SW102 Almagores races away Cape Town on the Cape2Rio Yacht Race

SW102 Almagores II sailed back to her “birth place” in Cape Town recently to race away in the 16th edition of the Cape2Rio Yacht Race.

First raced in 1971, the Cape2Rio is a 3,600 nm transoceanic regatta organized by Cape Town’s Royal Cape Yacht Club. Currently in its 16th edition, this race starts in Table Bay and ends in South America and is the longest offshore race held in the Southern Hemisphere.  

The race started on a clear and sunny day in 15 knots of westerly wind and dozens of spectator boats gathered to enjoy the show and cheer the teams on as they sailed away from Table Mountain.

While the waters of Cape Town are familiar to Almagores II, there are great unknowns ahead. Teams will have to face the challenges that come with transoceanic crossings and find routes that pass a high pressure zone predicted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean without extending their courses too much.

Over twenty teams are racing in this year’s edition with smaller boats getting a start a week ago and the larger and faster boats starting on the 11th. This part of the fleet ranges from the superyacht SW102 Almagores II to Giovanni Soldini’s stripped down racing trimaran Maserati Multi 70.

Just as he did seven years ago for her maiden voyage and transfer from Cape Town to Genoa, the owner will be sailing aboard his yacht for the entire race.

Almagores II will be racing with a crew made up largely of the owners’ friends along with Captain Francesco Donati, who has been with the yacht since her launching. As per her previous participation in the ARC, Almagores II will be racing to raise funds for the Fondazione Theodora Onlus, a charity created to help hospitalised children. All funds raised will go towards sponsoring Dream Doctors, artists who have been trained to work with children and help them play and smile even through their illness.