KIRSTEN NEUSCHÄFER WINS

the Golden Globe crown and makes history

- Heather Prentice 

South African sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer has taken first place in the 2022 Golden Globe Race, and has become the first woman to win a solo, round the world yacht race, writes Katy Stickland.

The 39-year-old ghosted across the finish line in near calms just after 2100 CEST on 27 April 2023; she had spent 235 days at sea aboard her Cape George 36 cutter, Minnehaha, sailing without the benefit of modern equipment, like GPS and chartplotters. Thousands of people turned out to welcome her, either in small boats or lining Les Sables d’Olonne’s famous pier. Among them were fellow entrants Ian HerbertJones, who had just arrived from Cape Town, having been rescued from his dismasted boat just weeks before, and French sailor Damien Guillou, whose race ended after windvane steering failure on approach to Cape Town. 1997 Vendée Globe veteran Catherine Chabaud, the first female sailor to race solo non-stop around the world without assistance, and the winner of the 2018 Golden Globe Race, JeanLuc van den Heede, were also there to greet Neuschäfer as she stepped off her boat after eight months at sea.

During her circumnavigation, Neuschäfer battled with herself as well as the conditions; she had always made it clear that she wanted to win the race, sparing no expense in choosing and refitting the boat; as a result, she had little equipment failure. ‘When we were working really hard