Global Challenge

The Global Challenge (not to be confused with Global Challenge Award) was a round the world yacht race run by Challenge Business, the company started by Sir Chay Blyth in 1989. It was held every four years, and took a fleet of one-design steel yachts, crewed by ordinary men and women who have paid to take part, round Cape Horn and through the Southern Ocean where winds can reach 70 kn (130 km/h). The fee for the last race proposed (in 2008) was £28,750. It was unique in that the race took the westabout route around the world against prevailing winds and currents – often referred to as the ‘wrong way’ route.

This article is about a yacht race. For global challenges, see global issue.

The route of the race covered a distance of some 29,000 nmi (54,000 km). It changed to accommodate different ports of call, but in 2004/5 started from Portsmouth (UK) and stopped at Buenos Aires (ARG), Wellington (NZ), Sydney (AUS), Cape Town (SA), Boston (USA) and La Rochelle (FRA) before returning again to Portsmouth.

The event claimed the motto “The World’s Toughest Yacht Race” and was the ultimate sailing challenge for amateur sailors. The official charity for the races was Save the Children and the race patron was The Princess Royal.

After failing to secure a title sponsor, the company went into administration on 9 October 2006 placing the future of the race in doubt.[1] The fleet was then put up for sale.[2]

Background

The seeds of the race were sown in Blyth's previous sailing exploits. In 1970/71 he became the first person to sail alone round the world westabout in the yacht British Steel. The practicality of training people who had never sailed before was demonstrated during the 1973/74 Whitbread Around the World race, when Blyth had raced Great Britain II with a crew from the Parachute Regiment. Subsequently, he ran charters for paying crew.

The design philosophy for the identical yachts used on the Global Challenge races was forged by Blyth's longtime associate Andrew Roberts. It was his idea to start from the largest top-action production winch available, which would in turn dictate sail area, displacement and size. He also oversaw the build of the two fleets of steel cutters used in the four races to date to designs by David Thomas and Thanos Condylis (Challenge 67) and Rob Humphreys (Challenge 72).

British Steel Challenge 1992/3

The first race started from Southampton in September 1992 with 10 identical 67 ft (20 m) boats sailed by a skipper and 13 crew. There were a number of serious rigging screw failures in the Southern Ocean and British Steel II , after the initial success of winning the first leg of the race, was dismasted in mid-Southern Ocean, but managed to motorsail safely to Hobart under jury rig. She was re-rigged in time to rejoin the race for the next leg to Cape Town.

The winner of the first race was John Chittenden and crew in Nuclear Electric. Chittenden went on to win the 2001 Yachtsman of the Year Award.

Overall placeYacht nameSkipperCombined
elapsed time
1Nuclear Electric CB 27John Chittenden151d 11h 49m 11s
2Group 4 CB 22Mike Golding151d 13h 59m 36s
3Hofbräu Lager CB 26Pete Goss152d 15h 45m 56s
4Coopers & Lybrand CB 21Vivien Cherry154d 17h 59m 56s
5Pride of TeessideIan MacGillivray155d 16h 06m 48s
6IntersprayPaul Jeffes156d 14h 09m 10s
7Heath InsuredAdrian Donovan157d 10h 29m 18s
8Rhône-PoulencAlec Honey, Peter Phillips159d 17h 26m 13s
9Commercial UnionWill Sutherland, Richard Merriweather159d 17h 26m 13s
10British Steel IIRichard Tudor163d 00h 25m 07s

BT Global Challenge 1996/7

Two of the yachts in St Katharine Docks, London before the start of the race.
Toshiba in St Katharine Docks

An expanded fleet of 14 Challenge 67 yachts set out from Southampton in driving rain and gales. Again rigging problems struck in the Southern Ocean and Concert was dismasted. Skipper Chris Tibbs and crew made a jury rig and motorsailed to Wellington, New Zealand. Concert was re-rigged in time to start leg 3 from Wellington to Sydney and was 2nd on the Sydney to Cape Town leg. Yacht Pause to Remember, skippered by Tom O'Connor, suffered a snapped boom halfway between Sydney and Cape Town. There seemed no choice but to fly their trysail until crewmembers Graham Phelp and Matthew Reeves took on the challenge of trying to repair it by using a cut out section as a splint. Two days later a shortened boom emerged from below decks and was successfully attached to the mast. Three weeks later and having suffered several storms with wind speeds in excess of 50 kn (93 km/h), Pause to Remember sailed into Cape Town, with boom still intact.

This race featured an extra leg to Boston and a crew of disabled men and women took part on “Time & Tide”, the first to sail round the world.

Mike Golding dominated, winning five out of six legs in Group 4 with Andy Hindley winning the remaining leg in Save the Children . Three skippers had graduated from being crew volunteers four years earlier: Andy Hindley; Mark Lodge; and Simon Walker, all of whom appeared in the top five placings. Simon Walker went on to become Managing Director of Challenge Business, helping to organise the 2000/1 and 2004/5 Global Challenges.[3]

Overall placeYacht nameSkipperCombined
elapsed time
1Group 4 - CB 22Mike Golding161d 05h 25m 18s
2Toshiba - CB 26Simon Walker163d 11h 14m 34s
3Save the Children - CB 29Andy Hindley165d 20h 50m 46s
4Motorola - CB 31Mark Lodge165d 22h 40m 54s
5Commercial Union - CB 34Richard Merriweather167d 08h 01m 32s
6Global Teamwork - CB 21Merfyn Owen169d 20h 27m 56s
7Nuclear Electric CB 27Richard Tudor171d 01h 29m 10s
8Ocean Rover - CB 30Paul Bennett171d 11h 46m 34s
93Com - CB 24David Tomkinson171d 11h 57m 30s
10Pause to Remember - CB 23Tom O’Connor172d 19h 13m 28s
11Courtaulds International - CB 35Boris Webber173d 19h 26m 12s
12Heath Insured - CB 33Adrian Donovan174d 21h 36m 29s
13Concert - CB 28Chris Tibbs174d 21h 36m 29s
14Time & Tide - CB 32James Hatfield176d 18h 09m 55s

BT Global Challenge 2000/1

On 10 September, a new fleet of 72 ft (22 m) steel cutters made their debut in this race. The winner, Conrad Humphreys and crew on LG Flatron, won four of the seven legs.

For the first time the race was scored on points, with equal points for each leg, though combined elapsed times are shown here for comparison.

Overall place [4]Yacht nameSkipperPointsCombined
elapsed time
1LG FlatronConrad Humphreys95171d 13h 33m 49s
2CompaqWill Oxley86173d 14h 59m 43s
3BPMark Denton78175d 09h 54m 33s
4LogicaJeremy Troughton71175d 20h 46m 04s
5TeamSpirITAndy Dare, John Read68176d 22h 34m 43s
6=Spirit of Hong KongStephen Wilkins62178d 21h 34m 43s
6=QuadstoneAlex Phillips, Richard Chenery64*179d 11h 58m 14s
7Norwich UnionNeil Murray60180d 07h 58m 14s
8Isle of ManLin Parker58180d 21h 41m 18s
9VeritasWill Carnegie56
10Save the ChildrenNick Fenton56*176d
10OlympicManley Hopkinson37*183d

* These teams did not finish all legs, a requirement for a position in the overall standings, but their positions are shown without displacing any other team

Kate Middleton, who married Prince William to become the Duchess of Cambridge, worked as corporate crew during the buildup of the 2000/1 race.[5]

Global Challenge 2004/5

The same fleet of 72 ft (22 m) yachts sailed again in the 2004 race, and the winner was the Australian skipper Andy Forbes and his crew on BG SPIRIT , who won three of the seven legs. Once again, although the overall safety record of the race was very good, medical emergencies did unfold, most notably onboard yachts 'Imagine It. Done.', 'Team Stelmar' (with TWO separate medical evacuations), and 'Save The Children'. In the case of 'Imagine It. Done.', only an extraordinary combined effort of several yachts within the fleet, the doctor onboard (Dr Roche), and the efforts of the Westpac Rescue team saved the life of John Masters.[6] 'Team Stelmar' suffered both their medical evacuations in the Southern Oceans on the BA – Wellington leg, costing them a 2,500-nautical-mile (4,600 km) detour and 17 more days at sea, making the leg 9,700 nautical miles (18,000 km) instead of 6,100 nmi (11,300 km) and 52 days at sea. They carried on with 3 crew down crossing the Southern Ocean alone, set the 24-hour record for that leg and finished 11th due to the retirement of 'Imagine It. Done.' Team Stelmar later went on to set the overall 24-hour race record during the penultimate leg of the race between Boston and La Rochelle.

Overall placeYacht nameSkipperPointsCombined
elapsed time
1BG SpiritAndy Forbes90166d 00h 50m 36s
2Barclays AdventurerStuart Jackson76168d 09h 39m 09s
3BP Explorer[7]David Melville74167d 13h 16m 25s
4Spirit of SarkDuggie Gillespie73166d 19h 15m 25s
5SAIC La JollaEero Lehtinen71168d 20h 09m 51s
6Team StelmarClive Cosby66184d 15h 04m 11s
7=Me To YouJames Allen63170d 16h 07m 02s
7=VAIOAmedeo Sorrentino63170d 11h 31m 10s
9SamsungMatt Riddell58**170d 06h 13m 10s
10Imagine it. DoneDee Caffari56*168d 23h 31m 26s
11PindarLoz Marriott54174d 01h 11m 59s
12Save the ChildrenPaul Kelly41**176d 03h 37m 23s

* Retired from leg 2 from Buenos Aires to Wellington (NZ) after a medical emergency on board.

** Stopped racing during leg 2 from Buenos Aires to Wellington (NZ) to render aid after a medical emergency on board to Imagine It. Done.

Specifications of the Challenge 72 one-design

The current 12-strong race fleet of Challenge 72-footers was developed from the Challenge 67s and was specifically designed to be strong, safe and seaworthy in even the worst conditions and to be self-sufficient for long periods at sea, with enough fuel and water to take their crews safely to a distant port. The yachts were also designed to be relatively easy to sail and handled by crews who are not professional. The yachts have a snakepit, an unusual feature that allows anyone working the halyards to 'hunker down' and shelter in strong wind and rain, and, more importantly, from waves washing over the deck. Designed by Rob Humphreys, the identical 72-foot (22 m) steel ocean racing yachts were built by Devonport Yachts in the UK by a new method using a unique flat-pack yacht assembly kit of precision cut laser steel panels.

Challenge 72 Specifications
Hull typeMonohull
BuilderTen of the twelve yachts were built by Devonport, UK, the other two by Kim's Yacht Company in China.
Displacement (half load)40 tonnes
Draught full load10 ft (3.05m)
Ballast12.5 tonnes
DesignerRob Humphreys
Length overall72 ft (22 m)
Length waterline61 ft (19 m)
Air draught95 ft (29 m)
Hull50A mild steel
DeckStainless steel
Sail area (windward)2,825 sq ft (262.5 m2)
Sail area (downwind)4,020 sq ft (373 m2)
Water capacity390 gal (1,775 lt)
Fuel capacity475 gal (2,150 lt)

Buyers of the yachts after the demise of Challenge Business


Challenge 72 fleet

Challenge 72 fleet
Hull number 2000/01 Race name[8] 2004/05 Race name New name Call sign MMSI Owner / operator Sailing area Notes
CB 36PrototypePrototypeCatZero [9]MYAJ4232424000Cat ZeroHull
CB 37Save the ChildrenBarclays AdventurerSea Dragon [10]ZCYV6319011400Pangaea ExplorationUSAAdventure sailing and research charters in the Pacific[10]
CB 38Isle of ManSpirit of SarkChallenger 1 [11] / OonaZQCM5235006000Tall Ships Youth TrustUK
CB 39BP ExplorerBP ExplorerChallenger 2 [11] / William.PGZQCM6235007000Tall Ships Youth TrustUK
CB 40TeamSpirITAviva (Imagine it. Done)HMSTC ADVENTUREZQCM8235008000Joint Services, Ministry of DefenceUKUndertook a circumnavigation 2015–16: Ex Transglobe.[12]
CB 41LG FlatronSamsungAlba Explorer2ISY4235009000Ocean Youth Trust ScotlandScotland
CB 42Spirit of Hong KongPindarChallenger 4 [11] / MargheritaZQCN2235010000Tall Ships Youth TrustUK
CB 43VERITASStelmarHMSTC DiscovererZQCN6235011000Joint Services, Ministry of DefenceUK
CB 44CompaqSAIC La JollaLa JollaDEVO211255010PrivateGermanyFor Sale Apr 08
CB 45LogicaBG SpiritBIG Spirit [13]ZQCN8235013000Exeter Fabrication LtdUKYacht Written Off[14] and undergoing repairs to MCA Cat 0 under survey by MECAL and offered for sale.[15][16][17][18]
CB 46Norwich UnionSave the ChildrenChallenger 3 [11] / SarahZQCN9235014000Tall Ships Youth TrustUK
CB 47Olympic GroupSpencers Dock (Vaio)Challenge Wales [19]ZQC02235015000Challenge Wales / Her CymruWales
CB 48QuadstoneMe to youIronbarque[20]ZQCO4235016000OM Adventures[21]Worldwide
Adventure and Discoverer: two Challenge 72 yachts alongside in Falmouth, UK, after the transatlantic crossing from Halifax, Nova Scotia; August 2016.


Challenge 67 fleet

Challenge 67 fleet
Hull number Original name New name Call sign MMSI Owner / operator Sailing area Notes
CB 22Group 4 Ecover of Skagen 233033000 Mallorca Available for charter
CB 32Time and TideElinca232025887 Sea Benefit Ltd.[22]Netherlandshttp://www.seabenefit.eu
CB 29Save the ChildrenAurora[23]MPWB2235006450OceanVillage Southampton U.K.
CB 28ConcertSpirit of Outward Bound Hong Kong[24]VRZR3477840100Outward Bound Hong KongHong Kong
4AlbatrossAlbatros[25]228030900Challenge OceanFrance
5WhirlwindWhirlwind228029600 Challenge OceanFrance
CB 26Hofbrau / ToshibaHrimfare235012010Hrimfare.comSwedenSailing4science expeditions
CB 35Courtaulds InternationalMariFlex ChallengePA3426244780659Currently in Dutch hands after a major refit at Berthon Shipyard [26]
CB 33Heath InsuredNashachata IIMWSG-2234171000Longyearbyen, Norway[27]
9Oceans of HopeOWBG220092000Sailing Sclerosis FoundationGlobalcurrently completing round the world trip [28]
CB 21Coopers & LybrandYam Reed Mifrasim- The Social Boat Israel https://www.mifrasim.org.il/?lang=en
CB 20(prototype) 2041[29] For sale in 2013

References

  1. "Sir Chay Blyth yachting company in crisis". The Herald. 2006-10-10. Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  2. "Berthon International Yacht Brokers | Part of the Berthon Sales Group". Berthon International.
  3. "" I Can Only Compete Through My Crew."". Fast Company.
  4. "Results". BT Challenge. Archived from the original on 2002-06-17. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  5. Sean, Smith. Kate Unauthorised. Simon & Schuster UK. pp. 76–78. ISBN 9781847378699.
  6. Dr David Roche, General Practitioner, East Sussex. UK
  7. "BP to Sponsor Global Challenge Yacht Race". Sportcal. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  8. BT Global Challenge The world's toughest yacht race ISBN 0 9541451 0 0
  9. "Cat Zero". catzero.org. Archived from the original on 2016-01-09. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  10. "Sea Dragon". panexplore.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  11. "Press release by Tall Ships Youth Trust". Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
  12. "Military yachts sail back from 13-month global adventure". www.portsmouth.co.uk.
  13. "Big Spirit Adventures". Facebook.
  14. "Plymouth yacht fall leaves sailor homeless". BBC News.
  15. "Challenge 72' CHALLENGE BUSINESS 45 comes back to life". Berthon Yacht Sales website. Berthon. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  16. "Devonport Challenge 72, CHALLENGE BUSINESS 45".
  17. "Charting The Repair And Recommission Of Challenge Business 45". ChallengeBusiness45. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019.
  18. Fabrication, Exeter (2018-10-15). "Today we pulled CB45 back in to the shed to be filled faired and painted. This famous yacht will soon be ready to sail the oceans once againpic.twitter.com/ww11jXHzJ9". @exeterfab. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  19. "Challenge Wales". challengewales.org.
  20. "SV Ironbarque – ZQCO4". ironbarque.net.
  21. "Ironbarque – The experience of a lifetime!". 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  22. "Elinca". www.seabenefit.eu. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  23. "Aurora". oceanexperience.co.uk.
  24. "Spirit Of Outward Bound Hong Kong". www.outwardbound.org.hk. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08.
  25. "Albatros, grand monocoque avec équipage - Location voilier course croisière". challengeocean.com/. Challenge Ocean. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  26. "Challenge 67". Berthon. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  27. "Specifications Jonathan IV". Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  28. "About Oceans of Hope". Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  29. "CHALLENGE BUSINESS 20 – The Greenest of Them All". Berthon Yacht Sales website. Berthon. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
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