Cape 2 Rio
no plain sailing
W
hen the Cape 2 Rio Race started on
4 January 2014 in Cape Town, 36 vessels
took part, but a few days into the race,
ten of the yachts had to retire because of poor weather
conditions that lead to physical injuries, damage to yachts
and the death of António João Bartolomeu.
“a titanic wave broke over
BILLE causing her to capsize”
On Sunday, 5 January 2014, António died. He was a sound technician at the
National Radio of Angola in Luanda and was part of the BILLE crew.
With her sistership MUSSULO III, they represented Angola for the first time
in the Cape 2 Rio Race. The two Bavaria 54 yachts sailed into ferocious waters
during the first night of the race. BILLE had mainsail problems and informed
the race committee that they were steering back to Cape Town. At about
15:00 on Sunday, a titanic wave broke over BILLE causing her to capsize and
the mast to snap. António was thrown from the yacht and the passionate
sailor perished.
This year’s 3300 mile (5310.84 km) race will also be
remembered for other reasons …
A record 10 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and
57 seconds after the start of the race, Giovanni Soldini’s
MASERATI reached Rio. The previous record stood at
12 days, 16 hours and 49 minutes, set in 2000 by ZEPHYRUS
IV in good weather conditions.