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9 January 2012
A look back at GOR Leg 2
Leg 2 brief overview:
With the six GOR Class40s leaving Cape Town after a 48-hour delay due to strong winds, disaster struck the Dutch entry, Sec. Hayai, on the first night with a dismasting off the Cape of Good Hope. Descending through the Roaring Forties to the western Indian Ocean Ice Limit at 42S, the fleet reindexed compact with leadership changing frequently. At the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate mid-Indian Ocean, Cessna Citation crossed in first place and held the lead for the reindexing 21 days of racing. The two lead boats, Cessna Citation and BSL dropped south to 48S after passing Kerguelen Island, while Campagne de France, Financial Crisis and Phesheya-Racing stayed further north. Cessna Citation and BSL rode the Southern Ocean frontal systems at high speed, separating from the index pack of boats with Campagne de France frequently stuck in light airs throughout the Tasman Sea and the western boats, Financial Crisis and Phesheya-Racing, experiencing the strongest winds (up to 60kts) behind the cold fronts and while the leaders closed up in light and fluctuating airs west of South Island, Cook Strait delivered a final blow for the fleet leaders supplying 50-60 knots for a gruelling finish to the 7,500-mile GOR Leg 2.
Week 1: Tuesday 29 November – Monday 5 December
Slow start and a quick drop south to the ice limit:
With the start delayed by two days due to strong winds, the six Class40s crossed the start line in Cape Town’s table Bay at 14:00 Local (12:00 GMT) on Tuesday 29 November. The New Zealand Class40, Cessna Citation, of Conrad Colman and Sam Goodchild was first across the line, followed by the Kiwi father-and-son duo of Ross and Campbell Field on BSL (an order that would be repeated at the finish line 30 days later). Following a spectacular reaching start, the breeze failed and the GOR fleet was left creeping south towards the Cape of Good Hope as night fell. After 14 hours of racing, the Dutch father-and-son team of Nico and Frans Budel dismasted shortly before rounding the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Indian Ocean. Both the Budels were uninjured and returned to Cape Town unassisted with their Class40 Sec. Hayai while a rigging component was suspected to be the cause of the dismasting.
The reindexing five Class40s spent the first full day at sea in Leg 2 beating close inshore towards the Cape of Good Hope in strong headwinds before the breeze slackened. At 09:00 GMT on Wednesday as dawn broke, the New Zealand duo of Ross and Campbell Field with BSL took the lead from Conrad Colman and Artemis Offshore Academy sailor, Sam Goodchild, with Cessna Citation, as Colman and Goodchild took the inside track, sailing just six miles off Quoin Point, a rocky headland west of Cape Agulhas. Leaving South of Africa by 200 miles, the GOR Class40 fleet ran into light airs on Day 3, waiting for the westerlies to push them east and south, deeper into the Indian Ocean. On Friday morning, Campagne de France and BSL, furthest south in the fleet, dug into new breeze and by Sunday, (Day 5) under 36 miles separated the front of the pack with the fleet pinned down to the GOR’s ice limit at 42 degrees South, running downwind to the eastern end of the no-go zone before dropping deeper into the Southern Ocean.
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