Boats racing · day 17
202616 of 16still racing
202214 of 16still racing
201815 of 17still racing
Leader · miles made good
20262,252Damien · 8.5% of its course
20221,768Simon Curwen · 6.8% of its course
20182,134Philippe Péché · 8.5% of its course
Middle of the fleet
20261,791nm made good
20221,507nm made good
20181,873nm made good
Best 24-hour run to day 17
2026180Henry · 17 Sep
2022173Kirsten Neuschäfer · 14 Sep
2018179Jean-Luc Van Den Heede · 17 Jul
The race so far
nm made good, each fleet on its own course, days 1 to 30
202620222018leadermiddle of the fleet (dashed)
The whole race
from the start to the first boat home
On day 17 Damien is 484 nm ahead of where 2022’s leader was, and 118 nm ahead of 2018’s. The middle of this fleet is 284 nm ahead of 2022’s and 82 nm behind 2018’s.
The wind they had
mean model wind at the boats, by race day
202620222018
And where it came from
share of legs, days 1 to 17
2026
2022
2018
on the noseacrossfrom behind
The wind and the runs
days 1 to 17
| Fleet | Mean wind | Legs | Fleet’s mean 24-hour run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12.7 kt | 1,427 | 118 nm |
| 2022 | 12.7 kt | 1,456 | 108 nm |
| 2018 | 12.5 kt | 1,546 | 117 nm |
Through day 17 the model wind at the boats has averaged about 13 kt this year, 2022 about the same (about 13 kt) and 2018 about the same (about 12 kt). What differed is where it came from: a quarter of 2022’s legs were upwind, against one in nine of this year’s.
The road taken
every boat that reported on day 17 of its own race · point at a boat, or tap it
202620222018
Philippe Péché · 2018
PRB · Rustler 36
15°32.2′N 019°47.9′W
1st of 15 on day 17 · 2,134 nm made good
123 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede · 2018
Matmut · Rustler 36
15°52.6′N 020°45.1′W
2nd of 15 on day 17 · 2,108 nm made good
140 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Mark Slats · 2018
Ohpen Maverick · Rustler 36
16°05.2′N 022°12.1′W
3rd of 15 on day 17 · 2,081 nm made good
150 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Are Wiig · 2018
Olleanna · OE 32
18°10.8′N 021°19.6′W
4th of 15 on day 17 · 1,967 nm made good
142 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Susie Goodall · 2018
DHL Starlight · Rustler 36
19°01.5′N 020°35.8′W
5th of 15 on day 17 · 1,921 nm made good
146 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Gregor McGuckin · 2018
Hanley Energy Endurance · Biscay 36 ketch
19°20.9′N 020°44.1′W
6th of 15 on day 17 · 1,901 nm made good
148 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Tapio Lehtinen · 2018
Asteria · Gaia 36
19°34.8′N 020°33.8′W
7th of 15 on day 17 · 1,888 nm made good
155 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Igor Zaretskiy · 2018
Esmeralda · Endurance 35
19°54.6′N 018°51.5′W
8th of 15 on day 17 · 1,873 nm made good
131 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Uku Randmaa · 2018
One and All · Rustler 36
19°55.3′N 020°10.6′W
9th of 15 on day 17 · 1,870 nm made good
152 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Abhilash Tomy · 2018
Thuriya · Suhaili replica
20°56.7′N 021°18.2′W
10th of 15 on day 17 · 1,803 nm made good
162 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Loïc Lepage · 2018
Laaland · Nicholson 32
21°45.0′N 020°24.9′W
11th of 15 on day 17 · 1,759 nm made good
149 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Mark Sinclair · 2018
Coconut · Lello 34
22°59.0′N 018°27.3′W
12th of 15 on day 17 · 1,688 nm made good
130 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Istvan Kopar · 2018
Puffin · Tradewind 35
24°14.7′N 017°25.7′W
13th of 15 on day 17 · 1,610 nm made good
130 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Nabil Amra · 2018
Liberty II · Biscay 36 ketch
28°00.4′N 016°39.6′W
14th of 15 on day 17 · 1,381 nm made good
56 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Antoine Cousot · 2018
Métier Intérim · Biscay 36 ketch
28°12.1′N 013°48.4′W
15th of 15 on day 17 · 1,348 nm made good
39 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Simon Curwen · 2022
Clara · Biscay 36
22°16.7′N 019°53.9′W
1st of 14 on day 17 · 1,768 nm made good
152 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Tapio Lehtinen · 2022
Asteria · Gaia 36
23°49.6′N 018°09.1′W
2nd of 14 on day 17 · 1,654 nm made good
140 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Pat Lawless · 2022
Green Rebel · Saltram Saga 36
23°59.0′N 016°59.7′W
3rd of 14 on day 17 · 1,628 nm made good
134 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Abhilash Tomy · 2022
Bayanat · Rustler 36
24°44.3′N 017°46.6′W
4th of 14 on day 17 · 1,596 nm made good
150 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Kirsten Neuschäfer · 2022
Minnehaha · Cape George 36
25°44.6′N 016°53.3′W
5th of 14 on day 17 · 1,525 nm made good
115 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Jeremy Bagshaw · 2022
Olleanna · OE 32
25°35.8′N 015°39.3′W
6th of 14 on day 17 · 1,515 nm made good
129 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Ertan Beskardes · 2022
Lazy Otter · Rustler 36
25°38.7′N 015°34.7′W
7th of 14 on day 17 · 1,511 nm made good
116 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Guy Waites · 2022
Sagarmatha · Tradewind 35
25°48.9′N 015°42.5′W
8th of 14 on day 17 · 1,503 nm made good
118 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Michael Guggenberger · 2022
Nuri · Biscay 36 ketch
26°02.1′N 016°00.9′W
9th of 14 on day 17 · 1,495 nm made good
129 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Elliott Smith · 2022
Second Wind · Gale Force 34
28°06.6′N 013°54.0′W
10th of 14 on day 17 · 1,342 nm made good
46 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Ian Herbert-Jones · 2022
Puffin · Tradewind 35
28°44.3′N 014°13.8′W
11th of 14 on day 17 · 1,312 nm made good
92 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Damien Guillou · 2022
PRB · Rustler 36
31°22.4′N 014°23.9′W
12th of 14 on day 17 · 1,125 nm made good
50 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Mark Sinclair · 2022
Coconut · Lello 34
31°38.9′N 013°22.2′W
13th of 14 on day 17 · 1,111 nm made good
41 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Arnaud Gaist · 2022
Hermes Phoning · Barbican 33 Mk II
33°45.9′N 012°40.5′W
14th of 14 on day 17 · 980 nm made good
19 nm in the 24 hours to the report
Damien · 2026
Solarem · Rustler 36
14°10.3′N 021°44.9′W
1st of 15 on day 17 · 2,252 nm made good
166 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Pat · 2026
Silvermines Hydro · Saltram Saga 36
16°25.9′N 021°35.8′W
2nd of 15 on day 17 · 2,117 nm made good
156 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Andrea · 2026
BiBi · Rustler 36
19°49.7′N 020°14.9′W
3rd of 15 on day 17 · 1,902 nm made good
no 24-hour run: a report is missing inside the window
the skipper’s page →Etienne · 2026
Bernard · Tradewind 35
19°38.6′N 019°17.9′W
4th of 15 on day 17 · 1,900 nm made good
162 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Ertan · 2026
Miss Beagle · Rustler 36
19°59.0′N 018°29.1′W
5th of 15 on day 17 · 1,868 nm made good
145 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Daniel · 2026
Exodus · Baba 35
20°36.5′N 020°33.2′W
6th of 15 on day 17 · 1,860 nm made good
no 24-hour run: a report is missing inside the window
the skipper’s page →Guido · 2026
Hannah of Cowes · Vancouver 34 Classic
20°19.3′N 018°51.9′W
7th of 15 on day 17 · 1,854 nm made good
152 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Louis · 2026
IE Charge · Biscay 36 ketch
21°11.7′N 017°59.2′W
8th of 15 on day 17 · 1,791 nm made good
131 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Mara · 2026
Showgirl · Saltram Saga 36
22°01.6′N 020°21.6′W
9th of 15 on day 17 · 1,774 nm made good
145 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Isa · 2026
Olleanna · OE 32
22°03.7′N 019°07.7′W
10th of 15 on day 17 · 1,757 nm made good
145 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Henry · 2026
Privateer · Cape George 36
22°20.3′N 019°16.1′W
11th of 15 on day 17 · 1,742 nm made good
no 24-hour run: a report is missing inside the window
the skipper’s page →Gunnar · 2026
Pompoen · Hans Christian 34
22°58.1′N 017°44.2′W
12th of 15 on day 17 · 1,684 nm made good
135 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Pär · 2026
Lazy Otter · Rustler 36
28°37.6′N 014°31.4′W
13th of 15 on day 17 · 1,309 nm made good
100 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Guy · 2026
Spirit · Tashiba 36
28°51.5′N 013°49.0′W
14th of 15 on day 17 · 1,284 nm made good
0 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Selim · 2026
Help Disabled Children · Endurance 35
36°34.8′N 006°15.4′W
15th of 15 on day 17 · 675 nm made good
65 nm in the 24 hours to the report
the skipper’s page →Three fleets on the same day
race day 17
| Fleet | Boats with a fix | Middle of the fleet is at | Span of latitude, north to south |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15 | 21°11.7′N | 1,345 nm |
| 2022 | 14 | 25°46.7′N | 689 nm |
| 2018 | 15 | 19°54.6′N | 760 nm |
On day 17 the middle of this year’s fleet is 7.8° south of Lanzarote, 2022’s 3.2° south of Lanzarote and 2018’s 9.1° south of Lanzarote. This year’s fleet is the longest from north to south: 1,345 nm from the northernmost boat to the southernmost.
Latitude alone does not say who is winning: a boat further south can be further from the finish. The miles are in the charts above.
North to south
the two ends of each fleet on day 17
| Fleet | Northernmost boat | at | Southernmost boat | at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Selim | 36°34.8′N | Damien | 14°10.3′N |
| 2022 | Arnaud Gaist | 33°45.9′N | Simon Curwen | 22°16.7′N |
| 2018 | Antoine Cousot | 28°12.1′N | Philippe Péché | 15°32.2′N |
Second attempts
each skipper against that skipper’s own earlier race, days 1 to 30 · ✕ where the earlier race ended
Damien+1127 nm on 2022
day 17 of 2022: 1,125 · this year: 2,252
2022 · retired at Cape Town, day 71.
Pat+489 nm on 2022
day 17 of 2022: 1,628 · this year: 2,117
2022 · retired at Cape Town, day 67.
Ertan+357 nm on 2022
day 17 of 2022: 1,511 · day 17 of 2018: — · this year: 1,868
2022 · retired at Cape Town, day 73.
2018 · retired at A Coruña, day 5. Past that point.
Guy
day 17 of 2022: — · this year: 1,284
2022 · aground at the north coast of Fuerteventura, day 14. About 10 nm to go to where that race ended.
Behind the lines
Damien turned back to Les Sables-d’Olonne in 2022 with the self-steering broken and started again days after the fleet, which is why that line begins so flat; the same gear ended the race at Cape Town. Pat’s 2022 ended at Cape Town as well. Ertan has given up twice, at A Coruña in 2018 and at Cape Town in 2022, both by choice, and is starting again. Guy’s 2022 ended early, aground on Fuerteventura.
A line that stops is a race that stopped. Where a skipper sailed on in the Chichester class after a stop, the line goes on with the race.
Hulls that have been here before
nm made good on day 17
| Hull | Then | nm | Now | nm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Beagle Rustler 36 | 2018 Jean-Luc Van Den Heede as Matmut · won the race | 2,108 | 2026 Ertan | 1,868 |
| IE Charge Biscay 36 ketch | 2022 Michael Guggenberger as Nuri · third | 1,495 | 2026 Louis | 1,791 |
| IE Charge Biscay 36 ketch | 2018 Antoine Cousot as Métier Intérim · retired, bound for Rio de Janeiro | 1,348 | 2026 Louis | 1,791 |
| Silvermines Hydro Saltram Saga 36 | 2022 Pat Lawless as Green Rebel · retired at Cape Town | 1,628 | 2026 Pat | 2,117 |
| Solarem Rustler 36 | 2022 Damien Guillou as PRB · retired at Cape Town | 1,125 | 2026 Damien | 2,252 |
| Spirit Tashiba 36 | 2022 Guy deBoer aground at Fuerteventura | — | 2026 Guy | 1,284 |
| Olleanna OE 32 | 2022 Jeremy Bagshaw finished, Chichester class | 1,515 | 2026 Isa | 1,757 |
| Olleanna OE 32 | 2018 Are Wiig dismasted | 1,967 | 2026 Isa | 1,757 |
| Lazy Otter Rustler 36 | 2022 Ertan Beskardes retired at Cape Town | 1,511 | 2026 Pär | 1,309 |
| Lazy Otter Rustler 36 | 2018 Ertan Beskardes retired at A Coruña | — | 2026 Pär | 1,309 |
A hull is the same boat, not the same race: rigs, sails and gear change between owners.
Milestones
the race day of the first boat, its date, and the day half the starters were past
| Milestone | 2026 · started 06 Sep | 2022 · started 04 Sep | 2018 · started 01 Jul | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First boat | Half the fleet past | Boats past | First boat | Half the fleet past | Boats past | First boat | Half the fleet past | Boats past | |
| Lanzarote | day 10 · 16 Sep Damien | day 12 | 15 of 16 | day 12 · 16 Sep Simon Curwen | day 14 | 15 of 16 | — | — | — |
| Equator | — | — | — | day 31 · 05 Oct Simon Curwen | day 36 | 13 of 16 | day 26 · 27 Jul Mark Slats | day 32 | 14 of 17 |
| Cape of Good Hope | — | — | — | day 64 · 07 Nov Simon Curwen | day 78 | 10 of 16 | day 53 · 23 Aug Jean-Luc Van Den Heede | day 73 | 11 of 17 |
| Hobart | — | — | — | day 110 · 23 Dec Simon Curwen | fewer than half | 7 of 16 | day 96 · 05 Oct Jean-Luc Van Den Heede | fewer than half | 6 of 17 |
| Cape Horn | — | — | — | day 164 · 15 Feb Kirsten Neuschäfer | fewer than half | 6 of 16 | day 145 · 23 Nov Jean-Luc Van Den Heede | fewer than half | 5 of 17 |
| Finish | — | — | — | day 235 · 27 Apr Simon Curwen · Kirsten Neuschäfer won | fewer than half | 5 of 16 | day 212 · 29 Jan Jean-Luc Van Den Heede | fewer than half | 5 of 17 |
Lanzarote and Hobart are each race’s own timing through its gate, from YB’s record: 2018 has none at Lanzarote, although the race had the gate. The equator, the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn are crossings of a line on the chart, and mean the same thing in every fleet. “Half the fleet past” is the day the boat that makes half the starters through passed the mark, so two fleets of different size are measured alike; it is blank until half of them are past, and it is not the “middle of the fleet” of the tiles and the charts, which is the median of the boats still racing that day.
The fleet’s average 24-hour run
nm sailed, days 2 to 30
202620222018
Over the whole race
mean of seven points
A day counts only the boats that were moving and had all six legs, and a fleet mean of fewer than three runs is not drawn at all. What changes from race to race is how many of the days are bad ones.
How this is measured
Every fleet keeps YB Tracking’s own distance to finish, and miles made good are that race’s own course length less that distance — each fleet on the course it sailed, compared race day for race day. Nothing is laid on another year’s line. Early in a race the three fleets sail the same water, so their miles can be set side by side; once the courses part, after the equator, the share of each race’s own course is the fairer reading.
A race day is the same day of each race, counted from that race’s own gun. A boat counts as racing until the day its race ended, as the race itself recorded it: where a tracker went on transmitting from a harbour or an abandoned hull, the recorded end wins over the track.
A day’s figures come from the 00:00 UTC report, using each boat’s fix within twenty minutes of it. A 24-hour run is the miles sailed over the six 4-hour legs to that report. The wind is model wind at the end of each leg, and the point of sail is the course the boat made good over those four hours, never its heading.
Read with care
The three fleets sailed three courses: 26,599 nm this year (25,755 until 22 Sep, when YB redrew its line from Trindade on), 26,003 in 2022 and 25,100 in 2018. 2018 did not round Trindade, and only 2022 had gates at Cape Town and Punta del Este. Trindade takes the fleet round the South Atlantic high and sets the angle for the Cape of Good Hope; it is a routing mark, not a different race. So the day is the comparison, and the miles are each race’s own.
All three races had a gate at Lanzarote, but YB’s record of 2018 holds no timing there, so 2018’s Lanzarote milestone is blank rather than guessed. The starts were at 10:00 UTC in 2018, 14:00 in 2022 and 12:30 this year, so the same race day is up to four hours longer or shorter.
2018 has 17 starters here, not the eighteen boats that entered: Francesco Cappelletti never crossed the start line. Only one boat of the sixteen still racing has a 24-hour run on 2018’s race day nine, when the fleet’s reporting rhythm changed through a six-hour silence: from the fourth to the ninth of July 2018 the fleet reported every three hours. In a past race a missing four-hour slot is filled only where a tracker was reporting more often than the 4-hour grid, between two reports at most three hours and twenty minutes apart — never this year.
YB’s record carries no distance to finish for the last month of Mark Slats’s 2018 race, so the miles made good and the place are blank on those days, although the positions and the 24-hour runs are real; the 2018 leader and middle of the fleet are then of the boats that have a distance.
The middle of the fleet is of the boats still racing that day, so it climbs as boats retire: late in a race it describes the survivors. A boat that is not moving — a 4-hour leg slower than 0.2 kt — is left out of the fleet’s mean run and the day’s best run for as long as it lies there; a record already set stands.
The wind is model wind, never measured on board: Open-Meteo’s archive of the ECMWF model for 2018 and 2022, and the model wind this site stores for this year. 17 days of weather are shared by a whole fleet, so read a knot between years as nothing.