South African sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer has just become the first woman to win the Golden Globe Race, a solo round-the-world yacht race. She also won hearts by rescuing a fellow competitor whose boat had sunk.

South African sensation Kirsten Neuschäfer makes history as first woman to win old-school round-the-world yacht race, as well as being the first South African of any gender to achieve the feat.

On Thursday, 27 April 2023, as South Africa commemorated the country’s first free and fair elections (starting in 1994), while politicians were reciting recycled speeches of hope and the need for change to rescue South Africa from the darkness they’ve helped plunge the country into – Neuschäfer was gingerly crossing the finish line of the 2022/2023 Golden Globe Race, to provide a beacon of light and positivity for her home country.

 Nearly eight months at sea
After almost 235 days and about 48,000km of sailing her Cape George cutter (named Minnehaha) – without any external assistance or the use of modern technology – she arrived at Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. She began her historic journey there nearly eight months ago, alongside 15 others. She was the only woman in the running.

What makes Neuschäfer’s victory even more impressive and emphatic
is the fact that she was granted 35 hours extra, after assisting fellow sailor Tapio Lehtinen when he encountered some trouble close to Cape Town and his watercraft sank. 

For her brave effort, The Cruising Club of America named her the recipient of the 2022 Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy.
The accolade is awarded to a sailor annually “for an act of seamanship which significantly contributes to the safety of a yacht, or one or more individuals at sea”.

So efficient were Neuschäfer’s yacht-whispering skills that she still made up the time and didn’t need to tap into the extra hours provided to win.

“South Africa has had other sailing heroes, like Bertie Reed and John Martin, who have done the circumnavigation. But Kirsten is the first South African to do it non-stop and unassisted. How’s that for a gender statement,” said president of SA Sailing Michael Robinson on the 39-year-old’s incredible win.

“We are so proud of Kirsten. She has made not only the country’s sailing community proud, but the whole of South Africa. And provided an exceptional example to both women and men of what’s possible with incredibly hard work and determination.”

Adventurer Extraordinaire
This is not the first massive solo adventure Neuschäfer has embarked on.
When just 22-years-old, she cycled around 15,000km down the African continent from Europe to South Africa on her own.

“I truly love adventure – it really is what drives me. And I love to undertake these adventures alone and know that I only have myself to rely on once I am out there. To know that I will have to dig deep within myself to find the strength that I need to overcome the inevitable obstacles,” the 39-year-old said before heading to the ocean last year.  

“I love the unknown. It really is a way to get to know myself, and to know my own potential – very much an inner journey too.”

According to the Golden Globe Race website Neuschäfer has also sailed several film crews to help them capture the beauty of the Antarctic. 

She was featured in National Geographic series ‘Wild Life Resurrection Island with Bertie Gregory’ as she sailed his crew throughout South Georgia Island to shed light on the beautiful ecosystems and hardships they’ve faced.

She also sailed and was a support vessel for several crews from the BBC series ‘Seven Worlds, One Planet’ for footage of leopard seal predation against gentoo penguins. 

Acknowledgment: Daily Maverick.co.za – Yanga Sibembe  
Credit: Photo: @SportUpdatesSA