Route Du Rhum Update |
| Monday, 30 October 2006 |
| On an overcast grey autumn day in Northern Brittany the culmination of, and in some cases years of work and preparation reached fruition. The Route Du Rhum the classic trans oceanic yacht race got underway at 13.02pm on Sunday 29th October. 74 yachts on the start line made for an impressive display for the estimated two hundred thousand spectators lining the shoreline from the old city walls of St Malo to the surrounding headlands. Fourteen helicopters hovered over the thousands of craft from dinghies to ships that form a breathtaking flotilla surrounding the magnificent racing machines sparring for position on the start line. In amongst this melee are the racing steeds from the Owen Clarke stable.
For the Imoca Open 60 Class ‘Temenos’ the latest generation 60 of Dominique Wavre jostled for position against the older bur still significant ‘Safran’ (Formerly Ellen Macarthur’s ‘Kingfisher’ winner of the 2002 edition of this race. Further down the line Brian Thomson on ‘Artemis’ formerly ‘Pindar’ and ‘Hexagon’ attacked the start with his typical style. In the Open 50 Class Kip Stone on ‘Artforms’ was fighting for an advantage to get first away from his direct competition and in the Class 40 fleet Ian Munslow on ‘Bolands Mill’ fought his own corner in the largest and arguably the most diverse fleet class.
Tim Sadler and Allen Clarke where able to follow proceedings at first hand from the ‘Bolands Mill’ support RIB, Tim and fellow ‘Artforms’ preparateur Ryan Finn were plucked from Kip Stones immaculately prepared yacht 15mins before the start. Tim Sadler had been flown halfway round the world from his base in New Zealand to give Kip the first class service that Tim has provided to the ‘Artforms’ project from the earliest design inception stages to the preparation for all the yachts key shorthanded trans oceanic events. On ‘Bolands Mills’ the yachts builder Uwe Jaspersen, who had flown from Cape Town to help Ian Munslow prepare his state of the art Class 40 and Andy Fox from Eco Cats in Plymouth were next to be ceremoniously removed to the support RIB as the yachts made the final manoeuvres for the start line. Within twelve hours of the start the yachts of Owen Clarke Design held pole positions in their respective classes but with weather tactics playing a hugely significant part in this stage of the race positions for all the competitors are expected to vary widely.
We will be giving regular progress updates on this website along with any significant developments as the race unfolds.
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