Heineken Cape to Rio Yacht Race - From the Race Director

by John Martin on 16 Nov 2010 Heineken Cape to Rio Yacht Race.

Excitement mounts as we reach the two month countdown to the start of the iconic Heineken Cape to Rio Yacht Race. Our counterparts in Brazil are as excited as we are and look forward to welcoming you all under the magnificent Sugarloaf.

This race differs in a number of ways in that it was brought forward by one year, out of the cycle, to accommodate sponsorships and other financial factors. The fact that we were welcomed by the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro and were extended a hand of friendship in the Diplomatic arena by the Mayor of Rio, given the economic recession world-wide, it was a bold initiative to re-establish the traditional race between Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro, along the route of the first race in 1971, where the direct route was chosen. This race was first mooted by the great Admiral HH Biermann, the first Admiral of the SA Navy and interestingly now endorsed by our present Chief of the SA Navy, Vice Admiral J Mudimo, who has made the SAS Drakensberg available to us as the Guardship for the Race.

This will be the first race where South Africans have the opportunity of taking line honours and handicap honours although we do have a few international entries to challenge you. What is heartening is the continued success of our youth development programme in SA Offshore Yachting where at least four yachts will be dedicated to the enhancement of Youth Development in the age bracket 18 to 26 .

We are also very proud to announce that four young sailors from the Grael Project in Brazil run by Axel Grael and his famous family, have been invited by me to join one of our youth teams pioneering a different perspective on the relationship between our two countries. The Grael Project is run along similar lines to our previously disadvantaged initiatives in SA.

In short, from our casual get-together on Friday past, the accent is on friendship amongst competitors before the start, communication and friendship during the race by means of the chat show, and a really warm welcome in the beautiful Rio de Janeiro. There will be no holds barred in making sailors, their spouses, families, sponsors and supporters comfortable.

I wish you well with your preparations and a reminder that the Committee is around 24/7. Please don’t forget to let us have your yacht pics and crew biog and do visit the website for details of the special airfares on offer from SAA.

www.heineken.com/capetorio