A former instructor at the Aber-Wrac'h Sailing Center who suffers from Parkinson's disease, Plabinec resident Bertrand Delhomme, is a crew member of the sailboat Neptune in the round-the-world Ocean Globe Race. Its theoretical length is 27,000 miles, and is divided into four stages: Southampton (England), Cape Town (South Africa), then Auckland (New Zealand), Punta del Este (Uruguay), and back to Southampton.
During the halfway point
The crew arrived in Auckland on 16 December in seventh place out of thirteen boats, after 40 days, 19 hours and 14 minutes of navigation. Bertrand Delhomme gave some news about this amazing experience that began on September 10: “I arrived in Auckland, after a stage of more than forty days in the Indian Ocean. It's done! Get up and enjoy life, and even eat it, because it can certainly be as stupid as it is beautiful as the sea! And notice the CM Handivoile Brest flag flying over Neptune among the New Zealanders! »
Cape Horn, Mount Everest for sailors
On Sunday, January 14, 2024, the crew will begin the third round, heading to Punta del Este in Uruguay. A monumental stage in the eyes of Plalabennecois, “with the culmination of passing Cape Horn, the summit of sailors’ Everest. “Its dangerous surroundings, rough seas due to the sudden rise of the sea floor, its currents, often stormy winds, and low temperatures overwhelm many boats,” says Bertrand Delhomme.
Since their departure four months ago, the crossing has not been obstacle-free. Three days after leaving Cape Town, at the start of the second stage, the rudder moved. The decision was made not to risk it and to attempt reform in Port Elizabeth using available means (editor's note, permitted in the absence of external contact). Still in the race, 250 miles away from the fleet, Neptune headed east again toward New Zealand.
