Barry Pickthall – “The Golden Globe Race” – Oct 2021

Barry Pickthall, one of the organisers of the 2018 Golden Globe race, gave a very interesting and entertaining talk to begin our 2021-22 Winter Series.

The 2018 race marked the 50th anniversary of the original which was won by Robin Knox-Johnston. The rules were largely the same, with equipment matching what had been available for the first race. This meant no GPS, no electronic instruments or self-steering, and no digital cameras. Even i-pods were replaced by cassettes!

As expected, it was a tough race for the 18 entrants, with most not making it the full way round. Several boats were rolled, masts were lost, and it took a lot of determination and luck to reach the finish.

There are still spaces for the 2022 race, but I suspect there was nobody in the audience who was tempted to sign up…!

14th October 2021