Cape Town - The international crew of the 11th Hour Racing Team, together with four other teams, on Sunday set sail on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race from Cape Town, travelling east around the world to Itajaí, Brazil, for an estimated 35-day sea voyage – the longest leg in the race’s history.
The sailors will brave the world’s strongest winds, largest waves, freezing air and water temperatures, icy rain, sleet, and even snow – all while trying to keep their bodies and boats in working order as they race south of all three of the world’s southernmost capes: South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin, and Chile’s Cape Horn off the southern tip of South America.
The 11th Hour Racing Team (US), team Holcim – PRB (Switzerland), GUYOT environment team Europe (France/Germany), Biotherm team (France), and team Maliza (Germany) departed from Cape Town yesterday.
Charlie Enright, the 11th Hour Racing Team’s skipper, said: “The Southern Ocean can give you a lot, but it can also take everything away in a flash. This is where we, as professional offshore sailors, experience the most exhilarating and exciting sailing we’ll ever do in our lifetimes. It can be extraordinary.
“You have to brace yourself for this part of the world. We do this race for the competition and also for the adventure, and never is the adventure more omnipresent than it is in this leg. It’s time to leave the nice weather behind here in Cape Town!” Enright said.
Will Harris, crew member from Germany-flagged team Malizia, said the Southern Ocean was notorious and he expected to experience some of the most extreme places and lots of weather systems during the race.
“I would call it a lap of Antarctica,” Harris said.
Before the start of this Leg, the 11th Hour Racing Team, together with the Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), made the most out of their stay in Cape Town and assisted eco-club school learners, farmers, community members and water activists in Mfuleni and Makhaza with a mass clean-up of parts of the Kuils River catchment area.
11th Hour Racing Team sustainability programme manager Damian Foxall said: “The initiatives taking place here are impactful examples of the importance of local solutions and practical action for positive ocean health and climate change mitigation that will impact everyone around the world.
“What is clearly demonstrated here is that it does not matter how near or far you live from the ocean, the health of our water, rivers, soil and land is vital for the health of everyone in the community.”
