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16 January 2026


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CONGRATULATIONS  BRENTGRAY !!!
FELICIDADES  rafa !!
FELICITATIONS  nordee !

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We hope everyone had a great start to the New Year 2026. Here are the results from our first Ocean Race of the year—the iconic Cape to Rio. After a three-year hiatus, we once again raced with the real fleet, in cooperation with the Royal Cape Yacht Club of South Africa and the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro. At the start, 140 boats were registered, with 99 crossing the line at the gun. A number of late registrations joined shortly thereafter, bringing the total virtual fleet to 144 boats, in addition to the real fleet of 12 yachts.

Early in the race, two clearly distinct strategies emerged. The majority of the virtual fleet opted for a more southerly route, while a smaller group chose a northerly option. The tactical dilemma centered on how best to bypass the high-pressure system stretching across the South Atlantic, roughly along the rhumb line of the course. The northern route was longer but offered predominantly following winds, whereas the southern group stayed closer to the great-circle route, sailing a shorter distance but facing headwinds. Notably, all boats in the real fleet chose the northerly route, likely favoring the comfort and consistency of following seas.

One week into the race, it was still unclear which strategy would prevail. Initially, the northern fleet lost ground due to an unfavorable course angle. By day 3, however, they began closing the gap to the southerners. The turning point came around day 8, after which the outcome became clearer. By the finish, the northern group trailed the leaders by approximately 70 nautical miles. The podium finishers crossed the line within just half an hour of each other on January 8th, with a winning time of 12 days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. Line honors for the real fleet were claimed on January 12th at 21:44:15, corresponding to 16 days, 7 hours, and 45 minutes of sailing. When compared to the virtual fleet, this performance would place them at approximately position #113, noting that this comparison does not account for the virtual rating applied to our C2R74 class.

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