STORY TIME
A near absence of wind (light nor-easter, compounded at the start by an incoming tide) saw the fleet drifting aimlessly for most of the 119-nautical mile dash. Nothing to get any adrenalin flowing – so I’ll get a brief race synopsis out of the way. Some 165 boats started this year’s race, an iconic event by any measure on the international yachting calendar, and always great fun. Fewer than 20 finished – the rest either abandoning the race entirely or motoring to the finish line.
The winner was Bianca Cook’s super-slick Volvo Ocean 65 () – in which she will lead an entirely Kiwi crew in the 2022–3 edition of the round-the-world race. The boat ghosted over the – she set a new monohull speed record of 6 hours 43 minutes, nearly three times quicker than ’s time. Extraordinary stuff.
