On Tuesday morning, the Portimão Global Ocean Race frontrunner, Beluga Racer, flattened her dive south-east through the Indian Ocean riding a corridor of strong SW breeze delivering gusts approaching 50 knots. Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme on the German boat pulled up from their descent at the latitude of the southern tip of South Island, New Zealand, 1,500 miles to the east and, 24 hours later, Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz on the second placed Chilean Class 40, Desafio Cabo de Hornos, followed suit and shadowed the German duo 36 miles behind Beluga Racer. In the past three days, Cubillos and Muñoz have fought to decrease this deficit: “The Germans have gained around 17 miles while you were all sleeping,” Cubillos informed the race organisation yesterday. “They now have a 40 mile advantage and it might be that this advantage continues increasing in the short term.” This morning, Cubillos has been proved correct and the distance between the two boats is 49 miles: a 13 mile loss by the Chileans since dawn yesterday.
Nico Budel was transferred by helicopter from the bulk carrier, CSK Radiance, and landed in Cape Town, bringing to conclusion the drama of his MAYDAY distress call, his mid-ocean rescue and a 1,800 mile voyage on board the rescue ship through the depths of the Indian Ocean.
Also eagerly awaiting Budel’s clearance through customs was South African yachtsman, Lenjohn van der Wel, co-skipper of the double-handed Class 40 Kazimir Partners racing in the Portimão Global Ocean Race with his brother, Peter, until mast damage forced the pair to turn back towards to Cape Town on 18th December after four days sailing in Leg 2 from Cape Town to Wellington, New Zealand.
Greeting Budel after his rescue was a great moment for Van der Wel, but there was a separate agenda: getting Budel back on the race course as soon as possible. “Basically, what is happening is that we are teaming up to race Kazimir Partners together,” explained Van der Wel. “Re-starting the race in Wellington is definitely out as there just isn’t enough time, but we are going to try and rejoin the race in Brazil,” he continued. “We’ll sail from here sometime mid-February. Nico is planning to go to Wellington to see the rest of the fleet when they arrive, then when he’s back in South Africa, we’ll get started.”
Within just five hours of reaching dry land, Budel is already planning to head back out to sea. “We’re still working on the arrangements,” he confirms. “But we will start the race in Ilabella, Brazil, together for double-handed racing and we will race in Legs 4 and 5 to America and then Portimão.” After his dramatic rescue ten days ago, the irrepressible solo sailor is keen to get sailing as soon as possible: “We will go sailing on Kazimir in the afternoon tomorrow, together,” he predicts. “Getting back on the water is the best way to be.”