Sailing Magazine
pic by Alec Smith
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 utterly alone, he is literally eating up the fleet and posting distances sailed between position updates far greater and far faster than any of his comparably sized rivals. He’s sailed 216nm in the last 24 hours and has the best VMG in the fleet bar that of ‘Translated 9′ which is significantly bigger than his yacht.
But also putting in good performances are ‘Nemesis’ and ‘Ray of Light’ as for a few days now they have had very similar speeds with ‘Nemesis’ in 4th spot on IRC handicap. There is a rivalry between these two yachts that will go down to the wire on the finish line, so expect a lot from them as the race unfolds.
I am personally a little disappointed in the performance of the ‘AlexForbes Archangel” team who are hanging on to 10th spot on handicap, and simply don’t seem able to achieve better boat speed nor good daily runs. Maybe there is a problem aboard?
The boat impressing most overnight in terms of handicap is ‘Felix’ a Bongers 39 design. She’s showing good pace for a boat designed specially for the 1971 Rio Race – some 52 years ago!
Keep an eye on the YB Tracker which updates every six hours.
Today, in years of yore, I have more news and history of past races to share, so here goes:
1973. Big Ondine is Crew’s Nightmare. READ IT HERE: 1973 01 06 – Rio 1973 – S&A – 000043 – OCR
1973. Boredom is the Arch-enemy of the Rio Racers. READ IT HERE: 1973 01 06 – Rio 1973 – S&A – stitched – 000045-1 – OCR
1973. Grub’s Up. READ IT HERE: 1973 01 06 – S&A – 000040
1976. Brazilian Visas in Big Demand At Cape. READ IT HERE: 1976 01 06 – 1976 Rio – S&A – 002043 – OCR
1985. Pooh! Get Rid of Those Takkies. READ IT HERE: 1985 01 06 – S&A – 433_Redacted
1985. It’s War on the Waves. READ IT HERE: 1985 01 06 – stitched – S&A – 000079-1
1993. Searose Survives First Race Hurdle. READ IT HERE: 1993 01 06 – S&A – 335_Redacted
1993. Nothing Less Than Victory Will Satisfy Teuteberg. READ IT HERE: 1993 01 06 – 1993 Rio – S&A – 336 2
1996. Great Views of Cape-to-rio Start. READ IT HERE: 1996 01 06 – 1996 Rio – S&A – 120
1996. Dollars the Decider in Rio Race. READ IT HERE: 1996 01 06 – 1996 Rio – S&A – 120-2
1996. On Your Marks, Get Set… . READ IT HERE: 1996 01 06 – 1996 Rio – S&A – 120-3
2000. The Cape’s Great Ocean Race. READ IT HERE: 2000 01 06 RCYC Archives – S&A – 002894
2000. Flying Down the Waves to Rio. READ IT HERE: 2000 01 06 – 2000 Rio – S&A – stitched final – 737
