In his spare time, when he is not pushing his red hot racing machine across Southern Ocean waters, Felipe Cubillos is at his navigation station, calculating. Every three hours he gets an updated poll showing the position of his yacht, Desafio Cabo de Hornos, and that of his closest rival, the German team on Beluga Racer. The poll shows the average speed of both boats for the last three hours as well as their relative distance-to-go number to the finish line in Wellington. The poll comes in the form of an email and it can bring good news or bad news, depending on your perspective.

The dramatic rescue of Nico Budel is yet one more story of the immense solidarity shared by all sailors who take to the open ocean, be it alone on a small boat or aboard one of the world’s largest freighters. The moment you cast lines ashore and point your bow toward the open horizon, you inadvertently join a fraternity that has been in existence since man first set sail. There is a common understanding that should you founder, for whatever reason, another sailor will, without question, come to your aid.

The course for the Portimão Global Ocean Race takes in some of the roughest waters on the planet. Starting in Portimão, Portugal the race stops in Cape Town, South Africa, Wellington New Zealand, Ilhabela, Brazil and Charleston, USA before finishing back in Portugal, a total of 30,000 nautical miles.