From Alex Petersen in Salvador
John Martin asked me a brief report for the RCYC club newsletter. It has been a hugely different race from last time. This edition of Heineken Cape to Bahia race has been dominated by the presence of the super-maxis, ICAP Leopard from Britain, and Rambler from the United States has made the event truly international, in terms of both media and yachting interest.
In the Nautical Centre, generously made available to us by the city of Salvador, the media releases are pinned up, and apart from the South African coverage, the reports from international media sites emphasize what an international event this is. Yachting World.com, Sailing Anarch.com, La Stampa It, Boating Oz.com, Yachts.com.au, XS Racing and etc make the point when they all publish stories of the race results. But the publicity goes to the prima donnas, with no mention of the South African entrants.
A big contrast to last time, when it was virtually an all South African race, and there were certainly several contenders for the handicap winner, with Suidoos being in contention until almost the end, and a strong battle between Windsong, Gumption, and Devonvale, and MTU. In this race the loss of Vineta and Ponty Leisure [Gumption] just a few days out was a blow for both them and the race.
But in just the first few days of this race, ICAP Leopard had the ascendancy and simply extended their lead day by day. Rambler too sailed a hard race, and as it happens, a course far closer to the rhumb line. Eric Wells has plotted the report time positions, and while that of Rambler is all but a straight line between start and finish, ICAP Leopard takes a swerve south of the line, but on day 6 heads north-west for two days, crossing the line, and then turning more westerly again.
In the process Leopard sailed 3440 miles, 110 miles more than the 3300 rhumb line distance, while Rambler exceeded it by only 40 miles. Eric ponders whether closer to the rhumb line course, Leopard may have taken under ten days.
Naturally, both the super-maxis were pleased with their race. On Leopard Mike Slade and crew had guaged their progress in times of miles lead on the water, while on Rambler George David's crew looked for the handicap lead. In Salvador, Slade and crew boasted their day's lead over their rival. And 24 hours later the Ramblers were celebrating a similar lead on handicap. But both yachts have been a boost for this premier long distance race that RCYC hosts, and the view of the Rambler guys is that were it not for the financial snafu in world markets, at least two or three of the big international yachts would have been on the start line. So maybe for the next race they will be, - the format for the event is broadly on the right track.
In the cruising fleet, both during the stopover in St Helena, and during the happy hour chat shows on SSB, there has been a strong camaraderie between "our" boats and the World ARC fleet, so has made the crossing a richer experience for both groups. People in the World ARC fleet I have met all spoke very warmly about there stop in Cape Town, in particular the Brazilian boat Angela II, and you can find owner Renato Plass's remarks on the race website.
Renato had Augusto Streppel, commodore of the Porto Alegre Yacht Club aboard, who presumably knows a bit about organizing events, and the work this entails, and they were all highly complementary about there stay in Cape Town and Salvador, and the race organization in general.
Meeting some of the yachts arriving, I realized for the first time the huge amount of time put in by Eric Wells and John Martin and the other guys waiting up at all hours of the night, and then still functioning the next day.
Global warming may be a factor in the more unusual wind patterns, but at least, to judge by some of the emails, the fish are still there, providing not only a diversion but a meal on a number of boats. One feels the cruising guys have the best approach.
