It is probably a first in the history of ocean racing: six boats set sail, but the paying customer doesn't know where they are going. It's all top secret, because the aim is to minimise the risk of piracy. Yes, the destination is and remains Abu Dhabi, officially 5430 nautical miles further north, and everyone wants to be there sometime before the Coldplay concert at New Year. But what happens in between, with calling at a port of refuge, reloading onto an armed transport ship and restarting in "safe waters", has only been sketchily outlined by the organisers for safety reasons.
After a tearful farewell on the docks in Cape Town, accompanied by the mewling sounds of vuvuzela trumpets, the mini fleet struggled across the start line in light air until the breeze picked up a little. Abu Dhabi, who enjoy home rights at the next stop, were in a hurry and took the lead. They extended their lead before the procession sailed out into the Atlantic and turned left towards the Cape of Good Hope, with Telefonica's blue boat, which is leading the overall standings, at the back for a change.
"25 to 30 knots and three to four metre waves will be a good test for the new masts and the new bow," predicted chief meteorologist Gonzalo Infante before the start. But there was no sign of hacking or waves as the boats positioned themselves for the night. Camper and Groupama, who initially managed to pull away from the others, fought a duel at the front.
"It will be more the swell than the killer wind," worried Mike Sanderson, skipper of Team Sanya, whose boat was given a new bow section in Cape Town after being damaged by a collision with an unknown object in the first leg and forced to retire. In this wind, Sanderson says, these boats sail at maximum speed on the cross. When you're travelling uphill at 13 knots and you get thrown into the air by these breakers, it's almost worse." Sanderson believes that after the nasty experiences at the start of the first leg, nobody will be stepping on the accelerator for the first few days.
Overall ranking: 1st Team Telefonica: 37; 2nd Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand: 34; 3rd Groupama Sailing Team: 24; 4th Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing: 9; 5th Puma Ocean Racing: 9; 6th Team Sanya: 4
Start of the 2nd section
More on the Event page and about the Live stream the YouTube channel and the apps for I Phone and Android.
Current positions and distances in the Live tracker.
