How one woman’s life of adventure led to victory in the ultimate sailing challenge

Kirsten Neuschafer has more than a few stories from her travels. She tells Les Carpenter her latest: how she came to triumph in the Golden Globe Race, a test of skill and mental fortitude unlike any other

Sailing around the world was just the latest adventure for Kirsten Neuschafer (Kirsten Neuschafer)

Crimson flares dyed the evening sky a blazing red as Kirsten Neuschafer guided her sailboat into the French port of Les Sables-d’Olonne on 27 April. Eight months earlier, she had left this harbour as the lone woman in a 16-entrant, around-the-world race in which solo competitors were required to use 54-year-old technology and prohibited from making stops.

During 235 days at sea, Neuschafer had only a vague knowledge of her place in the standings of the Golden Globe Race. When told by event organisers that she had won, all she could do was stare in surprise and blurt: “Really?”

Since leaving her family farm outside Pretoria, South Africa, as a teenager, Neuschafer, 41, has led a life of endless adventure: hitchhiking on ships to the Arctic, training huskies in the icy wilderness, bicycling across Africa and leading sailing expeditions to the bottom of the globe. But she had never done anything quite like the Golden Globe Race. Very few have.