Auckland to Rio

Half way round the world, but only four tenths of the points awarded so far. illbruck was heading the leaderboard by three points over Dalton’s Amer Sports One, five points over Fanstone’s NewsCorp and six over McDonald. This tantalising position prompted a round of crew changes, more than 30 in all and it was the return of American legend Paul Cayard that commanded most the headlines.

He had been sacked from his Oracle America’s Cup team so joined Amer Sports One alongside Grant Dalton. Many were intrigued how the two skippers would get on. They were both used to being in charge and had their own ideas of how boats should be raced.

But Dalton seemed happy to have Cayard supporting him. “He's a fast driver, he's a great tactician, he has huge energy, he is a good motivator, he will be good for me. It's been a long two years for me and even though I don't feel tired I am sure I'm probably off the boil a little bit. He's got me working harder than I was expecting with nine days to go which is a good thing.”

Others were not so sure.

The Southern Ocean beckoned for the second time. Icebergs then Cape Horn to port. Even for the salty old seadogs, this remained a scary prospect and this time, the icebergs were bigger and more frightening than ever.

Even before the first sightings were made, Krantz was back in the wars on Team SEB.

First of all, he had to explain to his six year old daughter why he was back in sixth place.

“I made a phone call to my six year old daughter Emma this morning and explained that I missed her. ”She answered by asking in what position we were. I tried again to talk about how much I looked forward to seeing her. She responded by asking if we were still in the lead. I realized I was trapped and admitted to her that we had lost the lead. Again she would not let go and asked in what position we were. I told her that we had lost out to a few boats and were now in sixth place and then, I added that I hoped to see her very soon. “There was a short silence and then she said, ‘Daddy, could you please get some speed on that boat?’”

A week later, Krantz had more calls to make after the rig on Team SEB came crashing down in fierce winds and freaky waves. Everyone was safe, but the feeling on board was one of deep disappointment.

“I guess this is the toughest mail ever,” the skipper wrote. “Tears were not far away, when the whole thing 'was over', and we had a little time to reflect. It certainly is a sad day for the project and all individuals working so hard to do their best. The race for a top spot is over. We now have to concentrate on getting good results in on the legs and see how far it takes us. What has put us in this situation? Was it gear failure? No. Just too much wind at one stage in combination with really bad waves.”

By then, all the boats were worried for their own safety due to the overwhelming amount of ice in their paths.

“I openly admit that I was seriously worried and on occasions really scared,” admitted Ross Field on NewsCorp. “We were quite fascinated by the first iceberg we saw, but after we were seeing icebergs the size of major islands, we knew we were in deep trouble. We kept hammering on but I was seriously, seriously worried.”

He wasn’t the only one to admit his fears.

“It was the most hair raising experience I’ve ever had and I’ve had a few,” said Mark Rudiger. “I’ve aged more than a few weeks.”

Some reckoned it had become too dangerous.

“They put chicanes into F1 races and there ought to be a chicane in this leg because the boats drove so heavily into the ice for advantage that it is really lucky that we didn’t lose a boat,” said Dalton

The skippers had been offered a waypoint, it later transpired, but after looking at shipping reports and satellite pictures, had declined thinking it would compromise them. As it happened the information had been misleading. There was ice everywhere and many vowed they would never return.

illbruck was first to round the Cape, having sailed an immaculate leg thus far and Amer Sports One, NewsCorp and Tyco followed behind them.

“We finally passed the Horn this morning at dawn,” wrote Kostecki. “It wasn't the typical type of sailing you read about as kid....gale force winds and rough seas. We had 20 knots running with a spinnaker and a mild seaway. The sky was clear and the sun was just rising. What did we do? Some of us smoked cigars and we had a team photo with the famous Cape Horn in the background. Everyone was extremely happy to see Cape Horn as we passed only one nm away. Most of us waved goodbye to the Southern Ocean as we turned the corner and headed north.”

On Valentine’s Day, which saw crew from just two boats send messages back to their loved ones, the chaps on NewsCorp had their hearts broken when they became the fourth Bruce Farr yacht to see their rudder snap off and float away after racing almost 6,000 nautical miles. To make matters worse, their transom also cracked, but despite all this carnage, they refused to give up, effecting repairs that made them look more like a Heath Robinson contraption than a state of the art racing yacht.

As the fleet headed north to Rio, illbruck’s lead started to evaporate, at one point losing 25 percent of her lead to Amer Sports One in just six hours. It set up a thrilling finish and in his emails back to base, Cayard was animated.

“Another beautiful day in paradise out here,” he wrote before delving into day-by-day detail. “After being out here for three weeks, you realise you have forgotten about what is going on in the world. The Winter Olympics would have started by now... maybe they finished. I don't know. Where is Osama [bin Laden]? Is that still a popular subject? Probably for G.W. But the real question is, ‘Who is winning the Star Masters Regatta in Miami?’ On a final note, I want to say that my sailing with Grant Dalton has been excellent. He is a great leader...strong but fair, fun personality, decisive and humble. He also knows how to lead by example, which is key in any project. The finish of this leg may be tricky and the outcome may depend a bit more on luck than skill. Let's face it, illbruck deserves to win the leg, but sailing is not always straightforward. What is important for the Nautor Challenge is that we are 3/4 of the way around the world and less than half the points have been awarded and my feeling is that this boat and this team can win it all. That is excellent, all things considered. It seems like we have just sailed a long way but the race is far from over.”

After almost 7,000 nm of racing, the five leading boats were locked into the tightest of battles as fickle wind conditions off the Brazilian coast turned wise old heads sore. It was Djuice who saw an opportunity away from the fleet.

They moved inshore and found a gentle north easterly breeze while ASSA ABLOY and Tyco struggled in no wind at all. This propelled them into second place behind illbruck, which was precisely the order they crossed the Rio finish line, giving them their first podium place in the race and putting more space between the overall leaders and next placed Amer Sports One. Dalton and Cayard could do no better than fifth, which was perhaps the biggest shock of the race so far.