By Luke Scott
Following Dreams…
With the front-runners now passing due south of St Helena Island in good breeze, it’s been a spectacular first half for these boats, who are now starting the slow turn down around the south Atlantic high and aiming at last for Rio.
What an inspiration and thrill it must be for the young crews aboard yachts like JM Busha, Rotary Scout, Haspa Hamburg and Zulu Girl to see just how quickly the two big trimarans have covered the first half of the race course! Remember, both these trimaran teams have been sailing and racing in many different forms for decades and have multiple Cape to Rio races to their collective credit already – and they themselves are fulfilling their dreams. I have no doubt that the future success stories of the youngsters in this race will reference the influence that these star racing tris have had on them here…
For the race, aren’t we lucky that these two tri’s are so closely matched for pace? The intrigue is all-absorbing, and the mind wanders rampantly with multiple options, lead swaps and scenarios, in between the four-hourly tracker updates, as to what the next moves and progress will be…
And as the trimarans currently fly past the three Start One front-runners – Sulanga, Mojie and JM Busha – the next 24 hours holds the next big move in their race; and that is how to transition through or around the long sausage-shaped high pressure band that lies between the front of the fleet and the final 1000 mile run into Rio.
Weather systems are dynamic, and unlocking this next challenge successfully is going to be a fascinating thing to watch, with possibly race-defining outcomes.
Throughout the fleet, dreams are being realised and the race media channels are sharing as many of these stories as we can. They are varied, fantastic and awe-inspiring. The feel-good club based Corinthian aspect of this race must be carefully cherished and protected, as we grow the race into the future, while also attracting opportunities to bring future record-breakers and pro challengers to the race…
