Slow run home

Unless you have a 60ft trimaran - Ronelda Visser reports from the SAP Cape-Rio race

Swedish trimaran Nicator has been tied up alongside the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club for nearly two days now and the locals are eagerly awaiting the Brazilian entry Adrenalina Pura. She has spent a very frustrating day as the notorious lull of Rio de Janeiro claimed another victim. Skipper George Ehrensperger reported on Saturday that they were approximately 90 miles away near Cabo Frio. This morning she still had 69 miles to go before reaching the Carnival City.

In the mean time, the race for handicap honours is on. Gauteng-based Baleka is still clinging to her top handicap spot with Investec close on her keel.

Crew member Dave van der Spuy e-mailed: “As of yesterday we maintained the handicap lead, closely pursued by a spread of our competitors. Hot competition is Investec, also a Fast 42 yacht that seems hell-bent on getting ahead of us. Each day we plot all the boat positions and calculate how we are doing against our nearest rivals. It was interesting to note that some of the boats in our wake were at last picking up some of the winds that blew us on our way and that they were making better daily averages than we did.

We are pulling out all the stops to get round Trinidad and to Rio as fast as possible. Our current winds are good for our optimum sailing angles that deliver the best speed. Crew morale is high and we banter constantly about a variety of stuff. We calculate that we now have only some 7 more days to go, before we have Rio in sight. After rounding Trinidad, our speed of progress will depend a lot on winds and the coastal currents down
the Brazilian coastal plain,” wrote Dave van der Spuy.

Gawie Fagan and his three-strong crew continue to push the little 9-metre Suidoos 2 very hard and has moved back up into third position on handicap. Fagan and the German maxi Morning Glory have both passed Isle de Trinidade. Erwin Boulard from the Madiba Racing Team reported: “The excitement today came from spotting a whale in the morning. The flying fish continue to entertain with their flittering bursts of life out of the surface of the ocean, and then there was a white bird with a long tail, which must have come from the island of St Helena.

"With the increase in wind it's harder and harder to sleep between watches. At speeds of over 10 knots the boat starts humming, a bit like the sound of a stopping train. Everything vibrates. We lean at steep angles and all the lee cloths are up. Lee cloths are the mats we can clip on the side of the bunks so we don't fall out. They get a lot of work at the moment. From time to time I wake up with more of my weight in the lee cloth than on the bunk.”

Fifteen-year old Tessa Behrens, the youngest competitor in the race and only female on board the yacht Diel, sent a short e-mail reporting on their progress. Skipper Bernard Diebold and his crew, which includes six pupils from Reddam House, are hoping for an upset by upstaging the professional sailors and get a handicap win in class A. “There is a very competitive spirit in the air, trying to maintain our place in the handicap ratings.
Living with twelve males makes for interesting experiences, especially since we’re packed like sardines. Emergency sail changes in the middle of the night, with no moon, are memorable, but not much fun. There is a buzz of excitement on board as we near the island (Trinidade) and we can't wait to reach Rio,” wrote Tessa.

“During the night the new spinnaker (worth approximately R30 000) was blown to shreds. It was damaged so badly that we decided to dump it. In this same process, some of the halyards also sustained minor damage. We’re now hoping for 15-20 knot winds, as we only have the heavy bag left and it cannot be used in light winds. We’re are also currently sewing like mad to repair what was left of the Avery Berkel bag, which we tore earlier,” said Tessa.

Pos	Boat name	Type	Skipper	Lat			Lon			DTF
1	BALEKA	Fast 42	Alex Schon/Wolf Seitz	21	18.0	S	20	20.0	W	1294
2	INVESTEC	Fast 42	J McGraw/S Cumming	20	12.0	S	19	42.0	W	1329
3	BARRACUDA	Sun Magic	Nicola Amundsen	20	45.0	S	15	35.0	W	1559
4	SUIDOOS 2	RCOD (Mod)	Gawie Fagan	20	32.0	S	30	27.0	W	724
5	MADIBA RACING TEAM	Leisure 42		20	20.0	S	20	28.0	W	1285
6	DIEL		Bernhard Diebold	20	54.0	S	21	15.0	W	1241
7	MORNING GLORY	RP 80	Hasso Plattner	21	12.0	S	35	29.0	W	441
8	AUTO ATLANTIC T/Child	Lavranos 52	R & G Goldswain	20	52.0	S	22	59.0	W	1144
9	DALYS INSURANCE	Lavranos 80	Mike Daly	19	36.0	S	22	54.0	W	1153
10	HELSAL II	Adams 65	Bill Rawson	20	1.0	S	23	6.0	W	1138
11	JULIE III	Miura	Robin Green	20	33.0	S	24	36.0	W	1053
12	KONICA/MALLINICKS INDABA	Stadt 34	John Levin	19	56.0	S	26	10.0	W	967
13	MADAME PAZZAZZ	Far 38 Mod	M Skeen / G Hewitt	20	47.0	S	13	41.0	W	1666
14	VCR 90.6 FM	Gitana 43	G Boshoff / H Karolius	24	41.0	S	13	38.0	W	1693
15	FASCINATION OF POWER	Fast 42	John Martin	20	45.0	S	15	45.0	W	1550
16	MAIDEN		Terry Nielsen	20	31.0	S	16	31.0	W	1507
17	INSPIA	Challenge 67	Derek Shuttleworth	21	26.0	S	14	38.0	W	1612
18	34 SOUTH @ KNYSNA	Dix 46	Theo Beens	22	1.0	S	10	59.0	W	1817
19	BIG REEF		Brian Sutherland	23	22.0	S	9	35.0	W	1899
20	FTI FLYER	Charger	Keith Mattison	20	28.0	S	21	17.0	W	1239
21	SCORPIO	Islander 51	H Oliphant / J Dickson	21	35.0	S	11	35.0	W	1783
22	SAFARI - CTW	Vicker 41	David Tideswell	22	30.0	S	22	5.0	W	1210
23	LOVE LIFE	Lello 78	Marion Cole	20	2.0	S	10	47.0	W	1831
	NICATOR	Open 60 Cat	Klas Nylof	22	59.0	S	43	11.0	W
	ADRENALINA PURA	Multi Cat	G Ehrensperger	22	19.0	S	40	37.0	W	148
	AQUILA	H Rassy 42	Jon Thurlow	20	18.0	S	21	43.0	W	1215
	INYONI	Miura	HI Ferreira	20	54.0	S	17	30.0	W	1452
	ACALANTIS	Roberts 45	M Tattavitto	22	16.0	S	21	54.0	W	1216
	CUMIN THRU	Barens S/Trad	Alexander Smith	21	5.0	S	13	16.0	W	1689
	ALBACORE	Corrida	Grant Saunders	20	49.0	S	18	33.0	W	1393
	NAUTY 40S	Roberts 45	Falk Graser	21	17.0	S	15	50.0	W	1545
	FORSDICKS BMW	Island Spirit	M Avelino/H Dopke	21	33.0	S	11	44.0	W	1774