Kirsten Neuschäfer GGR 2022 Newsletter

Hello and welcome to our first newsletter of 2021!



Rose-Blanche, Newfoundland

Last month we announced our partnership with Ullman Sails. We are so happy to have them onboard, and are looking forward to working with them leading up to the Golden Globe. Special thanks to Geoff Grylls, Gavin Burns, Rachael England and the entire Ullman team for all of their support.

The Journal Pioneer of PEI recently featured a cover story on Kirsten detailing her path to the Golden Globe and discussing her winter refit plans. Thanks to Colin MacLean for the feature.

Some updates on Kirsten’s progress since our last email…

After finally being united with her boat, Kirsten spent a number of weeks trouble-shooting engine issues, as well as a bit of plumbing and electrical, while waiting for a suitable weather window to sail south. Initially making her way along the South coast of Newfoundland from Fortune, and calling at the first harbour, Burgeo. She remained in Burgeo for two weeks working on the engine, and was received with incredible hospitality by everyone she encountered.

From Burgeo, Kirsten made her way to Port aux Basques - this gave an opportunity to test that the make-shift solutions on the engine were holding sufficiently. On this leg of her journey, Kirsten got some fantastic sailing conditions and was able to see the sailing qualities and also the speed that Minnehaha is capable of.

Upon arriving in Port aux Basques, Kirsten spent 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year, waiting for suitable weather. Time of year meant infrequent and often only short weather windows, with storms sweeping up the coast one after the next, making the Cabot Straight a treacherous piece of water – if not for high winds and rough sea-state, then for icing conditions. As Port aux Basques turned out to have a lot of surge and swell entering, and as Kirsten could foresee by the forecast that patience would be needed, she moved the boat to the harbour of Margaree instead, just a couple of miles from Port aux Basques. Margaree turned out to be a beautiful, sheltered port, with – typical for Newfoundland, again, very friendly people.

Finally the right gap came for Kirsten to get across the Straight. While there was not a lot of wind to hold sail, Minnehaha showed her sea-handling abilities, as she was made to pitch and roll heavily – she somehow managed to be graceful in those conditions. From Cape St, Lawrence onwards, Kirsten managed to make great speed with good winds all the way to Summerside, PEI, where she received a very warm, socially distant welcome.

In Summerside, the bay had started icing up, and all of the floating docks had been removed. The ship’s dock was not a kind place for a little sailboat, so after a night on the ship’s dock and with 30-40 knot wind forecast, Kirsten decided to go and wait out the blow at anchor. Here the rig got thoroughly covered in ice.

Thanks to some incredibly resourceful and creative people, once the wind allowed, Minnehaha had her mast unstepped and was safely and successfully lifted out by crane and transported to a shed for the refit.

AND NOW THE GREAT REFIT BEGINS!

(Image 1 Courtesy of John Mersden, Image 4 Courtesy of Arleigh Hudson)

A huge thank you to Alan Burland from Green Island Getaways, for sponsoring charming accommodation at the lodge, as well as a vehicle, not to mention the 101 logistical details which he organized - in short, for having made it possible for Kirsten and Minnehaha to be on PEI for the refit.

Also, many thanks to Darren Cousins from Darnley Development Ltd for making a warm and well-equipped shed available to house Minnehaha, and for his ongoing support and hospitality!

Thank you to Arleigh Hudson for being Kirsten's support through isolation, and having taken on the role of refit project manager.

And last, but certainly not least: very much gratitude to Eddie Arsenault, who has been applying his ingenuity, perfectionism, knowledge and unbeatable work ethics in masterfully getting the refit underway and the jobs done!

To donate to Kirsten’s fund please visit her GoFundMe account or contribute directly via PayPal.

You can also contribute by heading to the Kirsten GGR merch store. All profits from the shirts and hoodies go to funding Kirsten’s race preparation.

Kirsten is currently the only female and one of only two South Africans participating in the Golden Globe 2022. Kirsten has been sailing dinghies since her childhood, but sailing since 2006 as a profession. From sailing training to sailboat deliveries, she built a diverse set of skills and experience. In 2015, she began working for Skip Novak on his Pelagic Expeditions to South Georgia, The Antarctic Peninsula, Patagonia and the Falklands. She currently skippers “Pelagic” a fifty-foot sail boat owned by the legendary Skip Novak.

About the race: The Golden Globe Race 2022, a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation. This retro race is based upon the first solo circumnavigation race that took place in 1968. In order to stay true to the original circumnavigation, boats are all older designs, no bigger than 36 foot- and modern navigational technology, like GPS, is not permitted. Instead she will be depending upon her skills in celestial navigation and dead reckoning. The route for the race is France, down the Atlantic, east-about the Southern Ocean, and back up the Atlantic to France- an approximate distance of 30,000 nautical miles and anywhere from 7 to 9 months or more at sea.