legends were born.

Keri Harris (#47 Origami / UK ) sailed in with his signature technical precision but arrived with a heavy heart. News of his mother’s illness had dimmed his competitive fire, leading to a reflective passage. He spent time contemplating a children’s book about Matthew Flinders and his cat, Trim, proving that even in a race, the soul needs nourishment.

Further back, the arrivals were a cascade of adventure. Jakub Ziemkiewicz (#185 Bibi / IE ) managed the impressive feat of spearing an entire tree – a floating ecosystem of branches and plastic – on his keel. After some ingenious heaving-to using a bucket as a drogue, he freed his boat, only to discover a torn jib that required a five-hour sewing session. The man is a one-man sail loft!

Jasmine Harrison (#88 Numbatou / UK ) endured a brutal final 24 hours, battling squalls and dead calm to make a nerve-wracking, pre-dawn entrance. Soaked and exhausted, she rafted up to Jakub for a 3 am pancake summit. Adam Waugh (#170 Little Wren / UK ) sailed in under twin jibs, the picture of Guzzwell-inspired tradition, while Eric Marsh (#79 Sunbear / AUS ) fought a biblical downpour and 35-knot gusts just miles from the finish.

Ertan Beskardes (#01 Trekka / UK ) became the atoll’s resident merman, swimming multiple times a day in the sharky, aquamarine waters, and Josh Kali (#157 Skookum / US) brought up the rear, dealing with a second broken spreader and a demanding sail-only beat into the anchorage.

The stopover was a blur of beach barbecues, failed provisioning runs (yielding mysterious tinned buffalo meat!), and for Jasmine, a burst of creativity as she finger-painted a commemorative MGR sign, gleefully abbreviating boat names like a seasoned graffiti artist (PUNK, SKOOK, WREN… you get the idea).

STAGE 3: INTO THE GRINDER

On September 18th, the exodus began. The 2,000-mile leg to Rodrigues Island started with a bang—or more accurately, a series of crashes. A large, confused cross-sea, relentless squalls, and winds gusting to 35 knots welcomed the fleet back to the deep.

The Sharp End: Damp, Mouldy, and Unbowed

Renaud continues to set a blistering pace. While his track on the YB tracker looks deceptively straight, he confesses it requires “permanent work” – a constant, exhausting dance with the sheets to counter shifting winds.

CAPUCINETTE, like all the ALMA Globe 580 yachts are in good shape considering they have already traveled 17,000 miles in the past nine months, though Renaud has a major problem with condensation and mold. “With all the rain we have had, all the wind, and waves from everywhere, you cannot open the hatch. And a lot of the time, you are on the side, I don’t know how far. I don’t know how close the mast is to the water or whatever, but it’s very far. Then you have to close the air vent, because if you don’t, you have a shower in the boat. There is condensation everywhere. CAPUCINETTE is fast, but is developing a serious ecosystem of its own. With humidity at 92% and hatches sealed against waves, he joked about harvesting mushrooms for a salad. “This is the hardest passage so far,” he admitted.

Dan, holding a strong second, has endured a “comedy of errors.” amongst his knockdowns. His world has been a sequence of being becalmed, then slammed by 30-knot headwinds, being assaulted by vengeful flying fish, and witnessing a container of couscous explode below decks like a culinary grenade. A rogue wave through an open hatch then drenched his last dry bunk. “I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed this passage much,” he understated, dreaming of a restaurant meal in Rodrigues.

Keri (ORIGAMI), who immediately dove south, has been battling the same chaotic seas. He’s spent days sheltering below, letting his trusty Aries windvane handle the “brave stuff” outside. His biggest battle is mental; with his audiobook gear lost in the mail, he’s alone with his thoughts. “You think, ‘I am going crazy here,'” he confessed, voicing the silent struggle of every solo sailor.

Pilar Pasanau (#98 Peter Punk / ES) works hard to hold the three boys up front and while holding station in 4th place in Quote ” a lot of wind and a lot of waves!” She struggles to close the gap even sailing 145mile days. Her knockdown bounced her off a cleat with a serious bruise making sleep difficult. Holding the lead group of four is all about waiting for one of the other three to make a mistake.The winner is in this group!

The Determined Middle: Grit and Good Humor

Adam (LITTLE WREN) is the fleet’s stalwart. He’s cooking diligently with his questionable Cocos provisions (that buffalo curry remains a topic of intrigue) and has brilliantly shaved his head, adopting a startling new look for the Southern Hemisphere. He rarely had steers and reports his 580 in Top condition and his South Atlantic windvane doing OK. In fantastic news, his fundraising for the Ella Dawson Foundation has smashed through £50,000! He’s now running a fun competition to guess the total length of rope on his boat anyone can join online..

Jakub (BIBI) is, surprisingly, in his element. “I like to roll to one side instead of one-two, left -right !” he quipped, reveling in the fast beam reaches. He’s sailing smartly south for better weather but feels the cold and has already broken out his beanie and sleeping bag as the air grows cooler. He keeps his AIS, Echomax and VHF radio on all the time. However, he was shocked to find a ship creeping up on him one day, with a close CPA, despite the alarm not sounding, or getting a radio call. Upon investigation, he realised that he’d switched his AIS alarm off when approaching Cocos, due to the number of signals from boats in the anchorage, and forgot to reset it. Ditto the VHF – it was still set to Channel 20, the working frequency of Cocos Keeling. For Jakub, life aboard BIBI has become his new normal , worried about life AFTER the MGR?

Christian (ARGO) is having a “bumpy” ride, so much so that he’s considering using his mountain biking helmet and chest harness inside the boat to avoid injury while sleeping. Now that’s what we call proactive safety! Little Boat- Huge Adventure says the t-shirt??

The Resilient Rear: Unconventional Strategies

Jasmine (NUMBATOU) is exhausted but tough as nails and happy with her speed.. She’s heading to bed at 6:30 pm and is regularly woken when her boat rounds up violently in the beam seas, sending her “flying to the other side of the boat.” She’s managing power by shutting off her AIS and is desperately looking forward to eating food from a plate in Rodriguez Island , not a pan. Nearly there, just 1000 miles to go!

Ertan (TREKKA) has perfected the art of cruising in a race. With 25 knots and 4m seas, he’s rolled up his jib and is sailing under a triple-reefed main, making a serene 4 knots. “I’ve not been out on deck at all for the last two days,” he reported from his cabin cot, happily bingeing downloaded movies. He’s sleeping 10-12 hours a day. Is he racing? or on a very wet, very bouncy retreat? The world may never know. “I could roll out more Jib, but then I would get wetter and have to go out?”

Josh (SKOOKUM), our unflappable mountaineer turned sailor, is in his absolute element. Generally dry , he did finally take a wave down below. He’s hand-steering for fun and leaves the rest to his South Atlantic wind vane and has devised the fleet’s most secure sleeping system: he wears his climbing harness in his bunk, clipped to the hull. “It’s like sleeping on a mountain ledge,” he explained. For him, it’s just another day at the office.

Eric (SUNBEAR) is enduring a violent motion that forces him to sleep on the cabin floor, wedged between the settees against a bucket, not for throwing up in, but just to stop the constant rolling.

A NOD TO THE GHOST OF TIME.

This leg invites comparison to the late, great John Guzzwell, Patron of the McIntyre Mini Globe Race, who sailed this route in 1958 on his self built 21ft timber TREKKA while he sailed solo around the world. He wrote at the time of “perfect, day after glorious day.” of tradewind sailing. The 2025 MGR fleet is seeing a different, feistier Indian Ocean. Yet, in a testament to both boat and sailor, they are eclipsing his speeds. Renaud clocked a staggering 975 miles in one week. Pilar and others made 145 mile days. They aren’t just matching a ghost; they’re forging a new legend in salt spray and courage.

As the fleet pushes on towards Rodrigues, the game is far from over. The Indian Ocean has them in its grip, but this bunch has resilience in spades. The difficulties and emotional challenges hidden in social media are starting to show. The most serious sailing of the entire race in the Southern Ocean, is just weeks away. That’s scary for any sailor. They will need more than a warm blanket to help them through, but Xmas in Cape Town is just 3000 miles away! (That’s just another MINI TRANSAT!) Stay tuned for landfall, repairs, and the inevitable re-shuffling of the pack. You are watching 11 remarkable humans make history in a competitive one design solo race around the world. That sounds CRAZY but it’s TRUE!!!