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Bailes’ Progress amidst #Cape2Rio Tragedies

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Ray of Light
Ray of Light position as at 4 January 2017 at 6:54 am. She was in the second start on 1 January 2017 and chasing the first start yachts from 26 December 2016 to Rio de Janeiro.

Port Elizabeth’s Bailes family are onboard Ray of Light – a 44.7 foot Beneteau First design – skippered and owned by Mike Kavanagh and navigated by Siyanda Vato.

Today marks their fourth day at sea and as at 6:45 am this morning they had 2 833 Nautical Miles to go to Rio De Janeiro. Their heading is 275 degrees and they are sailing at a comfortable 9.18 knots. Ray of Light is 289 nautical miles behind the leading yacht (of those that left on 1 January 2017) – Black Pearl which is a 47 foot Carkeek design registered in Germany and skippered by Stefan Jentzsch. Running neck and neck with Black Pearl is a Peruvian registered yacht – Runaway, a 70 foot Andrews design skippered and owned by Hector Velarde and one of the early favourites to win with 9 other crew onboard.

See more about the Bailes family and Ray of Light here.

Tragedy has struck three of the yachts in the Cape2Rio:

Trekker 2 – the SA Navy built Lavranos 60 footer under skipper Mark Wannenburg – experienced rudder failure late on 3 January and starting taking in water. Initially a Pan Pan was transmitted which was elevated to a Mayday. MRCC Maritime Rescue diverted 2 cargo vessels to assist, one of which, MV Golafruz was within 2 nautical miles of Trekker 2 and in radio contact to effect the successful transfer of all 8 crew off of Trekker 2.

Two yachts retired after big South East winds hit the fleet. WOW – a Stealth 14GT Catamaran from the United Kingdom and skippered by Karen Helen Ruud – decided to retire from the race with two broken dagger boards. All is good on board and they are making their way back to the coast. The third retiree, Dark Matter – a Farr 40 skippered by Gavin Hamilton – are awaiting the weather to calm before heading on to Cape Town.

Watch the video from the start of the Cape2Rio below to get an idea of the speeds that these yachts achieve and will have to sustain 24 hours a day in the race to the finish.

The 2017 yachts will be chasing the record set in 2014 when the Italian Open 70, Maserati, skippered by Giovanni Soldini smashed the record with a time of 10 days 11 hours and 29 minutes.

Jeff Ayliffe spent the start of the 2017 Cape2Rio yacht race, presented by Maserati, aboard Lion of Africa Vulcan, sailing with the crew for a few nautical miles into the 3300 mile trans-Atlantic race, before jumping overboard and being fetched by the team RIB.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.