BMWMCCWA

Immediately following the clubs December General Meeting on Monday the 8th of December there will be a presentation:

“Cape 2 Rio 2014 - a race across the South Atlantic”; a presentation by Robin Morritt and Gareth Owen-Conway.

Robin Morritt (long term club member) was the navigator aboard "Perie Banou II”, a Sparkman & Stevens 39 foot yacht skippered by renown solo sailor Jon Sanders and entered into the 2014 Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro yacht race. Perie Banou II took out second place, Division 2, in a race marred by a harrowing initial 48 hours…

Jon Sanders sailed three times around the planet non-stop and without re-provisioning on a 131,535 kilometre journey; completed in March 1988 after 658 days alone at sea. His yacht "Parry Endeavour" is in the Fremantle Maritime Museum, located next to yacht "Australia II". This journey earned him numerous world records...

Many of us have heard some of the stories of this epic trip, so this should be a ripper of a presentation, don't miss it, friends and family welcome make a night of it

The Cape2Rio race started early afternoon on the 4th January 2014 in Cape Bay off Cape Town, South Africa. A beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon with a very light land breeze and calm ocean. The course took the fleet initially toward Cape Town's busy harbour, then northward along white sand beaches, then west across Cape Bay, passing Robbin Island to starboard and northwest out into the South Atlantic.

By nightfall the weather dramatically deteriorated, building to storm-force winds, massive turbulent swell and steep wind waves off the tops...

A satellite image of the weather system at 13:00 UTC (11am local) on Monday, 6th January - two days into the race - is posted separately below. The central portion of the spiral cloud system is where some of the fleet got hammered. By this time approximately a third of the fleet had been knocked out of the race. There were a number of rescues by the South African navy and one loss of life.

Also posted below is "Perie Banou II" and crew minutes before casting-off from a berth at the the Royal Cape Yacht Club to head for the start line... L to R: Lance Rock, Gareth Owen-Conway, Robin Morritt (navigator) and Jon Sanders (skipper).

Geez nice photo
A cut off low pressure system being feed by warm sub tropical air ,with a cold front moving in from the south west
A perfect storm
Wonder what the surf was like at j bay and Durban afterwards

The following youtube clips are a window into the first 36 hours...

RACE START
http://youtu.be/ji8bgrk60yc

SOUTH AFRICAN NEWS BULLETIN - DAY 2 OF THE RACE
http://youtu.be/tdugOnC2kHk

SOUTH AFRICAN NAVY RESCUE OF ANGOLAN ENTRY
http://youtu.be/XbrGhO6BzjE

CREW OF "BLACK CAT" DESCRIBES THEIR ORDEAL
http://youtu.be/QF2eG1Q_rDM

"Perie Banou II" sailed through the storm and led the Division 2 fleet for some days after the storm abated and conditions improved. She is a very safe heavy weather yacht. When the winds decreased and the race became a spinnaker battle in the Trades "Perie Banou II" struggled to hold on...

Item "Cape2Rio Race 2014; Reflections from Perie Banou II" published in "Yachting Western Australia".

Here: http://wa.yachting.org.au/assoc_page.cg ... D=28700609

The "Yachting Western Australia" web site has a photo gallery showing a selection of photos from the race. It includes some pre-race and post-race imagery. No video clips in this collection. There will be a selection of video clips included in the presentation.

Here for the photos: http://www.foxsportspulse.com/gallery.c ... 0100-0-0-0#

The Perie Banou II 2014 Cape2Rio Race was documented in daily reports by Robin Morritt. These reports were compiled each afternoon on an Apple iPhone and distributed through his trusty Iridium satellite phone. Yep, the very same phone carried on every remote-area ride for the last 15 years and used to bring in the Royal Flying Doctor Service to numerous rider casualties in remote locations across Australia.

Reports were also prepared by Gareth Owen-Conway.

Journalist Jenny Honeybun has put these reports and other material together into what amount to a record of the 2014 Cape2Rio race.

For those who may be interested in some race details, including daily weather, position reports, what was on the menu and on minds, and other stuff, including the latest on PBII’s return to Australia…

Here:

http://wa.yachting.org.au/assoc_page.cg ... D=31109579