Londonderry yacht leaves Rio

The yachts and their non-professional crews have set sail from Rio de Janeiro at the start of Race 3 of the 40,000-mile circumnavigation, the world’s longest ocean race.

As Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado fade into the distance on the west coast of the South Atlantic, three weeks and 3,300 miles later, Table Mountain will appear over the horizon on the east coast as the teams race towards Cape Town, South Africa.

In a lively south easterly breeze, the race started in Guanabara Bay at 2pm local time.

It was a case of last in first out as Derry-Londonderry, who finished Race 2 in tenth place, were fastest out of the starting blocks, closely followed by New York, Qingdao, Gold Coast Australia, De Lage Landen and Singapore, all of whom had timed their run to the start line impeccably and, after a bit of jostling, turned across it within seconds of each other.

Edinburgh Inspiring Capital approached the line from the far end moments later, followed at the other by Geraldton Western Australia and Visit Finland.

The Rio stopover is one of the crew changeover points in the race and Derry-Londonderry’s skipper, Mark Light, said: “Crew morale is always good on our boat, we’ve never had a problem with that. We had a great result in Race 1 and we’ll be fighting hard on Race 3.

“We know our tactics; we’ll be doing the right things and everyone’s well up for Race 3. We’ve got a good team; we’ve lost a few strong people but we’ve gained some strong people as well. We all know each other from our pre-race team building events so it’s going to be a good one for us, I think.”

One of those joining the yacht in Rio is one of the five Londonderry Clipper Bursary winners, Shauna O’Neill.

“I just want to get going now,” said 22-year-old Shauna. “I’ve been in Rio for a week and the anxiety is building up a bit so I’m just dying to get out there, get on the sea and get stuck in. I think it’s going to be big waves and downwind surfing, so it’ll be exciting and we’ll get some high speeds from the boat.”

Taking over from Niall Boyle, who sailed the first two races from the UK to Rio, Shauna said: “I’m proud to be representing the city on board and I think it will be great when the race comes into the city to be part of it.”

The route will take the non-professional crews racing on board the 68-foot stripped down yachts south into the fringes of the Southern Ocean and the edge of the Roaring Forties before approaching the Cape of Good Hope at the end of the course.

The race promises to be an exhilarating one, with plenty of fast, downwind sailing to thrill the teams. There will be another Scoring Gate at which the first three boats to cross can win three, two and one bonus points, and an Ocean Sprint between the latitudes of five degrees west and two degrees east – approximately 420 miles as the albatross flies – and another bonus point available to the fastest crew to cover the distance. Albatross will become familiar sights, as will the huge South Atlantic swells.

During the stopover in Rio Shauna and some of the Derry-Londonderry crew got into the spirit of the city with a visit to one of the warehouses where the Samba Schools prepare their costumes and floats for the carnivals that Rio is famous for. Feathers and sequins featured strongly as they tried on costumes and gathered material to make their own on board.

After deep cleaning their boats, shopping for food for the next leg of the race and carrying out all the routine maintenance required to keep the racing yachts at the top of their performance, the crews have been enjoying the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro.

Many have taken tours to Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado where the statue of Christ the Redeemer, arms outstretched, towers over the city. Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and the vibrant nightlife of the city have all been on the itinerary.

The fleet is expected to arrive in Cape Town between 26 and 29 September and the yachts will be berthed in the famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront until 5 October.