Point Yacht Club
Vasco da Gama Ocean Race
Port Elizabeth: 25 April
Al Mount Gay Rum skippered by Rob van Rooyen goes one
better this year, taking line honours in record time and claiming the handicap
win in the 45th edition of the Vasco da Gama Ocean Race hosted by
Point Yacht Club.
The defending champ on handicap sailed a flawless race in a time of 2 days 6
hours 1min 22 sec, smashing the record by 56mintues and claiming the double
when she arrived in Port Elizabeth yesterday (Monday) evening at 06:01pm. The
team of eight from Cape Town were delighted with their victory, “We knew going
into the race that getting the double was a possibility, we knew it would be a
challenge but anything is possible. A double whammy, it really is wonderful.”
an elated van Rooyen said as soon as he reached the moorings.
Continuing, he stated, “We were really disappointed when
Yes Girl retired! They sailed a phenomenal race straight out of the starting
blocks and into the lead. We were happy if they got line honours, we knew we
could take them on the handicap, and our game plan was to beat them tactically.
But once they retired, our tactics changed and we eyed out our next opposition,
Bellatrix who at that stage were lying in third, behind us before Yes Girl made
her way to East London.”
“We opted to sail using the currents, but once the sea
state deteriorated, we came inshore. My team did fantastically, all things
considering. One or two got seasick, but they dug deep and got over it. The
more experienced guys handled the rough weather like champs.”
“Our average age, we worked out is 24 years on the boat. I just turned 30 and
two of the other guys are 30. The youngest is 17. So, we are young, eager crew.
We all have been sailing on and off together since I was about ten, so we know
each other’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses.”
With the fleet getting dished all sorts of weather, being
battered by lumpy seas, winds from all directions, van Rooyen commented, “Al
was great. I think going into the race that is where we were better compared to
the other guys. We have been prepping Al for the last six months and were
extremely well prepared and managed to keep the boat in one piece throughout
the heavy stuff. She was sailing like a dream. So I do believe we started at an
advantage to the rest of the guys, no one else spent half a year readying their
boat.”
With the upcoming Cape2 Rio race around the corner, van
Rooyen highlighted, “We would consider doing a race like Rio but in all
honesty, the Vasco is far more challenging. Yes, the race only last two days
but the actual getting to Durban, and sailing along the SA coastline. This race
is much more difficult that the Rio race, in my opinion. There is far more
adrenaline in this short, burst down the coastline.”
The next boat to cross the line was Durban’s very own
Bellatrix skippered by Gregg Hurter, who arrived just over three hours behind
Al. The two pushed each other the entire race, down the coastline, both opting
to stay relatively close to shore. As they neared the end, Al accelerated in
the varying winds, expanding the gap between the two.
After 400NM, two boats diced it all the way towards
finish line in the hopes of claiming third across the line. Only one nautical
mile separated the two that were due in the early hours of this morning
(Tuesday). Rocket, skippered by Herbie Karolius from Cape Town put in a fine
display of sailing, having had to return back to sheltered waters, soon after
their disastrous start. The Simonis 54 snagged the start buoy as they were
heading through the line on the start on Saturday. After a battle to free it,
they eventually cut the warp free and started their voyage only to realise that
they in fact were dragging the start line’s anchor, which was slowing them
down.
Hats off to the dark horse, Yes Girl from Cape Town,
skippered by Gabriel Fernandes the L35 Mod looked to have the race wrapped up
with a red ribbon, but as ocean racing goes, it isn’t over until you cross the
line. In the proverbial all things happen in threes, Yes Girl certainly was
dished a threesome. First, as they were heading to the start line, they got
stuck on the ‘putty’, beaching themselves at low tide on the sandbank at the
end of the marina. They then got themselves tangled around the start line when they
got offshore, dragging it for some distance. And then the third and fatal blow
to their race, their steering system packed up after the boat was pushed to the
maximum late on Sunday, when they were forced to retire to East London.
Joining them in East London, the gorgeous Ray of Light also had to retire due
to blowing out their head on their main sail in 40knots wind. Helmed by the
husband and wife team, Heidi and Michael Kavanagh will be disappointed as they
got brand new sails leading up to this race.
The remainder of the exhausted 16 strong fleet arrived in
to Port Elizabeth with only one boat not being able to cross the lien in the
allocated time, Izimoyo II skippered by Jasper van der Westhuizen just didn’t
make the cut, as they battled with the challenging conditions the whole way
from Durban to Port Elizabeth.
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