Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Sadly for those still at sea, the place to be is in Rio where “war stories’ are being exchanged, and salt-encrusted crew are being reacquainted with the niceties of life ashore once more, sipping exotic cocktails and no doubt loving the sights on the Copacabana beaches.
But for those still out on the water, there are still some gains to be had, even if its simply the satisfaction of beating a rival and gaining a place on the leader board.
Since yesterday when ‘JM Busha 54′ became the first monohull to finish, ‘Haspa Hamburg’, ‘Mussulo’, ‘Almagores II’ and ‘Mojie II’ have finished – the latter two just a single minute apart across the finish line.
‘Sulanga’ is tantalisingly close to the finish line, with ‘Saravah’ 33nm off being the next two to finish.
‘Zulu Girl’, ‘Umoya’ and ‘Argonaut’ are likely to finish today, depending of course on the wind and if it holds.
At this point the monohull overall handicap positions show that ‘Saravah’, ‘Ballyhoo Too’ and ‘Zulu Girl’ all have a chance of a podium finish, depending of course on how soon they can cross the finish line.
It does appear though that ‘Mussulo 40′ will be the overall winner of this race as she is looking safe and unlikely to be beaten. Plus she also takes the two-handed division from ‘Ballyhoo Too’.
In the multihull division, the big dogs of ‘Love Water’ and ‘Maserati’ are secure in that order, with ‘Myrtle of Bonnievale’ likely to be the 3rd boat on the podium.
This has been a fascinating race, made more interesting by the addition of YB Tracking whose trackers never missed a single beat. Thanks YBTracking.
