Talking With Kirsten Neuschäfer, the First Woman to Sail and Win the Golden Globe

The nonstop, round-the-world Golden Globe Race has develop into a banner of “retro crusing,” or “crusing prefer it’s 1968.” Entrants for the competitors, which begins and ends in Les Sable d’Olonne, France, are required to sail small boats alone, utilizing solely pre-Sixties-era expertise — no satellite tv for pc communication, autopilot, cellphones or radar. Programs are plotted utilizing celestial navigation and a sextant.

The champion this yr was 40-year-old Kirsten Neuschäfer who, after 235 days at sea aboard Minnehaha, her 36-foot Cape George sailboat, turned the primary girl to each full and win the race.

However Ms. Neuschäfer is fast to state that being a figurehead was by no means the purpose.

“I did wish to win, however not as a result of I’m a girl, or as a result of I wished to set a report as being the primary girl,” she mentioned. “I wished to be there as a sailor and as an equal.”

Her accomplishments — not solely finishing and profitable the race, but additionally rescuing a fellow sailor — actually promise to boost her profile. The Golden Globe, which debuted in 1968, looms massive in sailor’s lore — a lot of the competitors takes place within the excessive latitudes of the Southern Ocean, circling between South Africa and South America, across the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, an space recognized for punishing winds and towering waves. The race has been referred to, aptly, as “a voyage for madmen.”

Rising up in Pretoria, South Africa, Ms. Neuschäfer was at all times drawn to the outside, and to epic experiences.

“I liked studying accounts of adventures — Scott and Shackleton and Amundsen,” she mentioned of the famed Twentieth-century polar explorers. “It actually planted the seed in my thoughts.”

After biking solo from Europe to South Africa at 22, Ms. Neuschäfer started crewing on sailboats in pursuit of her skipper’s license, and later, on the helm, she sailed analysis and movie crews across the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Georgia and Falkland Islands. In preparation for the Golden Globe, her first race, she bought and refitted Minnehaha in Canada, then sailed the boat solo to South Africa and to France for the race’s begin.

Ms. Neuschäfer not too long ago spoke in regards to the voyage, the challenges of the doldrums — an space close to the Equator tormented by gentle winds — and the opportunity of one other circumnavigation. This dialog has been condensed and edited for readability.

Regardless of all your expertise and preparation, was there an additional diploma of intimidation round this race?

I undoubtedly had moments once I thought: “This could possibly be fairly scary.” Earlier than the race, I used to be visiting my dad and mom in Port Elizabeth, which is named the Windy Metropolis, and it was an evening when it was actually windy. I used to be mendacity in my mattress in the home with none hazard, however I might hear the bushes bending. I used to be considering, “Properly, within the Southern Ocean, you’re going to expertise winds which might be a lot stronger that these winds, and on a 36-foot boat.”

Did you’ve got any moments the place you have been actively afraid or just disheartened?

I did. However paradoxically, these moments weren’t due to heavy climate, they have been due to a complete lack of wind. I bought caught within the doldrums simply south of the Equator for one of the best a part of two weeks. It’s usually mentioned by sailors that essentially the most tough moments are the calms, as a result of if you end up experiencing heavy climate, you’ve bought one thing to maintain you busy. There’s a little bit of adrenaline. Once you’ve bought completely no wind in any respect, it’s extremely irritating.

Did you get bored or lonely? I assume that was tougher in the course of the calm durations, however on the whole, it’s a very long time to be alone.

I didn’t usually get bored. I made positive that I took plenty of studying materials. It’s the one psychological escape; you learn a e book and also you simply submerge your self into the world of no matter this e book is describing. And there’s at all times one thing to repair on the boat. There have been instances once I would have favored to talk to a good friend, to listen to them inform me to only maintain going. Eight months is a really very long time to be in a single place — you’re shifting, however the place you’re in is identical. Within the doldrums, I’d go for good swims, which might assist me de-stress a bit.

Was there something that you just ate on the journey that you just’d be joyful to by no means eat once more?

Two-minute noodles. They’re not that nice to start with, however after just a few months, I might virtually style the plastic taste of the wrapper.

How did you mark main moments within the journey?

I might have a glass of wine or perhaps a bit sip of rum. These rituals have been fairly vital. It was crucial for me on the whole to set milestones and never simply deal with the top of the race.

How did you’re feeling as you approached the top?

There was type of a disappointment as soon as I rounded Cape Horn. It felt like making an attempt to summit a mountain: That is the summit and from right here on it’s the descent. There was pleasure and happiness and aid. However this had develop into a life-style, and it might be ending quickly. I had some trepidation about arriving in a spot the place I used to be anticipated. I had moments the place I assumed, “You recognize, I’ve nonetheless bought loads of meals and water. I’m nonetheless having fun with myself.” I’d don’t have any challenge to only maintain crusing.

What’s subsequent for you and for Minnehaha?

That’s one query I haven’t been capable of reply simply but. I’ve put a lot focus and power towards the Golden Globe Race since 2019. And now it’s all come to fairly an abrupt ending. I purchased Minnehaha on debt, and I at all times deliberate to promote her after the race. However it’s laborious as a result of I’ve finished a lot with this boat. I’d prefer to do some journey to get a little bit of closure, and I’ll most likely take a little bit of a break simply to digest this wonderful expertise.

What adventures or locations, land or sea, are excessive in your record of locations to go?

I’d prefer to spend time in my very own nation of South Africa, significantly Transkei, or the Japanese Cape — it’s a spot that’s simply paradise to me. I’d prefer to grasp the language, Xhosa. I’d love to return to the Antarctic and the Falkland Islands. There are a whole lot of locations that I’ve been, however then once more, there are additionally a whole lot of locations I’ve by no means explored. There’s nonetheless loads to do on this lifetime. And I believe at some stage, although not anytime quickly, I would wish to do one other circumnavigation. It will be completely completely different, as a result of the seas are eternally altering.

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