Beskardes closes on Lodolo by sailing the shorter course, as Nyman and Yalçin finally find their breeze

Eight days into the 2026 Golden Globe Race, the tightest battle in the fleet is a routing argument, not a speed one. Andrea Lodolo, on BiBi, broke clear of Ertan Beskardes earlier in the week, but Beskardes has spent the days since clawing the gap back down to 19 nautical miles, and boat speed has nothing to do with it. Lodolo has sailed 906 miles through the water against Beskardes's 804, more than a hundred miles further, yet they're separated by barely a day's run on distance-to-finish. Beskardes, aboard Miss Beagle, is simply taking the shorter course. It's the same problem that cost Simon Curwen the placings in 2022, when the fastest boat in the fleet still finished outside them after sailing the longest route around it.

At the front, Damien Guillou and Pat Lawless are both easing off as they close on Lanzarote, Guillou at 5.1 knots after a 138-mile day, Lawless slightly slower at 4.6 but still stretching his overall advantage over the chasing pack to around 173 miles. Guillou is roughly 200 miles out and could reach the film gate late tomorrow, possibly overnight, though the lighter breeze makes the timing genuinely uncertain.

Guido Cantini's Vancouver 34 Hannah of Cowes, one of the more modern hulls the retro rules allow, posted 86 miles at 5 knots, right among the pace of the chasing group. Etienne Messikommer matched him mile for mile, while Daniel Pinsky and Guy deBoer are locked in their own tussle, deBoer closing from behind after the stronger of the two days.

Further back, five boats that had been running as separate groups have effectively become one. Louis Kerdelhué, who is just 21 years old, pushed offshore chasing wind and still lost ground to Helga Marie "Mara" Løvenskiold Kveseth, now just 37 miles behind him. Isa Rosli, Gunnar Christensen and Matt Woodside are all within a similar band, still short on breeze but not for much longer.

The best number of the day belongs to the back of the fleet. Selim Yalçin logged 107 miles, his biggest day of the race, after what turned out to be a deliberate stop rather than a weather problem, he'd pulled up to work through jobs on the boat. Pär Nyman went one better, closing out his delayed start with a 127-mile day aboard Lazy Otter that's put him just three miles behind Yalçin on the tracker.

Stronger wind is coming for everyone chasing the leaders, 28 knots gusting 35 within 36 hours, seas building toward three metres. Guillou and Lawless won't see it. If the forecast holds, that's the gap they've built starting to close before either of them reaches Lanzarote.