Throwback Thursday: Race to Cape Town gets underway

“I felt a mix of excitement and trepidation as we set off,” says Adam Nunn a 36 year-old Media Director from London, as he reflects on this week’s Throwback Thursday and joining Leg 2 for the 3,390-mile race from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Cape Town, South Africa.

The fleet departed from the Rio 2016 Olympic sailing venue, Marina de Gloria and sailed past the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain to race for 16 days on a South Atlantic challenge.

“I was excited that after all the training, planning, dreaming and discussion it had finally arrived. The adrenaline of the start, the buzz of the news helicopters above, photo boats a long side, the backdrop and the excitement of the countdown where we nailed the start line all made for a pretty memorable experience,” adds Adam, whose team Old Pulteney crossed the line first.

However the glory was short-lived as rivals Henri Lloyd accelerated from the middle of the fleet and passed the windward mark in first place leaving Old Pulteney in hot pursuit to regain its position.

During Leg 2 the fleet was faced with Trade Winds, rolling swells and storms of the South Atlantic from the start as it pushed further south into the Southern Ocean where it experienced exhilarating and technical racing conditions.

Adam adds: “The winds were strong enough to be living life at 35 degrees from the first evening out of Rio de Janeiro until around 24 hours before arriving in to Cape Town. I had a complete sense of awe at how small we were - our little boat seeming like a space rocket on its ways to some distant galaxy.”

To find out more about the race to South Africa, click here.

To join us for the next edition of the race, click here.