Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
News is very varied today, with relief felt that the all women crew are well and in no trouble.
The race to lead the fleet in to Rio is hotting up with ‘Ocean Spirit’ heading that attack, a mere 18nm ahead of ‘Striana’ and 28nm ahead of ‘Stormy’ with 800nm to go. While this is the race the landlubbers understand, it is the handicap race – to finish first on handicap (corrected time) that determines the overall race winner. That honour currently sits with ‘Albatros’, but with the winds in the south beginning to get lighter, there may be an opportunity for one of the more northerly placed yachts to steal her thunder. Time will tell.
The trade winds are beginning to be felt by the northerly boats, with those who have followed the weather experts and routing chart information, could well be sitting pretty in a day or so.
Results – Handicap
1 Albatros
2 Mercury
3 Striana
4 Golden City
5 Omuramba
Line Honours
1 Ocean Spirit
2 Striana
3 Stormy
4 Pen Duick
5 Graybeard
“All-Women Crew Break Silence”. Concern at a long silence from the only all·women yacht in the Cape-to-Rio race, ‘Sprinter’, lifted yesterday when a message received from the guardship ‘Tafelberg’ confirmed that her trouble had been the failure of an engine that charged the batteries. “Otherwise the winds are good, she is well on course and the crew are cheerful.”
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000428 – OCR
“Winds Are As Experts Predicted”. The weather experts have at last come into their own – the Cape-to-Rio yachts which relied on the meteorological forecast in the January ” Routing Chart” for the area are in strong positions.
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000538 – OCR
“Yachts Nearing Trades”. From today, leading Rio race yachts on the northern route can expect to feel the north-east trades associated with weather patterns off the Brazilian coast.
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000512 – OCR
“Lead Kept by Ocean Spirit”. ‘Ocean Spirit’, only 883 miles from Rio, was first in line in the Cape·to Rio race for the second day yesterday, but moved back from 24th to 26th on handicap.
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000256 – OCR
“Ocean Spirit Holds on to Rio Lead”. The big British ketch ‘Ocean Spirit’ was hanging on to a narrow lead in the Cape-to-Rio race today with only about 800 sea miles to go to the finish.
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000256 – OCR 1
“France Officers Ask: Where is Tabarly?” Where is Eric Tabarly? This was the first question officers of the French liner ‘S. S. France’ asked when South African Rio race officials boarded the luxury ship in Guanabara Bay.
READ MORE HERE: 1971 02 04 – Rio 1971 – Dave Elcock Collection -000511 – OCR
