Newcastle’s Melissa du Toit: A global yacht adventure in the Ocean Globe Race

Newcastle-born Melissa du Toit has achieved a remarkable feat, one that will remain with her for the rest of her life. This local adventure seeker circumnavigated the globe and experienced what most will never know—true, life changing courage and nature in all its majesty and ferocity. After learning this Newcastillian’s story, excitement ignites within you, fanning the flames for new life journeys.

“The sailing circumnavigation I did was as Chief Mate and Navigator onboard the only South African entry into the first edition of the Ocean Globe Race (OGR) – starting 10 September 2023 in Southampton, UK, and finishing in Cowes, UK, on 28 April 2024. But my journey really started on 2 January 2023, on Sterna as First Mate in the Cape to Rio Race 2023—after which I delivered the boat as Skipper from Rio to the Caribbean, then sailed across the Atlantic to the Azores, and from there on to France for a big refit (to prepare the boat for the Ocean Globe Race), and finally onto the UK for the start of the OGR,” began Melissa.

The Ocean Globe Race ’23/24 is a remake of the original Whitbread Round-the-World Yacht Race, first held 50 years ago (1973-1974). Conceived as a low-budget, fully crewed, amateur yacht race around the world via the Southern Ocean and the three great Capes, it has evolved into the Volvo Ocean Race, characterised by high budgets, high-tech boats, and professional sailors, making it inaccessible to the average sailor.

Reflecting on her decision to participate in the OGR, Melissa noted the unique challenges and appeal of the race: keeping the ethos of the original Whitbread by “sailing like it’s 1973” and using only the technology available at that time.

This form of traditional or authentic sailing sees contestants having to abide by the following rules:

• No GPS, navigation is via traditional paper charts and celestial (using a sextant and the sun, planets, and stars).
• No satellite weather information—weather forecasts received via long wave radio, and weather fax machine printing synoptic charts.
• No autopilot steering—hand steering only.
• All boats taking part must have been designed before 1989, with no major changes allowed to the original design (old boats only).
• No use of cellphones/tablets/laptops/Bluetooth speakers and headphones—even CDs are too modern. This meant Melissa and her crew listened to cassette tapes and read paperback/hardcover books.
• No outside assistance—at the start of each leg, they needed enough food, water, and spares to complete the leg. If anything broke, they had to fix it themselves; otherwise, they would be disqualified.

“So, by the beginning of 2022, after six years in the yachting industry, I had crossed the Atlantic many times and loved it. I had just managed to obtain a Chief Mate license for boats under 3000 tons and was inbetween jobs, unsure of whether I wanted to continue on ‘superyachts’. I heard about the OGR via Instagram on the Explorer’s Club Chapter Connect programme—the ‘African Chapter’—where Dr Gerrit Louw, director of Allspice Yachting, was speaking about how the company had just bought a 1989 Swan53 called ‘Sterna’ and was looking for crew to do the Cape to Rio, as well as the OGR,” elaborated Melissa further.

She also explained that the race would rely on the traditional navigation and communication techniques, ones she had recently mastered through various courses. These skills, according to Melissa, have become all but obsolete in today’s world due to modern technology. “So I just thought I absolutely have to do this, as well as getting an opportunity to sail around the world. I emailed him straight away and started working for Allspice Yachting in August 2022.”

For the Cape to Rio Race and the three legs of the OGR, Melissa was part of a crew of eight onboard a 16m sailing yacht, a Swan53 called Sterna. “We had different nationalities join for the different legs of the race, so all in all we were South African, British, French, German, Turkish, American, and Chinese (Hong Kong),” added Melissa.

Speaking of the experiences, this local adventurer stated that it was one of the most challenging yet rewarding things she had ever done.

Recounting the impact on her as a person, Melissa said that the race was, “A mental and emotional rollercoaster that makes the wildest rollercoasters seem like a merry-go-round. The vastness and magnitude of the oceans are equally awe-inspiring and humbling. At one stage in the Southern Pacific, we were at a point on Earth that is the farthest from land than any other point on the globe, called Point Nemo. The closest people to you at this stage are astronauts in the International Space Station when it passes overhead. I am just incredibly grateful to have done something that a very small percentage of humans have done before, and very impressed by our ability (and the boat’s) to endure,” said Melissa.

Additionally, she emphasised the feeling of not knowing exactly where you are, as well as not really having full control of where you are going. “You’re at the complete mercy of the elements and wind direction. Similarly, there is nothing like being driven solely by the wind,” highlighted Melissa.

When looking at the challenges faced during the extensive journey, she explained that the race is more of a mental challenge than a physical one.

“When you are out there with no communication with the outside world for 6-7 weeks at a time, and with 6-7 other strangers, who you didn’t technically choose to be with, and then confine different personalities and cultures to a tiny space and put them through difficult situations, it becomes a bit of a pressure cooker. Thus, people management, including self-management, is the biggest challenge.”

To give readers a better understanding of this, Melissa explained this meant:

• Trying to stay positive and not complain despite seemingly never-ending setbacks.
• Being on a nonstop rotational shift of 4 hours on, 4 hours off for 6-7 weeks at a time, four times in a row, for eight months.
• Stepping up to Skipper in the second leg after their Skipper had to withdraw, and then having to hand back over the reins to a different Skipper in legs three and four.
• Breaking the steering cable in over 60kts (hurricane strength) winds, and having to stop and drift for two days to wait for the storm and waves to subside before being able to fix it.
• Getting things done and fixed on a relatively small budget with major time constraints is always super challenging.

Despite the challenges, she explained that there were numerous highlights during the Ocean Globe Race that would remain with her for the rest of her life, with some of these being:

• Wild nature and wild oceans: Indescribable starry skies, shooting stars, satellites, and full moons. All different kinds of birds following (and landing on) the boat for thousands of miles, including the great Wandering Albatross. Orcas, and dolphins surfing the bow wave. The Southern Lights (Aurora Australis), and surfing down 7-8m high waves in a 20-ton piece of fibreglass.
• Partying with some of the greatest names in the Offshore sailing world, and the parties at the stopovers.
• Camaraderie and friendships made/bonds formed with like-minded people.
• Sense of accomplishment in crossing the equator three times, and sailing around Cape Horn—the “Everest of sailing”.
• Jumping off the boat while becalmed and swimming in over 5000m deep water in the middle of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Adding to this phenomenal story, Melissa explained that embarking on the journey saw her and her team making some truly memorable stops along the way. “The first stop was Cape Town, then Auckland, New Zealand, then Punta del Este, Uruguay. We also stopped in Mossel Bay after leaving Cape Town, having to turn back due to water ingress issues at the rudder stock tube,” she said, noting that her team was disqualified from the second leg due to them receiving outside assistance.

Looking at the preparations that went into the journey, Melissa explained that while she only joined the team during the course of 2023, the entire project took about four years. This involved the following preparations:

• The boat had to be refitted in Cape Town—major changes and reinforcements were done to the rig.
• The engine and generator had to be rebuilt.
• A watermaker was installed.
• New sails had to be ordered.
• The interior was modified to take eight crew members.
• Logistics of food, water, and waste management for eight crew for eight weeks at a time had to be figured out.
• Strength and fitness training.
• Safety gear and equipment were purchased for both the boat and her crew.
• Logistics of getting different crew from all different corners of the world together to practice sailing and getting to know the boat.
• Then all the things that broke along the way from Cape Town to France had to be fixed in France before the start, modifying and redefining all the systems.

With the event completed and an extremely rare set of life experiences to pull on, Melissa shared advice for anyone wanting to embark on a similar adventure. “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. If you enjoy a challenge and being with people who are being challenged (and sometimes challenging themselves), this is for you. You don’t need to do it in race format; there are also sailing circumnavigation ‘rallies’ like the Oyster World Rally or the ARC trips that involve yachts looking for crew. But if you want to do Ocean Racing, I would say do all the research that you can before,” she elucidated.

Moreover, she urged those who wanted to experience the thrill of the OGR to visit the Ocean Globe Race website and Facebook page, read books by Clare Francis (Come Wind or Weather), Moitessier’s The Long Way, and Sir Robin Knox Johnston—and then just do it. “You will never have ‘enough’: time, money, or youth/ability—just go for it, now,” she emphasised, further stating that she learned valuable life lessons along the way.

“It shows us that money and wealth will do nothing for you in the face of nature. Where you come from, what school you went to, the colour of your skin, your gender, your accent, your sexuality—all mean nothing. When you are out there, disconnected from the real world, you are left alone with your own thoughts most of the time. The ocean has a tendency to make even the toughest grown men cry, and you are forced to deal with your own (and other people’s) demons that you probably didn’t even know existed at the start,” she explained.

With these powerful words in mind, Melissa said this exposure can bring about intense healing and connection with nature, as well as with each other.

“It shows that as many times as faith in humanity is lost, it can be regained more times over. Most of the lessons I learnt sound cliché, but life is really not that serious. Everybody is just winging it. Nobody really knows what they are doing, and nobody cares what you are doing either. So just get on with it. Positivity and endurance are key. The tenacity, grit, and tears will always be worth it in the end,” elaborated Melissa.

Looking at Melissa from a local perspective, she is a former Newcastle High School learner, and was an environmental facilitator at Babanango Valley Lodge for two years after school while deciding what she wanted to study. “I then got a degree in International Studies (History/Politics/Economics), and after a postgrad in Marketing, worked for a year in the business of the family that I was au pairing for while I was studying before joining the Superyachting Industry as a stewardess in 2015,” she said.

With Melissa embarking on a journey of epic proportions and being part of the only South African entrant for the Ocean Globe Race, she has truly brought a sense of pride to Newcastle.

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