Maserati smashes Cape to Rio Race record

Published on January 15th, 2014

(January 15, 2014) – Giovani Soldini’s turboed Volvo 70, Maserati finished the Cape to Rio Race in the early hours of Wednesday to shatter the course record, which has stood for 14 years. Completing the 3,300 mile course in 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 57 seconds. Maserati beat the previous record by over two days.

Maserati looks almost certain to also win the Cape to Rio Race overall after IRC time correction. Theoretically, Robert Date’s Australian Reichel Pugh 52, Scarlet Runner could beat Maserati but the team from Sydney would need to average over 12 knots for the last 950 miles.

In IRC Two, a tremendous battle for the class win has been raging since the start. Royal Cape Yacht Club Commodore Dale Kushner, racing Yolo doublehanded, has pulled out a lead of over 130 miles on the water from close rival Perie Banou Rolly Tasker, skippered by Australian Jon Saunders. However, after time correction, the two yachts are less than two hours apart after ten days of racing.

“We have been sailing in winds varying from 6 knots to 12 knots, right from behind in swelly conditions,” said Kushner. “This means that it is very difficult to keep the kite trimmed all the time.. and this means not such good speed. We are still trying to make northwards in an attempt to stay in the better winds.. what this means is that we now need to sail extra distance and our lead in our class could come under threat as the rest of the fleet have more northing already.. It would seem that the prevailing conditions are covering most of our fleet at the moment. Port gybe is faster due to the swell action. Otherwise all good aboard YOLO, just disappointed that these light winds are going to severely affect out ETA.”