Ambition achieved

Quadriplegic skipper completes Heineken Cape to Bahia Race

Today saw the fulfilment of a longstanding dream for quadriplegic skipper Russell Vollmer when he managed to complete the Heineken Cape to Bahia race on his catamaran Omnimed Seague earlier today. Vollmer, who is also the Commodore of Royal Cape Yacht Club, gathered a crack crew of six and special modifications were done for the 3,380-mile ocean crossing.

This race saw Vollmer’s second attempt at a South Atlantic crossing as he sailed in the 2000 Cape to Rio race, but did not manage to finish before the official cut-off time. This time he took to the seas in a fast cruising catamaran that suited him ideally as the Chris White-designed Atlantic 55 provides ample space to accommodate his wheelchair. The configuration of the yacht also gave him the opportunity to be more independent and the ability to contribute more to the physical aspects of sailing.

Finishing in just 21 days, Vollmer still had to contend with a ding-dong battle with Dave Bird’s Admiral Explorer and managed to pip them during the final approach to Salvador to finish just 55 minutes before them at 04h28 on Tuesday morning local time. Shortly after the finish an elated Vollmer said: “It was a great race! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the crossing. While the winds were light and the sea flat, it meant much more mobility for me. Obviously the heavier weather curtailed my mobility significantly. This race was a challenge for me as I wanted to complete it in a good time, on a yacht with the potential for a podium position and with a crew of friends. I am so grateful to the owner of Segue, Malcolm Hodd, who gave me the opportunity to meet another of my challenges and our sponsor, Adrien Pule, who provided the financial backing to bring it all together.

The two KwaZulu Natal entries Unzipped (Adrian Kuttel) and Unleashed (Dale Promnitz) continued their sibling rivalry right to the finish line. The two identical Alex Simonis-designed Pacer 42 Clubs, built and owned by Leisure Yachts in Durban, finished the epic blue-water classic a mere seven minutes apart shortly before 04h00 Brazilian time. The next boat expected at the finish line is Wayne Badehorst and Danny Blackenberg’s African Renaisance, which had only 128 miles to go at the last daily position report.

Gawie Fagan and his crew on Suidoos 2 are still 177 miles out of Salvador, but are currently experiencing good breezes and maintaining an average boat speed of almost seven knots. If they can keep their speed up, they should finish on Thursday morning and are likely to shuffle the handicap leaderboard significantly. Although they are currently in 10th place on handicap, a finish time of less than 23 days could see Suidoos 2 usurping Polo Sport Gumption's current position of runner-up on handicap.

For the two Minis Crean and Federico, the race is still far from over. The timy 6.5m long yachts are being sailed singlehanded by Brit Richard Smurthwaite and Argentinian Rodrico Cella and still have 776 and 998 miles to go respectively before they hit Salvador. Both are currently making good progress at speeds just under 7 knots. The two Minis are the smallest yachts ever to participate in the South Atlantic race.