Portimão Global Ocean Race

The Portimão Global Ocean Race (PGOR) was an international sailing regatta around the world that was held for the first time in 2008/2009.

The race was created for solo single-handed sailors (category Solo / Open 40 ) and two-man crews (category Double Handed / Open 40 ) with small budgets. The initiators were the two former professional sailors Josh Hall and Brian Hancock .

The six yachts (two solo, four crews) started on October 12, 2008 in Portimão, Portugal and should moor there again on June 21, 2009.

The second edition of the race, this time under the name Global Ocean Race, took place in 2011 and 2012. Four out of six participants reached the finish in Les Sables-d'Olonne . Further editions of the race failed due to a lack of sponsor and participant interest.

Regatta participant

Solo Open 40

• Roaring Forty , Belgium , Skipper: Michel Kleinjans 
• Hayai , Netherlands , skipper: Nico Budel 

Double Handed Open 40

• Kazimir Partners , South Africa , team: Lenjohn Van Der Wel and Peter Van Der Wel 
• Mowgli , United Kingdom , team: Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson 
• Desafio Cabo de Hornos , Chile , team: Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz (sailors) 
• Beluga Racer , Germany , team: Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme 

Regatta course

The race was divided into five stages with a total length of around 30,000 nautical miles (55,560 kilometers). The Portimão Global Ocean Race was the first Open 40 race through the Southern Ocean (2nd stage) and around Cape Horn (3rd stage).

1st stage: Portimão (Portugal) - Cape Town, South Africa

• Start: October 12, 2008
• Results:
  • Solo:
    • Winner: Roaring Forty , finish after: 36 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes, 1 second
    • Second: Hayai , finish after: 42 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 31 seconds

• Double Handed:

• Winner: Beluga Racer , finish after: 34 days, 21 hours, 58 minutes, 14 seconds
• Second: Desafio Cabo de Hornos , finish after: 35 days, 1 hour, 6 minutes, 23 seconds
• Third: Mowgli , finish after: 35 days, 21 hours, 22 minutes, 45 seconds
• Fourth: Kazimir Partners , finish after: 45 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes, 24 seconds

2nd stage: Cape Town - Wellington, New Zealand

• Start: December 13, 2008
• Results:
  • Solo:
    • Winner: Roaring Forty , finish after: 36 days, 3 hours, 24 minutes, 55 seconds
    • Second: Hayai (abandonment and recovery)

• Double Handed:

• Winner: Beluga Racer , finish on January 15, 2009 after 32 days 3 hours 31 minutes 37 seconds, average speed 8.93 knots
• Second: Desafio Cabo de Hornos , finish after: 32 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes, 20 seconds
• Third: Mowgli , finish after: 37 days, 15 hours, 0 minutes, 35 seconds
• Fourth: Kazimir Partners (retired due to mast problems)

3rd stage: Wellington - Ihabela, Brazil

• Start: February 15, 2009
• Results:
  • Solo:
    • Winner: Roaring Forty , finish after: 41 days, 2 hours, 50 minutes, 30 seconds

• Double Handed:

• Winner: Desafio Cabo de Hornos , finish after: 40 days, 11 hours, 47 minutes, 54 seconds
• Second: Beluga Racer , finish after: 40 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes, 54 seconds
• Third: Mowgli , finish after: 40 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes, 35 seconds

4th stage: Ihabela - Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• Start: April 5, 2009
• Results:
  • Solo:
    • Winner: Roaring Forty , finish after: 23 days, 6 hours, 44 minutes, 55 seconds

• Double Handed:

• Winner: Beluga Racer , finish after: 21 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes, 47 seconds
• Second: Desafio Cabo de Hornos , finish after: 22 days, 1 hour, 55 minutes, 3 seconds
• Third: Mowgli , finish after: 23 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes, 00 seconds

5th stage: Charleston - Portimão

• Start: May 31, 2009
• Results:
  • Solo:
    • Winner: Roaring Forty , finish after: 20 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes, 28 seconds

• Double Handed:

• Winner: Desafio Cabo de Hornos , finish after: 15 days, 21 hours, 7 minutes, 5 seconds
• Second: Beluga Racer , finish after: 16 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes, 42 seconds
• Third: Mowgli , finish after: 17 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes, 55 seconds

Overall winner

• Solo: Roaring Forty , Michel Kleinjans
• Double Handed: Beluga Racer , Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map of the regatta course. Accessed on January 16, 2009
2. ↑ Portrait of the boat and crew Beluga Racer. Accessed January 16, 2009
3. ^ Spiegel-online: German sailors with historic success (November 16, 2008) Retrieved January 16, 2009
4. ^ Spiegel-online: German sailing duo wins in New Zealand (January 15, 2009). Accessed January 16, 2009
5. ↑ PGOR website regatta results. Accessed January 16, 2009
6. ↑ Seglerzeitung: Portimão Global Ocean Race: Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme about the duel in front of the goal Ihabela  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 20, 2009  

Web links

• Website of the Global Ocean Race (Engl.)
• Website of the Beluga Offshore Sailing Team
• German sailors with historic success ( Spiegel Online from November 16, 2008)
• Off to the South Sea with heating (yacht online from December 12, 2008)