By Brian Hancock
Neptune came in like a king. Not the one in England, but the one that gave them permission to cross the equator and allowed them to sail into the Southern Hemisphere (as in King Neptune). I wrote him into one of my children’s books and it’s a good story, but enough of that. Having said that, it was wet and overcast and Cape Town did not put on a good show for them, but as my mother (she died 50 years ago) used to say. “buck up, tomorrow is another day”. Didn’t all our mothers say that to us and they were 100% right, every time.
The fleet is thinning out. White Shadow, a Swan 57 skippered by Jean-Christophe Petit, is trucking along at a fairly decent 7.6 knots and will be close to seeing that beautiful mountain. Only just over 120 miles to go (according to the YB Tracker). They have a very decent breeze on their starboard bow, actually a very good wind angle for them so they should motor into Cape Town like they own the place, but as I have said before, things can change; that’s yacht racing. Sterna and Evrika, a Swan 65 ketch have the same wind as does Galiana WithSecure who is/are (I am not that good with grammar) is/are clipping along at just under 8 knots. It’s going to be an exciting finish.
Cape Town is, in my most humble and totally unbiased opinion (I’m from there) the most beautiful place to sail into, and not because of the mountain, or the food, but because it’s always good to stick your feet on solid earth after six weeks at sea. Again, that’s what sailboat racing is all about. It’s fun to be at sea but at some point we all love to plant our toes on a solid piece of grass.
