Stitelmann first to leave the Marquesas in Leg 2 of the Mini Globe Race

The first of the Mini Globe Race fleet sets off from the Marquesas after an 8 day pit-stop. In the first part of Leg 2, skippers faced their longest stretch. They report setbacks, squalls, taxing doldrums, and all the delightful absurdity of life at sea.

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In the latest from the Mini Globe Race, Renaud Stitelmann (Capucinette) is the first to set out from the Marquesas Islands. After completing his 8 day pitstop on Hiva On, he is cruising along at 6 knots.

He is trailed by Dan Turner (Immortal Game), Kerri Harris (Origami), Pilar Pasanau (Peter Punk), Ertan Beskardes (Trekka), Christian Sauer (Argo), Jakub Ziemkiewicz (Bibi) and  Dan Turk (Little Bea) . The rest of the fleet is soon to follow as they continue the 7,200 mile passage from Panama to Fiji.

Stitelmann was the first to anchor up off Hiva, 34 days after the fleet’s departure from Panama. He had been awake for 40 hours on arrival, having consistently logged 135-mile days over a fleet average of 95 per day. His masterful light-air sailing helped him come in ahead by a full 15 hours.

Dan Turner (Immortal Game) arrived the next day, hot on his tail. To follow: Keri Harris (Origami), Pilar Pasanau (Peter Punk), Dan Turk (Little Bea), Christian Sauer (Argo), Eric Marsh (Sunbear), Jakub Ziemikiewicz (Bibi), Adam Waugh (Little Wren), Ertan Beskardes (Trekka), Jasmine Harrison (Numbatou), who was welcomed by a special birthday celebration, cake and candles included, and  Joshua Kali (Skookum).

Two men smiling while sitting on a dinghy

First into Hiva Oa island, Tahuaku Bay Renaud Stitelmann greets Aussie Dan Turner, who arrived just 15 hours behind him after racing 4,300 miles. Credit: Frieda Fennell

Though fleet tail-ender Gary Swindial (Question 2) is making up lost ground, he has yet to arrive.

Also missing from the Marquesas waters is the Blenkinsop duo, Mike and John “Popeye”. The father and son team are now cruising their way through the Pacific, 3 weeks behind the leaders. They will meet the fleet again in Fiji.

At 7,200 miles, Leg 2 is the Mini Globe Race’s longest haul. From its first stretch of 4,700 miles, skippers sent back tales of camaraderie, practical ingenuity, and humorously deteriorating sanity.

They faced technical setbacks, barnacle infestations, inconsistent weather, and the infamous doldrums of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

Just hours after departure from Panama, Christian Sauer (Argo) backtracked 1.5 miles to tow Dan Turk (Little Bea) to safety after absent wind and a collapsed outboard battery left him stranded between two rocky islands.

“That’s the spirit of this race,” Turk commented. “We compete hard, but we look out for each other.”

The same supportive spirit prevailed across the Mini Globe Race fleet. Whether it’s checking in to make sure their race-mates are safely back on board after a dip or helping with spare gear, ‘The Mini Globe Race feels more like a family than a race,” says Dan Turner. He resolved a failure on Immortal Game thanks to a spare forestay from Jasmine Harrison (Numbatou).

A hand with wrinkled skin

Steering through torrential rain and thunder squalls for hours is reflected in Jakub Ziemkiewicz’s hands. Credit: Jakub Ziemkiewicz/MGR2025

On 1 April, Renaud Stitelmann (Capucinette) was the first to cross the equator, closely followed by Pilar Pasanau on Peter Punk.

Each skipper marked the occasion in their own way. On Bibi, Jakub Ziemkiewic held a ceremony. In attendance, his trusty stuffed-bear crew and a cormorant he dubbed “King Neptune”. Dan Turner (Immortal Game) celebrated with a (nearly) naked photo, while Josh Kali (Skookum) crossed wearing his pants on his head.

Even as the race’s leaders charged ahead, plenty of things had a chance to go sideways.

On 5 April, Christian Sauer (Argo) was forced to take an emergency stop in the Galapagos Islands to seek medical attention. Facing a mean skin infection and multiple failures, he commented, “the Pacific feels like it’s testing me personally”.

And he wasn’t the only one to face technical setbacks. Jakub Ziemkiewicz (Bibi) broke his Windpilot self-steering and had to rely on his electric autopilot. Jasmine Harrison was forced to cut Numbatou free of fishing line, regaining 2 knots in the process. Adam Waugh (Little Wren) secured a structural crack in his windvane with hose clamps, a Mad-Max style solution that has since allowed him to make good progress.

Water stored on a 19ft yacht for the Mini Globe Race

Pilar Pasanau has around 200 ltrs of water on board, which is heavy for a 19ft/5.8m yacht. Credit: Don McIntyre/MGR2025

Keri Harris (Origami) narrowly avoided capsizing while up the mast recovering a halyard. He was sailing at 3kts under full main.

With his jury-rigged spreaders shimmed with Antiguan and Panamanian coins, he pushed through to make up for a 12 hour late start caused by the infiltration of 600 litres of seawater in Origami‘s cabin.

Even after a broken boom vang and a Chinese gybe sent his Starlink system overboard, an undeterred Harris climbed his way back up in the race. He was the third to arrive in the Marquesas.

On Sunbear, an electrical fault left Eric Marsh without battery power. “I was navigating by sextant like it was Golden Globe 1968 again,” he says. Whatever the challenge may be, the Mini Globe Race’s solo skippers are never short on ingenuity!

They are testing the full limits of not only their patience, but also their resources on board. Dan Turner (Immortal Game) reports carefully rationing his water to last the 45 day passage. “When you’re sweating just sitting still, hydration is everything.’

A man sitting in a boat while taking part in the Mini Globe Race

Josh Kali is the sweep boat at the back of the fleet, but enjoying the ride in Skookum, loaded with water and 5 litre water bottles. Single use plastic is banned in the MGR, but 5 ltr Jugs are reusable. Credit: Don McIntyre/MGR2025

They keep just as close an eye on their batteries. Don McIntyre, Race Director and founder of the ALMA Globe 5.80, explains that adaptability and carefully managing their electrical “Ins & Outs” is “part of the game.”

As they came into the famously fickle Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the skippers reported a downturn in the fleet’s prevailing mood.

They contended with strong currents, faint winds, 40 degree days and long nights of lightning, thunder, and rain, and constant adjustments. Little Bea’s Dan Turk jokingly called the doldrums his “personal hell” after making five sail changes in four hours.

As mile tallies dropped from 120 to 20, patience started wearing thin.

Skippers woke to find themselves facing the wrong way, with some boats even drifting backwards.

There was so little wind that “whatever I do, it was pushing me back,” Jakob Ziemkiewicz commented in a video update. He called his cabin on Bibi a “tiny, sweltering box”, and described applying homemade garlic poultices to nasty deck rashes.

Absent and unstable winds forced skippers into interminable stretches of hand-steering.

Pilar Pasanuau guided Peter Punk for 36 hours through rapidly shifting weather. “I tied the tiller to my leg so I could doze off for minutes at a time,” she tells. “Now I have the tan lines of a striped hyena.”

Jasmine Harrison on her boat

Mini Globe Race skipper Jasmine Harrison has suffered from hallucinations due to sleep deprivation. Credit: Jasmine Harrison

Others faced growing sleep deprivation. From Numbatou, Jasmine Harrison reported, “You start hallucinating. I once had a full conversation with my Hydrovane before realising it wasn’t talking back.” Fed up with white booby birds altering her course, she resorted to chasing them off with “banshee screaming and a frying pan,” to much amusement.

Yet even deep in the doldrums, the fleet made the most of their navigation.

The skippers enjoyed gourmet meals, breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, dolphins glowing with bioluminescence, cooling swims with hundreds of colourful fish and even white-tipped sharks. They counted turtles, pilot whales, and seabirds as their company.

“Sometimes at night, with the boat surfing down waves, I feel completely connected to something greater. Then a squall hits and I’m back to swearing in German.” Whether the moment is one of poetry or frustration, it’s good to see the Mini Globe Race’s skippers never lose their sense of humour.

And with mini-Starlinks on-board, they’re more connected than ever.

Ertan Beskardes (Trekka) enjoyed podcasts and family calls, staying up to date on news and following business interests remotely.

Dan Turner (Immortal Game) keeps in touch with fans and sponsors, running live Q&A Sessions and even finding a moment for a remote date night with his wife. The Blenkinsop duo do regular radio checkins with tactical discussions and chat about cricket as they cruise along.

After completing their 8 day pit-stops, the 19ft plywood ALMA Globe 580 yachts will head through the Tuamotu Archipelago, known as the “Shipwreck Isles”.

From there, the Mini Globe Race fleet will sail another 500 miles to Papeete, Tahiti, for a seven day pitstop. Next up, the 1,500-mile crossing to Pangai, Tonga, followed by a last 500-mile push to Vuda Marina, Fiji, where the first arrivals are expected for late May/June.

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