6,500 nautical miles crossing completed! OTTO WULFF Duo Fink/Burke in Recife ready for the last leg

Unexpected things often happen, even in the South Atlantic. Melwin immediately had an ear for the accent in the English of "Officerstevo". "We can also speak German," he interjected in a radio conversation with the captain of the huge Hapag-Lloyd freighter, who was quite astonished. A sailing boat with a German crew in the South Atlantic off Cape Town? It was just one of the many wonderful experiences that Melwin and his fellow crew members had in "an insane six weeks".

The starting signal for the transfer adventure in the Globe40 adventure was given in La Réunion, where the offshore sailors' boat was brought back into shape after the bitter end to the third leg.

Starting signal for the last leg on March 29

With a stopover in Cape Town and after a total of around 6,500 nautical miles (approx. 12,000 kilometers), they have now reached Recife, where the starting signal for the final leg of the regatta around the globe back to Lorient in France will be given on 29 March - once again with the OTTO WULFF duo Melwin Fink and Lennart Burke.

"A huge thank you to everyone"

"Our beautiful ship is almost ready again for the last leg. We are super happy that everything went so well. 6,500 nautical miles is a huge feat, but everything worked out perfectly," reports Melwin. "A huge thank you goes to everyone who supported us. It was a great team effort by many people and that's fun."

While Lennart took care of the shipyards back home, Melwin brought the boat all the way to Brazil together with Sebastian Dziwisch and Christian Schulzeck. The sea was rough at times, and on the first leg they even had to make a weather-related safety stop in Port Elizabeth.

From hardcore conditions to duck ponds in the South Atlantic

"With winds of over 30 knots, it was hardcore and challenging for the crew," says Melwin. The big Atlantic crossing, on the other hand, began with a "duck pond". I've never experienced anything like it. There was a calm for two days and we had to motor.

100 eggs on board and fun with ChatGPT

It was just as well that the trio had around 100 eggs on board, so a nice pancake was never far away in the interplay between the three sailing chefs. As was a dip in the impressively deep Atlantic. The trio had 3,500 meters of sea beneath them at this point and enough time to ask ChatGPT how long it would take for a bucket to reach the seabed here - five to six hours!

Downwind sailing as a birthday present for Melwin

A small cake and a bottle of Prosecco also made it into the provisions bag to celebrate Melwin's 24th birthday on the high seas. His present? Fantastic sailing conditions after the arduous start.

"The wind came and never let us down. We were able to sail non-stop downwind for twelve days, which was mega," said a delighted Melwin. And it was fast too: "With a constant 15 to 20 knots of wind, the boat was always 12 to 15 knots fast, which was a very good cruising speed." Melwin and Co. only needed 15 days to cross the Atlantic.

"Want to be among the front runners again"

This is almost reminiscent of the racing mode in which the OTTO WULFF duo gave the competition a run for their money on the first legs of the journey. This is set to happen again on the final leg back to Lorient - without freighter radios, swimming in the Atlantic or pancakes on board.

"We want to be at the front once again and show what the next generation is capable of," says Melwin, who now has Lennart at his side again.

A text by Matthias Heidrich