McINTYRE GGR “it’s just a game” 2026

Over the past eight days, the McIntyre Golden Globe fleet has moved from the uncertainty surrounding Tropical Storm Gonzalo into an altogether different Atlantic battle — one dominated by calms, broken wind bands, headwinds, tactical gambles, barnacles, steering and radio failures and, occasionally, pure luck. All this in the first month from Les Sables d’Olonne.

For a while it appeared the 2026 fleet might escape the Intertropical Convergence Zone relatively lightly. The Doldrums looked narrow and several boats passed through with little delay. That illusion is now gone. Instead, the fleet has been dealt the traditional Atlantic lottery. One skipper finds five knots of breeze while another, relatively close by, virtually stops. An eastern route looks brilliant one day and questionable the next. Boats apparently buried in a wind hole suddenly escape, while others sail straight into another.

At the front, Damien Guillou aboard SOLAREM and Pat Lawless aboard SILVERMINES HYDRO have broken clear into the southeast trades. Behind them, Ertan Beskardes aboard MISS BEAGLE has converted his long commitment to the eastern side of the course into a valuable third-place break. And behind Ertan, the chasing fleet remains locked in a constantly changing battle where the weather continues to reshuffle the cards in this grueling mind-bending game that has only just begun.

Within all that, the GGR WINDOW LIVE is creating waves, both good and bad, while the GGR STATS provide all the answers for those who follow the detail.

GUILLOU AND LAWLESS BREAK AWAY

The defining story of the week has been the relentless progress of Guillou and Lawless. Both escaped the worst of the Doldrums before the chasing fleet and established themselves in the southeast trades. Once there, they accelerated.

Guillou has been particularly consistent, repeatedly producing powerful 24-hour runs and steadily adding miles to his advantage. SOLAREM recorded around 164 nautical miles on 4 October, with Guillou driving hard through wet conditions and plenty of water sweeping across the deck.

Lawless remains the only skipper currently applying meaningful pressure. SILVERMINES HYDRO has also produced impressive runs, including days in the high 140s, but Guillou continues to grind out small gains. This morning SOLAREM was charging south at approximately 6.9 knots, with SILVERMINES HYDRO making around 5.9 knots.

Both are now closing on the region of Trindade, where the South Atlantic High weather transition could provide Lawless with an opportunity to reduce the deficit. Nothing is guaranteed, but the rest of the fleet is facing an increasingly difficult reality: Guillou and Lawless are beginning to sail their own private race.

ERTAN’S EASTERN GAMBLE PAYS

The most intriguing tactical story belongs to Ertan Beskardes. For days MISS BEAGLE stubbornly held the eastern side of the fleet. Like Jean-Luc VDH in 2018 and Simon Curwen in 2022, he had a straight-line sailing plan. At times it was painful to watch. There were moments when he appeared to be sailing too high, giving away precious speed while yachts farther west appeared to have the better hand. Then the weather turned in his favour. By 1 October, MISS BEAGLE was making approximately 6.4 knots with a 110-mile day, and Ertan became the first skipper from the main chasing group to establish himself properly in the southeast trades. Competitors farther north remained trapped in unstable Doldrums conditions.

SNAKES AND LADDERS BEHIND

Behind the leading three, describing the race is considerably more complicated. Etienne Messikommer aboard BERNARD, Guido Cantini aboard HANNAH OF COWES, Andrea Lodolo aboard BIBI, Daniel Pinsky aboard EXODUS, Mara aboard SHOWGIRL and Henry Wootton aboard PRIVATEER have all experienced rapidly changing fortunes. Boats have gone from virtually parked to sailing hard in strong conditions within a remarkably short period.

This morning Messikommer and Wootton were close together, both making around 3 knots southwest, producing a fascinating little race within the race. Lodolo and Pinsky were similarly paired at around 3.7 knots.

Cantini, meanwhile, had found yet another hole. HANNAH OF COWES was averaging only about 0.7 knots over four hours. Two days earlier his SSB long-range radio failed and he took a 24-hour penalty for a sat phone call to his team to help troubleshoot it…but today it has failed again. A repair stop would mean Chichester Class.

THE WINDOW LIVE! IS ALIVE!

Of eight skippers with the TriPeak system, only five are regular contributors. Andrea and Louis have basically disappeared by choice and Pär appears occasionally. Pär declared LIVE that he was losing the joy of sailing with all the GGR rules at sea and, having volunteered for the WINDOW LIVE system, he now questions his choice, preferring to protect his privacy and cope with his own mind game. It happened in 2018 and in 2022 when the magnitude and responsibility of the “Game” hit. Those sailors retired?

Ertan talks constantly on the “philosophy on life” in relation to his own, and is a favourite with followers. Mara is “life as a screenplay” at times to her fans and makes it look all so easy, snug in her beautiful boat at night, telling stories and reading books to followers. But within that world, when the lights go out, she is a competent sailor making solid progress and doing all that is required in this extraordinary adventure race called the GGR.

Damien is “pure business” but it is impressive to watch. Gunnar is the man “Deep & Meaningful” displaying a beautiful simplicity and total honesty in everything he says and does. He blows the myth of what a hardened solo sailor is supposed to be. He is not a pirate; he is Gunnar! Etienne is just a “serious racer in love” and it shows. He displays his frustrations with disbelief and love of Bernard, Life, the Ocean and then every night ELOISE his true love! 

The GGR WINDOW LIVE is NOT your usual viewing. It never will be but it is worth a look! The real nature of it is still evolving. For some viewers it is controversial and the chat box of opinions can be interesting. Soon it will be the Southern Ocean; then everything will change again.

THINGS HAPPEN!

Gunnar Christensen aboard POMPOEN discovered significant barnacle growth and spent approximately 90 minutes in the water cleaning the hull. This may just be the beginning, not the end of this story! It all played out on the WINDOW LIVE. He declared he did not want to do that again, but the GGR has shown that once they appear, the problem can get dramatically worse quickly!

At the front, Pat Lawless suffered failure of the steering lines from his windvane self-steering system. The repair cost him roughly 90 minutes hanging off the back of his boat! No technicians. No pit crew. Just another day in the Golden Globe Race.

“CODE ORANGE” CONCERN FOR LOUIS KERDELHUÉ

The most serious operational moment came on 5 October when Race Control became concerned about Louis Kerdelhué aboard IE CHARGE. For almost 24 hours his tracker showed unusually slow progress. At times IE CHARGE appeared beam-on to the seas, drifting at one knot or less - despite tracker weather information suggesting there should have been sufficient wind to sail.

Louis had also missed two of his daily safety reports. At 1200 UTC, Race Control opened a potential Code Orange file and sent urgent messages through his satellite telephone and YB3 tracking and messaging unit. The fleet was asked if anyone had heard Louis by radio. The nearest competitor, Gunnar Christensen, was approximately 150 nautical miles away.

Just 30 minutes before the deadline to contact the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, his tracker speed increased and eventually reached around 4.5 knots, providing a strong indication that Louis remained in control. It was a sharp reminder of how important daily safety messages are. Louis faces a €50 penalty for each missed daily safety report.

At the time of this press release, Race Control has just received a YB message from Louis stating “RAS” — French for “rien à signaler”, meaning “nothing to report / all OK.” This is reassuring, although Race Control has still not successfully established voice contact with him by satellite phone.

GUY deBOER RETURNS TO SEA

Meanwhile, Guy deBoer aboard SPIRIT is finally underway again after structural repairs in Lanzarote. Following concerns surrounding the chainplate and hull structure, repairs and inspections were undertaken before Guy returned to sea. He is now continuing in Chichester Class, meaning he is no longer competing for the main McIntyre Golden Globe trophies, but the adventure is very much alive. This morning SPIRIT was making approximately 4.9 knots, heading west of Fuerteventura and chasing a fleet already 1,500 miles south.

THE ATLANTIC MAKES ITS FIRST SELECTION

One month after leaving Les Sables-d’Olonne, the shape of the 2026 McIntyre Golden Globe Race is beginning to emerge. 

Tropical Storm Gonzalo delivered the first major weather test. The Doldrums have delivered the first major separation.
Guillou looks exceptionally strong. Lawless remains in pursuit. Beskardes has earned valuable breathing space in third.
Behind them, however, very little is settled.
The Southern Ocean has not even begun to have its say. The Cape of Good Hope remains ahead, Cape Leeuin far beyond and Cape Horn another world away.
Gear will break. Weather systems will reverse fortunes. Fatigue will accumulate. Entrants will retire.
There are thousands of miles still to sail and one thing is becoming clear: The Atlantic has stopped sorting this fleet gently. The 2026 McIntyre Golden Globe Race is starting to play for keeps.