Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
On 13 January 1973 the second Cape to Rio yacht race started in Cape Town with 43 yachts competing, and today, 50 years later another fleet of intrepid sailors head off into the South Atlantic in their quests to win the race to Rio.
The race organisers had learnt a lot from the very first race in 1971, and had fine-tuned things considerably for their own administrative benefit as well as those of the competitors.
For me the biggest change was that Ilha da Trindade became a mark of the course as in the previous race the fleet was spread so far across the ocean that it was impossible for the SA Navy Guardship to keep tabs on everyone. By making these islands a course mark, the fleet concertinaed as they approached the island and set course for the final leg to Rio. This was in the days prior to GPS, electronic navigation and satellite tracking. Today we know exactly where each yacht is almost instantly.
A highlights of that race was ‘Stormy’, skippered by the “old man of the sea” Kees Bruynzeel, taking both line and handicap honours, and acknowledging victory as “the crowning achievement of my yachting career”.
The German yacht ‘HIC III’ broke her mast very shortly after the start. She quickly secured a new mast and returned to the race days later.
The biggest scandal of the race was the stowaway aboard ‘Albatross II’ which was skippered by Richard Edwards. When Edwards discovered his “green-eyed problem”, his girlfriend, aboard, he decided to only declare her presence at the finish.
The final highlight was the favourite for line honours, ‘Ondine’, skippered by Huey Long, retiring after taking too southerly a course, and running out of wind. He retired with grace and promised to return in 1976 – a promise he kept.
From the heady days of the first race in 1971 of 69 entries to the massive 128 starters in 1976, this year the race is tame and far more compact in comparison.
As in every race there is always an eclectic range of yachts and crew, all with very different goals and dreams to fulfill. Some simply want to have the experience of crossing an ocean and take things casually, while others set out with the intention of winning and push hard 24-hours a day from start to finish.
For the landlubbers reading this, ocean racing is a non-stop 24-hour slog day in and day out, with the night watches being even more important than those during daylight hours. The reason is that fatigue, night blindness and a relaxed attitude can prevail at night, making the hours of darkness achieve less in terms of distance sailed compared to daylight hours. Oh, and no, they don’t drop the anchor at night and sleep!
Napoleon Bonaparte is alleged to have said that an army marches on its stomach. It’s true, as while the crew may not be getting their 10 000 steps every day, every muscle in their bodies is constantly moving as they trim the sails, steer the boat or just go about their daily routines. So the role of the cook is vitally important as those bodies need feeding – constantly. A good cook will keep morale up by keeping their charges well fed and well watered, especially with that late night hot drink or early morning coffee at the change of watch.
Talking of watches, each skipper has a system they prefer and stick to. The most common though, is four hour watches during the night and 6 hour watches during the day. This gives the off watch every second night of just a single watch – and believe me, it’s always well appreciated. However, when the chips are down or a sail needs changing, it’s “all hands on deck” whether off watch or not.
There are just 17 yachts celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Cape to Rio Race.
There are several yachts capable of winning this race on handicap, and the winner will come from the crew who drive their boat the hardest and fastest throughout the race. Yachst such as ‘Alexforbes Archangel’, ‘Audaz’, ‘Cool Ideas Nemesis’, DHL Me2me’, ‘Ray of Light’, ‘Sterna’ and ‘Translated 9′ are all in with a shout for bragging rights of winning the 2023 Cape2Rio race.
My sentimental favourite is ‘Alexforbes Archangel’, and not because they are a black team of sailors from disadvantaged backgrounds, but simply because this entire crew has the experience, ability, knowledge and level-headedness to perform to a high level and take the race by the scruff of the neck and win.
The team is skippered by Sibusiso Sizatu (30) who is backed up by Daniel Agulhas (29) as first mate, with Renaldo Tshepo Mohale (29), Thando Mntambo (23), Azile Arosi (22) and Justin Peters (21) as the balance of crew.
Plus, they have put an inordinate amount of quality time in to their preparations, as mental as well as physical preparation is required to successfully race a yacht across and ocean.
This is acknowledged by Sibusiso Sizatu who said “you mentally pace yourself to spend a long time out at sea. We know we are in for the long haul – between 24 and 27 days.”
A testament to their ability is the fact that all crew members have their basic skipper’s ticket, with three having passed the written and practical exams for their offshore skipper’s certificate of competence. They have also completed courses in personal survival techniques, while Justin Peters and Sibu Sizatu completed a diesel mechanic course enabling them to work on the boat in the case of engine failure.”
The bottom line is that this is a well prepared team.
Line honours should, on paper, be taken by ‘Translated 9′ which at 65-foot long is the biggest boat in the fleet, although there are some multihull which could make the quickest passage and snatch line honours, with ‘Aventureiro 4′ leading that challenge.
There is a lone singlehanded entry from Adrian Kuttel who will be sailing ‘Atalanta’, a hot modern racer. While he won’t have the luxury of crew to assist him, he has put in an inordinate amount of physical training to prepare for the race. Who knows, he may well surprise many at the finish line!
Going along at a leisurely pace will be ‘The Impossible Machine (TIM)’ which is owned by Ard Matthews, one of South Africa’s most prized singers, song writers and award-winning artists who will be competing in his first ocean race.
‘The Impossible Machine (TIM)’ was formerly known as The Howard Davis, and under that name did several races to Rio, so maybe there is a special groove in the water which she will follow!
Despite the small entry, this is a quality fleet, and a very open race which is difficult to call.
The race will be tracked by YB Tracking (https://www.ybtracking.com) With positions updated every few hours. It’s a great way to follow the race closely, with good sailing info supplied by the satellite trackers.
The race website is: https://cape2riorace.com/
