Printable version  News feed

It was not long before the happy crew faces, captured a thousand times by the world’s sailing snappers who had turned out to record the Solent departure, turned to frazzled frowns as problems started to materialise, both on the boats and far, far away.

Wealthy Italian steel magnate Giorgio Falck started the race at the helm of RollyGo but was taken off at Las Palmas due to a family illness. Reino Enqvist, skipper of Scandinavian, radio-ed race control to say he was quitting due to rigging, electrical and radio problems on board.

There was a leak in Flyer’s fresh water tank so each crew member was restricted to five small cups of water a day. Blyth lost a rudder and a spinnaker and several boats lost halyards and spinnakers during a half-hour tropical storm.

But worse of all was the lack of wind, which had skippers and crews groaning and moaning all the way to the Canary Islands when some trade winds finally kicked in and the spinnakers were dusted off and hoisted.

One of the main beneficiaries of these trades was Ceramco who made good progress through the fleet, but these promising moments were short-lived because within a few days, the Kiwi yacht dismasted. More precisely, her mast broke in two places, leaving a five meter trunk and a pile of ropes. Fortunately, the 14 meter top mast section was retained so the crew were able to lash the two together and carry on, albeit at a much reduced speed.

Blake decided on a route to Cape Town that would add 1,500 nm to the journey, but would keep them in following winds. Many thought he was mad, but the detour to the first stopover proved to be one of the race’s all time epic voyages and despite the handicap, Ceramco made it into Cape Town ahead of eight of the 26 yachts in the race.

Ceramco’s problems marked the start of a sorry procession of mast episodes. La Barca Laboratorio, the Italian yacht packed to the gunwales with scientists conducting experiments on human behaviour, were able to test their own reactions when their rigging went over the side, forcing them to head for Recife in Brazil to make repairs.

RollyGo was the next casualty. Around 1,600 nm out of Cape Town, the rigging adjuster failed and the spar had to be trailed for an entire night before a jury rig could be set up.

FCF Challenger split her mast, Norway's Berge Viking broke the fitting at the top of her forestay, limiting her use of headsails, US entry Alaska Eagle broke hull frames and European University Belgium damaged her rigging. Save Venice, of Italy, also had problems with her forestay, Bubblegum had problems with her rig and United Friendly sprung a serious leak.

Rarely before had one leg kept shore crews and race officials so busy as 21 out of 29 boats reported structural, rigging or equipment failure. Replacement gear was dispatched to various parts of the world and programmes for repair drawn up in Cape Town, though despite the chaos, competitor Tim Burrel still found time to meet then marry Cape Town secretary Carol Jennings. Five days was all it took.

First across the Cape Town finish line was van Rietschoten in Flyer, having sailed an immaculate leg. He also won on handicap, leaving the rest of the fleet in little doubt over his intentions and ambitions, but as race legs go, it was one of the most dramatic in the events short history.