News

by Richard Crockett Speed and distance covered in the last 24-hours has improved marginally, and looking at the synoptic charts for the area they are sailing towards, the fleet should have some wind for a few days, although there are still light patches ahead to frustrate them. The leading two cats were neck-and-neck yesterday, with ‘Aventurerio 4′ sailing just 1nm further than her rival ‘Norhi’. It was the monohulls which clocked up the biggest distances yesterday with ‘Audaz II’, ‘Ray …

By Richard Crockett This is turning out to be a very slow race as light winds have plagued the fleet for several days now. It’s never pleasant being becalmed mid-ocean as all one thinks about is the time wasted, distance not travelled, and how that ice cold beer at the finish appears to be even more than an eternity away! No, the top yachts don’t carry beer as it’s additional weight which will slow them down. Some skippers also forbid …

by Richard Crockett Another light day and no doubt more frustrations for those at sea as well as amongst the landlubbers following them. Of the monohulls, just ‘Sterna’ managed more than 100nm in 24 hours, the next best being ‘Atalanta’ and ‘Translated 9′ with 89nm each. ‘Nyamazela’ managed just 30nm in the same period! Right now it’s looking like a slow race although the pace is picking up a little with ‘Translated 9′, ‘Atalanta’ and ‘Nemesis all averaging over 6 …

by Richard Crockett What a day of contrasts as light winds generally plagued the fleet and, I am sure, caused much frustration and gnashing of teeth as the sails slatted lazily and progress was VERY slow. Well, slow for some as in the south ‘Translated 9′ found some wind and breezed along clocking up 149nm, while the slowest yacht, ‘Nyamazela’ covered just 21 paltry miles. For Adrian Kuttel and ‘Atalanta’, the most northern yacht of those in the south, he …

by Richard Crockett The past 24 hours has been tough as the fleet in general recorded very slow progress, many battling to get over 100nm for the 24 hour period. That’s soul destroying stuff as the sails flop, flap, and tensions rise! Yet there was a notable exception with the AlexForbes Archangel youngsters recording the second best days run. They managed 134nm with best run of the day coming from a boat almost twice their size. ‘Translated 9′ recorded 137nm …

by Richard Crockett There is now a definite split in the fleet with a north and south divide clearly visible on the tracker. The northern route has always been the favoured one to Rio, especially in the early days when one had to round Ilha da Trindade as a mark of the course. Today that island is no longer part of the course which is sad for the competitors as they miss this famous landmark. Leading the charge north are …

by Richard Crockett One has to remember that these are still early days in the Cape2 Rio race as the fleet has been at sea for just 5 days now. Yet in those five day some have achieved the first goal of completing the 1000 nautical miles, while others still have a day or more to get there. Still steam very fast and showing that he means business is the single-hander Adrian Kuttel on ‘Atalanta’ who again in the last …

by Richard Crockett I do enjoy waking up to the YB Tracker and seeing first-hand how the Rio fleet is faring. The service YB Tracking offers is the very best available and gives one all the info needed to get a good overview of proceedings. For me though, ‘Atalanta’, the only singlehanded entry in the race, and skippered by Adrian Kuttel, is the boat I am most impressed with. Kuttel has his trusty steed going exceptionally fast, and despite being …

by Richard Crockett Now that the Cape2Rio Race is in full swing and the fleet have found their sea legs, settled down into their routines and now starting to push harder, it’s time to look back on the race news from days of yore. But before that, a quick summary of what’s happening out on the water. The race to cross the line first in Rio lies with the catamaran ‘Norhi’, followed some 20nm astern by ‘Aventurerio 4′. On handicap …

by Richard Crockett The staring cannon was fired at 14h00 by the Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, setting the fleet off across the South Atlantic with Rio de Janeiro as the destination. The first night at sea is never an easy one as it takes time to settled down, get into an onboard rhythm and generally acquaint oneself with life at sea. I was interested to see that within a few hours of the start Adrian Kuttel on …

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 …

by Richard Crockett (editor@sailing.co.za) The festive season has crept up on me rather rapidly and taken me by surprise, leaving me with little breathing room with less than a week to go until Christmas. As a result I have decided to take a break until the new year. Having said this, I will however post ‘Talking Sailing” occasionally during this time as I know there are many out there who need their morning fix – as well as their coffee! …

by Richard Crockett I will share seven newspaper features today, primarily of high-profile people at the time. Most prominent then was Kees Bruynzeel who literally put his life on the line to compete in the race – and who with his crew went on to win overall on handicap. “Bobby’s Never Bored Crossing the Ocean” blared the headline. Of course this is Bobby Bongers who was skippering ‘Jakaranda’. READ IT HERE:  1973 01 13 – Rio 1973 – S&A – …

by Richard Crockett These posts from the old races have really struck a chord so here is a small collection of newspaper cuttings of people, incidents and more from the 1971 Cape to Rio race. ‘Cariad’, the grand old lady of the sea, took a pounding on her passage from Durban to Cape Town, breaking a mast and even losing a crewman overboard. READ IT ALL HERE:  1971 01 03 – Rio 1971 – S&A – 000741_Redacted Ricus van de …

by Richard Crockett I thought it may be useful for competitors and landlubbers alike to benefit from feature articles on how to get from Cape Town to Rio by yacht, so have included two feature articles today. The first was specially written by Commander Tim Sex (yes, that really was his surname), for the 1971 Cape to Rio Race official brochure. One needs to keep in mind that this was written some 52+ years ago, yet the basics should not …