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INDIAN OCEAN FIVE CAPES RACE 2009
www.indianocean5capesrace.com - Übersicht
04th March 2010
An epic second leg! Sidney Gavignet joins the A100 'Majan' crew…
Oman Sail's A100 trimaran 'Majan' has reached their second
stopover in Cape Town, South Africa, after another epic leg full
of drama, myths and one legendary Cape. The Indian Ocean 5 Capes
Race is a new race, conceived by OC Events, that links the
Middle East, Africa, Australia and Asia, and Majan is tracing
out the new course ahead of the first official edition planned
for spring 2012.
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Foto: www.indianocean5capesrace.com
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French sailor Sidney Gavignet will be joining Majan's crew in
Cape Town and will sail onboard the new A100 for the final three
stages of the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race. A very experienced
offshore sailor, Sidney has just been announced as the skipper
of Majan for the next edition of the solo Route du Rhum,
starting from Saint-Malo in France this November.
Paul Standbridge and his five crew on board Majan left the
paradise of the Maldives on 16th February for the 4,200m second
leg, taking 13 days and 6 hours to reach the longitude of Cape
Aguhlas at 16:02:57 GMT on Monday (1.3.10) marking the finish of
leg two.
The big dive South proved eventful aboard Majan, after thousands
of miles at sea, a crossing of the Equator with due respects
paid to Neptune, a grinding halt due to the threat of a
hurricane, Cape Agulhas in her wake, and up to 50 knots on the
final night speeding Majan to the dockside below table Mountain
with her 'memories tank' brimming.
A fierce Indian Ocean weather system - Hurricane Gelane, to be
precise - played with the sailors' nerves and forced them to
take counter-intuitive measures. Paul Standbridge and his troops
had no idea they would be forced to pull the handbrake on hard
in order to avoid nature's wrath on their way South. But their
caution paid dividends as they avoided the worst of the
hurricane until she was downgraded to a tropical storm.
A cry of liberation welcomed the weather report downloaded last
Wednesday as the tropical storm was replaced by a perfect breeze
under glorious skies. "With 20 knots under our wings, amidst
deep blue ocean rollers and a bright sunny sky, we were back on
the quest like Knights of the Round table, going South," wrote
Covell. But Majan was entering a whole new world on this
challenging Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race course, getting the first
hints of the feared and revered Southern Ocean. As Mohsin
described it: "The waves have changed from being those 'bumps in
the road', to large show-jumps, and now they are looking more
like the side of a stable block!" By Monday (1.3.10), the crew
were only 150 miles away from Cape Agulhas - the southernmost
tip of the African continent (read below), separating the
Atlantic and Indian oceans that marked the end of the second leg
. This cape is set in a famously treacherous part of the world
navigation-wise, and one of the most significant landmarks of
the Indian Ocean 5 Capes Race.
All weather considerations put aside, arguably the most important
aspect of the second leg has been the "transformation",
witnessed by media crew Mark Covell, of Mohsin Al Busaidi whose
metamorphosis into a pure offshore racer now seems complete. "I
asked him how he was doing," Mark reported, and Mohsin replied
on behalf of the boat rather than himself, "thinking the
language of a sailor and dealing in the international currency
of boat speed - his conversion is almost complete." This episode
marks a real milestone in the life of the campaign - a year on
since Mohsin became the first Arab to circumnavigate the globe
non-stop, and earning his way into the great confederacy of wave
chasers is a moment to be proud of! The new A100 multihull not
only has a great pedigree – designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit
Cabaret, constructed by Boatspeed and assembled in Salalah, Oman
, under the expertise of Offshore Challenges' Neil Graham – she
was created for fully crewed inshore and offshore races whilst
providing a training platform for up and coming novice sailors,
as well as the option to be campaigned single-handed, all within
a one-design rule.
As Majan skipper Paul Standbridge commented: "This has also been
a good sea trial for Majan. We have just safely completed ten
thousand sea miles
[Note to Editors: since the launch of Majan last year]. We have
had some damage and some wear and tear but nothing we can't fix
on the water. Structurally she is sound, she has been a very
good boat and we are very happy with her. I'm very pleased with
the two trainees - Mohsin continues to steer the boat well and
the most improved is Mohammed. Leg 3 will be a much tougher leg.
We are moving into the Southern Ocean with consistently higher
winds and consistently bigger waves. We'll hopefully do more
than 600-miles in a day. I'm looking forward to it!"
Oman Sail's Majan will reindex in Cape Town until 9th March, then
depart on the 4,800-mile Leg 3 for Fremantle, Australia, via
Cape Leeuwin. Unfortunately for Oman Sail's 75-ft trimaran
Musandam, a boat that took Oman Sail's crew non-stop around the
world a year ago, was forced to return to Muscat. The intention
was for Musandam to complete the entire course but technical
problems with the indexsail prompted the decision to return to
their Muscat base early to undergo a refit before handing the
multihull over to a new owner who will also be competing in the
Route du Rhum.
Cape Agulhas, between two oceans
Lying 90 nautical miles southeast of Cape Town, Cape Aghulas (
"Cape of the Needles") is the official dividing point between the
Atlantic and the Indian Ocean - whose eastern border is marked
by the southern tip of Tasmania. The region is notorious for
being extremely dangerous for ships, notably because the Agulhas
current (flowing from east to west) opposes the prevailing winds
, allowing for the sudden formation of massive and steep waves…
The area is now known as one of the high-risk zones as far as
rogue waves (that can seem to come out of the blue and reach 30
metres in height) are concerned. Geologically speaking, Cape
Aghulas' mountainous formations are part of the table Mountain
Group. Its lighthouse was the second one built in the country,
following a long series of shipwrecks, and was erected in 1848.
Geographical Coordinates: 34° 50' S - 20° 00' E
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