With patience and meticulous care, the GLOBE40 is steadily getting organised. Launched in June 2019 before having to navigate its way through a year and a half of the global health crisis, the event organisers have nonetheless managed to forge ahead by relying on the strength of the race’s innovative founding concept: a Round the World race accessible in both sporting and financial terms, with an approach geared as much around the competitive dimension as a journey of discovery of the worlds traversed along the way.
The power of realising a dream is always the biggest draw and it is this dream that will give all the competitors, host venues and organisers real fire in their belly in the pioneering edition in 2022.
An official registration stage on 1 July: 12 teams signed up for the challenge
July 1 heralded the first official stage of registration for the teams together with payment of the entry fees for the new start schedule in 2022. Some 12 projects were officially registered by this date and have satisfied the required conditions. This solid base comprises projects which, for the most part, are long-standing, and virtually all of them have secured their boat and their budget and have considerable on-the-water experience, most of this gained on the traditional European circuits. 75% of entries are from outside of France, with 10 nationalities represented in all. See the website: www.globe40.com/index.php/en/preinscrit/
From the presentation of these projects comes a great wealth of nautical, professional and human experiences, which are sure to add to the unique character of the upcoming adventure.
Around ten other projects are in the pipeline and progressing well, they too often fairly long-standing; among them one or two projects are confirmed each month; diversity of the entries from as far afield as Australia, Morocco, Scandinavia and Austria is inspirational.
In this way, the competitive line-up is getting close to the 15-team minimum set out in the Notice of Race and the goal of around twenty by the end of the year remains achievable.
A Round the World of the stopovers advancing well
By the end of this summer, over half the course stopovers will have been scouted out in depth: Ushuaia in Argentina in 2020, Recife in Brazil in the spring, Mindelo in Cape Verde in July, Papeete scheduled for late August, Lisbon and Tangier on several occasions since 2019 and the organisation team will visit the remaining stopovers by the end of the year. Along the way, a great deal of work has been carried out and a solid network of correspondents has been organised to prepare the ground logistically and ensure the continuity of relations with all the local protagonists.
In addition to the immediate media and economic spin-offs, the event is being perceived as a key development tool. Indeed, at several sites including Tangier, Recife and also Cape Verde, the hosting of the initial edition is also a way to express the event’s commitment to the development of boating, to showcase plans for boosting infrastructure and to voice its concerns for environmental preservation of marine spaces at a time when they are seriously under threat.
On a sporting level, the GLOBE40 is also a catalyst for a broader discussion about development, environment and social development.
The success of the virtual GLOBE40
Launched on 26 June 2021 – exactly a year prior to the actual RACE START IN TANGIER – the virtual GLOBE40, in partnership with VIRTUAL REGATTA OFFSHORE, is proving to be a great success: 45,000 players on the 1st leg from Tangier / Cape Verde and already 40,000 on the second from Cape Verde / Mauritius with 56,000 individual players competing in the 2 legs.
Over all the legs put together, that equates to a targeted audience of nearly half a million players, significantly raising the bar in terms of the event’s global renown before the actual race has even begun.