The Global Challenge is a round-the-world yacht race created in 1989 by Challenge Business, Chay Blyth's company. Competitors sail around the world 'the wrong way', east to west through the Southern Ocean against the prevailing winds and currents, about 29,000 nautical miles.
It is held every four years on one-design yachts, first the steel Challenge 67s designed by David Thomas and Thanos Condylis, then the Challenge 72s designed by Rob Humphreys. Crews are amateurs who pay an entry fee, led by a professional skipper; the organisers billed it as the world's toughest race for amateurs. Save the Children was associated with it.
The 1992-93 (British Steel Challenge, won by John Chittenden's Nuclear Electric), 1996-97 (BT Global Challenge, won by Mike Golding's Group 4), 2000-01 (won by Conrad Humphreys's LG Flatron) and 2004-05 (won by Andy Forbes's BG Spirit) editions are documented. In 2004-05 the route went Portsmouth, Buenos Aires, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, Boston and La Rochelle, back to Portsmouth. Financial difficulties at Challenge Business later led to the sale of the boats.
