News from the fleet
News is quiet as the Cape2Rio fleet settles into the steady rhythm of the ocean, each boat finding its stride across the vast blue.
SV African Skimmer: African Skimmer reporting in. 12h00 GMT on 4 Jan 2026. Current position 25 deg 15.337’S, 003 deg 3.430’ E. Awesome last 24 h. Started with a swim in 5000 m of water as we crossed the Greenwich meridian. We dropped the A2, pointed the boat into the wind, dropped some
lines off the back and all jumped in the water. Water clarity and colour were absolutely amazing! Since then we have been trucking along at 7-10 knots with 12-18 knots of breeze behind us. Cam rigged two lines from the tuff luff cover to the base of the mast and this has proved very effective in preventing the asym from wrapping around the mast. Previously this has cost us many precious hours trying to untangle the sails in the dark. Everyone in high spirits and loving the journey. All the best for now.
SV Vineta: Logbook entries for the past 24 hours:
18:00 Z: Gybed
03:00 Z; Gybed
05:00 Z: Gybed
07:00 Z: Gybed
13:00 Z: Gybed
And in between all the gybing a couple of sail changes.
No rest for the wicked.
Last night we also had to contend with a long string of fishing buoys. Not a danger in themselves, but just a bit annoying to have a series of green flashing lights all around us in the middle of the night. The fishing boat itself was a good 30 miles away, according to the AIS. During the morning we passed close to one or two more buoys.before finally entering clear water.
Sea life has been surprisingly sparse, but today we had a Red-billed Tropicbird follow us for quite some time. Most likely from the breeding colony on St Helena, about 450 miles away.
Last night we also crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Another milestone ticked off.
Getting there, bit by bit 🙂
