Sailing Magazine
Bernard Farmer took his Charger 33 to a stunning handicap win in the Vasco da Gama Ocean race between Durban and Port Elizabeth at the end of April.
This was a very tough race with the fleet being clubbed by two gale force South Westerlies in excess of 40 knots. But this did not deter Farmer and his crew who took it all in their stride, knuckled down, and simply sailed hard all the time.
At one point, according to the YBtrackers, they were leading on line and handicap honours! And this on the smallest boat in the fleet.
Their final results showed them to be a little over 3 hours behind the line honours winner, and some 8 hours ahead on handicap. To say he won convincingly is an understatement.
This result is no fluke as it was all part of a 3-year plan by Farmer. He sailed in the 2016 race and missed the 2017 race after suffering damage during the delivery when off Agulhas, and made it very clear that he had every intention of winning on handicap in 2018 – and this he did on the smallest boat named Seaport Supply DARG Shadowfax.
To have brought that small boat home to victory is an award-winni
ng performance.
