12 entries have been confirmed for the upcoming Vasco da Gama Race, hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club, taking place in Maputo on Thursday 19 June.
Southern Storm offshore of Durban, skippered by Chris Frost. She is one of the favourites in this year’s Vasco da Gama race hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club. Picture by Sophie Thompson.
Eight local boats will be competing with two boats sailing under the Richards Bay Yacht Club burgee: Alacrity, helmed by David Taylor and Nomad, the only multi-hull racing boat, captained by Rob Banwell.
Therapy will be co-skippered by Cape Town’s Royal Cape Yacht Club’s Commodore Dale Kushner and Westville’s Gavin Wadsworth. Ray of Light will be skippered by Michael Kavanagh from Port Shepstone.
The race gets underway in Maputo with the sailors starting the voyage home at 9am on Thursday 19 June. The 300NM race record stands at 31 hours, 4 minutes and 11 seconds set in 2006 by Chris Frost sailing on his yacht Prodigy. The big boys will being eyeing out this time and aiming to dash down the coast as near to the 30 hour mark as possible, but they will also be working hard at eking out every bit of speed their boat can offer in pursuit of the double – line honours and the handicap honours – in this demanding race.
Nigel Miln, sailing on Skitzo, has dominated the Vasco in previous years and was the first boat home last year. Gregg Hurter, helming Bellatrix, managed to reel in Skitzo as they closed in on Durban, being awarded the handicap honours. Add to the mix record holder Chris Frost racing on Southern Storm and it’s clear that the tussle for victory is going to be fierce.
The Vasco da Gama Race is a tough blue water race that finishes offshore of Durban. Skippers and navigators have a number of possibilities of how to tackle the race: they need to consider the prevailing North Easterly and South Westerly winds, the land and sea breeze and also the challenging Agulhas current. All these options are vital to the tactics that will play a role to the outcome of this demanding International race.
The race will be under the watchful eye of experienced Race Officer, Rob Bell from Pietermaritzburg who will be in charge of setting off the yachts from Maputo.
Race Committee Chairman, Dave Claxton said, “The guys are hard at work readying their boats for the Vasco, doing final preparations, and they will be departing their home ports from next week to make their way up to the start. The public can watch the progress of the yachts in real time, via a live tracking system which can be viewed on the official website.”
For more information visit the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s website www.rnyc.org.za or like their Facebook page.