Global Ocean Race Leg 1 prize giving

With the start of Leg 2 in the double-handed Class40 Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR) looming, the six teams took time away from their boats to attend the Leg 1 prize giving held at the event’s host yacht club, the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC), Cape Town. In addition to the prize for first place in the 7,300 miles raced from Palma, Mallorca, to Cape Town in Leg 1, won by the New Zealand father-and-son duo of Ross and Campbell Field with the Verdier-designed Tyker 40, BSL, awards were also presented for the fastest 24-hour Leg 1run by GOR sponsor, bluQube; the most impressive display of navigation and seamanship awarded by GOR sponsor, Garmin and a media prize presented by Seahorse Magazine and thedailysail.com for the most imaginative use of communications on board.

Following a tour to Camps Bay and around the base of Table Mountain on a citysightseeing Cape Town open topped bus, the teams and their guests arrived at the RCYC for a reception, followed by the award presentation ceremony. The bluQube Award for the fastest Leg 1 24-hour run was presented to the team of Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon with the Akilaria RC2, Cessna Citation, averaging 13.55 knots between midnight on 2nd November and midnight on 3rd November, covering 325.27 nautical miles as the New Zealand-Spanish duo fought to re-take third place from Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs on the first generation Akilaria, Financial Crisis. It is no coincidence that in the preceding 24 hours – while battling to keep Cessna Citation astern with just under 1,000 miles remaining to the Cape Town finish line, Nannini and Peggs polled the second fastest 24-hour run in the fleet, averaging 12.55 knots and covering 301.26 nautical miles (complete 24-hour run list below).

The Garmin Award for Navigation and Seamanship was presented to Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron with Class40 Campagne de France who held pole position in the GOR fleet for 23 days and over half of the course in Leg 1. Mabire and Merron were presented with two Garmin eTrek 20 handheld GPS units.