The Cape to Rio race will start on 1 January 2017 – in just under one year’s time.
All yachts with an IRC Rating of 1.000 and above as well as all multihulls above the prescribed Texel rating will cross the start line on 1st January 2017 at 14h00.
Yachts will complete a specified course within Table Bay before heading West toward Rio de Janeiro competing for the South Atlantic Trophy and aiming to break to 2014 record set my winner Maserati in just 10 days 11 hours 29 minutes.
With six confirmed entries, two of which are international, and 34 potential entries, the race is already starting to pick up pace.
A total of between 40 and 50 entries are expected.
The iconic yacht race from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest continent to continent races in the Southern hemisphere beginning almost 45 years ago linking two of the world’s most beautiful sea-ports. This fascinating and tactical race encourages sailors new and old to attempt ocean crossings and draws on a sailor’s seamanship and savvy weather skills to successfully compete.
The Royal Cape Yacht Club who owns and hosts the event, have started race preparations and are in full swing making arrangements to bring the race to the international status that it used to be. They will provide the facilities and support to all participants and their families.
Any queries about the race can be answered by email at cape2rio2017@rcyc.co.za
One of the early entries is Black Pearl – a Carkeek 47 foot design, The C47 is a powerful grand prix racer optimized to the HPR-IRC racing rules. “Black Pearl” has been churning up the waters overseas making it’s debut it a number of iconic races including the Rolex middle sea Race. This hi-tech, all carbon, German Racer owned by Stefan Jentzsch will be making waves on the start line of the Cape To Rio 2017 Race.
According to Carkeek; “… the Carkeek 47 incorporates further refinements into her hull form and appendage design. Particular attention has been paid to developing a hull form which planes easily and sustains high speeds even in light airs, but with enough stability to support her large power to weight ratio in heavier conditions. This in combination with a high sail area to displacement ratio, high ballast to displacement ratio, and generous draft allows her to excel upwind in light and heavy airs. In her standard weight of 6,000kg the Carkeek 47 SA/DISP and SA/WS ratios are significantly higher than her traditional IRC equivalent.”
