MTN CAPE TO RIO YACHT RACE - JANUARY 2000

Royal Cape yacht club was all a buzz on the 8th January 2000 as spectators, family, press and competitors all rushed around doing last minute preparations.

After our last farewells we untied our yacht for the last time in twenty-one days and left the jetty and yacht club behind us.

Just to make the good-byes even worse, my friends on "The Better Connection" played the song 'Time to say good-bye' constantly.

The start was as I had predicted: there was hardly any wind, and as the start start gun sounded, all the yachts bobbed over the line to herald a not-very-exciting-start!

Luckily after about three hours, we managed to get a good 24 knots of breeze and hoisted our spinnaker. By the next morning land was nowhere in sight.

We were out on the ocean for twenty-one days, so I am going to just tell you about a few of the unforgettable experiences.

The first two days were quite enjoyable, despite the fact that the boat was at an uncomfortable angle and that we were broaching all the time ( broaching is when the boat falls on its side, but can be corrected by steering into wind.)

After one day of no wind, we hit the high pressure system and with that strong winds and big waves. (Also flying fish and dolphins)

For another three days we had to battle 30-35 knots of wind and swell that ranged for 8 - 10 metres.

On one of the days, we hit a 40 knot squall and broached quite heavily. During that broach, our skipper slipped and fractured his leg. This put him out of action and bunk-bound for five days.

From that time, until we reached the Island of Ilha De Trinidade, the winds were very fickle and we ended up having to sail into the wind for seven days ( this is uncharacteristic of the Cape To Rio yacht race, as the wind is supposed to be behind you.)

The Island was an amazing sight - probably because it was our first sighting of land in sixteen days. At the Island Robert managed to catch a huge Yellow Fin Tuna, which was greatly appreciated by the crew as by this stage we were all sick to death of irradiated food.

We took five days to get from the Island to Rio De Janeiro, and during these five days we encountered some bad storms and absolutely no wind. We had two days of sailing through thunder, lightning, rain and constant squalls of 40 knots (quite scary at times)

One day before Rio, we hit a patch of no wind and were making absolutely no progress towards our final destination. (It was dreadful to be able to see Rio, but have no way of getting there fast)

In the end, the wind did find us (or we found the wind) and we finished on the 29th January at 5:00pm Rio time.

Overall, this race has been said by some to have been the toughest Rio race yet. Even though our boat was wet all the time, and was described by Alex as "being on a washing machine with five people on the back of a truck" this is an experience I will never forget, and one that I am glad I experienced.

Hopefully, I will have a chance to sail again in 2003, but definitely a bigger boat as a 30ft is not ideal for this race.