Rio to Miami

Possibly one of the hottest legs on record started with yet another drama, involving….wait for it…..Kostecki, who was fast gaining a reputation for having a crisis early on in the leg then going on to win it, and Krantz, back on the water with Team SEB after having a new mast fitted.

On the way out from Rio, Team SEB tried to duck under illbrucks transom, but missed and went ploughing into the German boat. No one was hurt but illbruck’s hull was left with a hole in it the size of a fist, scratch marks down the side and no aft stanchion or guardrails. The hole was filled before dark and Krantz had no option but to put his hands up and admit to the bizarre mistake.

“The problem was probably miscommunication maybe or something that went wrong. We just did our 720 and continued racing. We’ll look into it further down the track,” said Gunnar

Kostecki, meanwhile was fuming since he was forced to slow down to make repairs. But in good illbruck tradition, it made little difference and he was soon back up front.

The heat was unbearable and every email carried plenty of detail highlighting their discomfort.

Said Roger Nilson on Amer Sports One, “Sleeping is very, very difficult. Only at night time can you sleep. At the moment it is the coolest time of day and it is 32 degrees. At the hottest time yesterday it was 37 degrees below decks.”

Nine days into the leg and the three leading boats had cleared the Doldrums, where black clouds and shifty winds had proved frustrating. Then they headed into the Trade Winds which should have made things more interesting but didn’t.

“With about 2,100 nautical miles to Miami we are locked into the north east trades and the sailing has become a bit boring,” Nilsson said. “Often your best job is sitting on the rail to improve speed, but there is not much for the navigators and tacticians to do.”

Knut Frostad had a novel idea for making the boat go faster.

“To save weight I have been considering the idea that Internet viewers could vote one person off the boat every day,” he explained. “This might be risky as I realise that throwing the skipper in the drink is probably the most enjoyable for all, but at least we will be very light by the time we reach the Caribbean.”

With the fleet divided into two, all eyes were on the Amer Sports boats. Dalton had earlier claimed that if he was ever beaten by the all-women’s crew, he would ‘run naked down the streets of Auckland with a pineapple up my a**e.’. Dalton was challenged closely on this leg by McDonald’s crew on Amer Sports Too and when navigator Miranda Merron put out the historic announcement that they had edged ahead of the boys, there was much sniggering among the fleet. The girls soon fell back, but were enjoying their best performance to date.

On illbruck, the medic felt it important to carry out a series of checks. “The spot check has started, meaning that any suspicious spots on a crewmember's body are thoroughly checked out to make sure they do not fester into a nasty boil. If there is one, then copious quantities of nappy cream and baby powder is applied to try and curb the sore. The bonus here is that down below deck is starting to smell more like a nursery than a locker room.”

For most of the leg, three boats, ASSA ABLOY, Tyco and illbruck, swapped places at the front, but it was McDonald’s boat that arrived first in Miami, a perfect set of sails providing an extra yard of pace over illbruck, which had seen its light wind spinnaker go overboard three days previously.

This was ASSA ABLOY’S second victory and established them as illbruck’s main opposition with five legs still to race.

“Sailing side by side with ASSA ABLOY and Tyco, it was very noticeable that they were similar in speed,” said Kostecki, starting to sound a little anxious. “They really have copied our sails and a lot of things that we have learned. We thought we had an advantage, but now, they're catching up. It's going to be a tight race for all the rest of the way around the world.”