The ultimate test

As Challenge Ventures launch new round the world race

Tired of seeing “nancy boys in yellow oilskins with their satcoms and GPS sets” depart on round the world races Sir Francis Tilman-Rose has announced details of a new back-to-basics singlehanded round the world race that will really test the manhood of competitors.

The new Gypsy Moth Challenge to be run by Tilman-Rose’s company Challenge Ventures plc will hark back to the heyday of ocean voyaging and any mod cons will be strictly prohibited.

Yachts will be 40 foot long and must be built singlehanded by the competitor using a race committee approved DIY technique such as ferro-cement. A scheme to use recycled fibreglass is also being considered.

In an attempt to promote the budget end of yacht development, values which Tilman-Rose believes have been lost in an age of expensive carbon fibre, PBO and “new fangled electronic gadgetry”, competitors are encouraged to use wartime resource to develop equipment for their boats. Ideas mooted include the use of scaffolding or bamboo for spars and an array of holed washing up bottles to make a handy drogue for surviving extreme conditions.

With all manner of races now having been held around the world - eastabout, westabout, crewed or singlehanded, amateur or professional crews - the Gypsy Moth Challenge has been conceived to be extra testing for competitors. From the start line in Greenland they will have to sail the length of the Atlantic before hanging a right and making two westabout laps of the Southern Ocean against the prevailing winds before returning up the Atlantic.

However in order to reduce the duration of the event, the race committee have done their utmost to shorten the course and have introduced waypoints to keep competitors south of 60degS thereby saving many 1,000s of miles and reducing the time they have to contend with icebergs. However to add to the sense of achievement for competitors the race will commence in February thereby ensuring the maximum time in the Southern Ocean during the winter months of the southern hemisphere.

To qualify boats must simply sail from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back.

In the spirit of the race, modern day on board equipment is being zealously prohibited. GPS is banned but as a concession to participants sextants are now allowed as are wristwatches, although analogue only. Similarly no satellite communications can be carried and radios will be restricted to whatever skippers can build themselves using crystals and copper wire supplied by the race committee. Electronic autopilots are also banned but prior to their departure competitors will be given a sheet of plywood and some string to fashion a self steering apparatus of their own design while underway.

To imitate the conditions their forebears, such as the crews of the Clipper ships, would have experienced sailing the Southern Ocean, competitors will only be allowed to wear foul weather gear made from oiled natural fibre such as wool jumpers and the skins of any polar animals trapped before or after their qualification. Anything yellow is banned.

Space age foods such as freeze dried and vitamin supplements will be prohibited, although it is believed that tinned food is permitted. Of course desalinators are banned and competitors will either have to take enough water to last them the duration of the voyage or will have to improvise their own homemade watermakers using techniques such as squeezing salt water through a pig's bladder. It is unclear yet whether it will be allowed for the pig's bladder to be extracted from the pig before or after the start, but in the spirit of this race we expect the latter.

Using the philosophy that singlehanders should be "prepared to die like men" and not involve the over burdened rescue authorities of the world, no safety equipment of any kind can be carried on board during the race. "It will be up to competitors to have the nouse, seamanship and where-with-all to look after themselves," commented Tilman-Rose. There will be no tracking of competitors and the finish line will be set up in Greenland where the organisers will bivouac as they watch with interest to see if anyone finishes.

While competitors at the front of the Vendee Globe fleet can look forward to a mere 90-100 days at sea, Gypsy Moth Challenge competitors are not expected to reach the finish in less than a year.