It has been a month since the 18 intrepid adventures departed Les Sables d’Olonne, France, for the 2018 Golden Globe Race. A fraction of the 30,000 miles, non-stop, alone with no outside assistance journey is behind them but already the fleet is down to just thirteen.

The live tracker shows Peche just in front of fellow countryman Van Den Heede, but the tracker shows the path behind them, not their positioning to burst out of the doldrums and into the roaring forties. Without computer aided trajectories, who’s gamble will pay off.

With Istvan Kopar having a stressful time brought on by fatigue and hand steering due to wind vane faults, he used his SAT phone to call for assistance and pulled up anchor near a port in Cape Verde. After a night’s sleep, he rethought to need for outside assistance and has petitioned the GGR committee for reinstatement as an entrant. This has been granted but with some hefty time penalties.

Follow the action and retirees’ stories and reasons at www.goldengloberace.com.