Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Firstly the good news – the Race Committee has arranged for the YB Tracker to track the finishing boats every 2 hours from when they are 40nm out, and every hour from 20nm to the finish. So even if you are not there you will get a very good idea as to how your team is doing.
Let’s hope that you don’t sit in a windless hole watching them go nowhere fast when they are in the vicinity of Cabo Frio!
Looking at the 20h00 YB Tracker update the game has changed yet again as ‘Ballyhoo Too’ has raced into the mix with a podium place in third, displacing ‘Zulu Girl’, and dropping ‘Haspa Hamburg’ to 5th on corrected time. This is all in theory of course, and with just 6 minutes separating ‘Ballyhoo Too’ and ‘Zulu Girl’, there’s lots to race for, and with ‘Haspa Hamburg’ another 24 minutes behind on corrected handicap time, there is no room for slacking off and not sailing the boat to its absolute maximum.
I have been watching ‘Ballyhoo Too’ for the last few days as she ate up some miles, but never thought she would hit the podium. But with 156nm under her belt in the last 24 hours, compared to the rest of the fleet who generally have done not much more than 100nm, she has caught them all unawares. Let’s see if she can hold this fast finish until the end, but with 610nm to go, her chances I believe are slim as the wind could well undo her current good showing. But maybe she will prove me wrong?
‘JM Busha 54′ has 98nm to go, with next closest being ‘Haspa Hamburg’ followed by ‘Mojie’ and ‘Mussulo’.
There’s a thrilling finish to be had, so don’t stray or go away, catch a few winks quickly as you may well have to wake up in the wee hours to follow them in.
