105ft Racing Trimaran Eyes Cape To Rio Race in 2011

The Royal Cape Yacht Club reports in their May 2010 newsletter that the legendary Cape 2 Rio Race scheduled for January 2011 has already generated 14 requests for entry forms including interest from Oman Sailing and their 105ft racing Trimaran, Majan.

Named Majan, after the ancient name for Oman, Oman Sail’s new flagship, reportedly is a speed demon with a crew member commenting: “Majan is incredible: we moved from 20 – 30 knots in one gust of wind. We now look forward to showing the world what she can do!”

And, the world better watch out — especially other teams in the Cape To Rio race!

The Royal Cape Yacht Club the force behind this famous race which includes past class catamarans winners such as “Albatross II”, a Knysna 440, a popular Caribbean and Mediterranean cruiser, designed by Angelo Lavaranos.

The Cape To Rio race measures approximately 3320 miles in distance. Anyone growing up in South Africa has vivid memories of stories surrounding this race with some close finishes and a couple of one-side battles.

The event will start in Table Bay and finish at the finish line at Rio de Janeiro by any route. The Cape To Rio will have two starts:

Saturday 15 January 2011 at 1000 GMT
for all boats in the IRC Monohull Class and Cruising Fleet, (Mono & Multi)

Saturday 22 January 2011 at 1000 GMT
for all boats of the Racing Multihull Class.

Precise details of the start line, the marks to be rounded in Table Bay and the finish line will be published in the Sailing Instructions.

The Royal Cape confirms that race details will be updated on their regular RCYC website until later in 2010 when a dedicated website will be established. This will include the tracking of the competitors during the race.

The media frenzy for the race will kick in at the beginning of July when the RCYC begins phase 1 of sponsorship program that includes radio announcements on SABC, Cape Talk and E TV. On the back of the World Cup, Africa will again be in the international spotlight and perhaps we may see another famous multihull cross the finish line in Rio. We will keep you posted!