Nomad avoids Cape2Rio drama

IN what is believed to be a first for the Zululand Yacht Club, the yacht Nomad is competing in the epic Cape2Rio yacht race, which got off to a horrific start on Saturday.

The fleet soon encountered severe storms, resulting in many battered boats having to return to Cape Town and the tragic death of a crew member on the yacht Bille.
The NSRI reported swells of up to eight metres and wind speeds of 60 knots, and a massive sea and air operation was conducted to assist damaged boats and injured crews.

Nomad, owned by Craig Deverson and crewed only by ZYC members including Commodore, Rod Banwell, was among the lucky ones able to continue the arduous voyage – and is maintaining a good position in the vastly reduced fleet.
Of the 36 vessels which left the start line, at least eight were forced to withdraw from the 3 600 nautical mile race across the Atlantic Ocean to Rio de Janeiro.

‘We had immediately headed north and were not affected by the storm,’ Deverson messaged on Wednesday.
Nomad, a Cape 54 design is competing in the Multi-hull racing class and was handily placed around 12th overall in the international fleet, which includes yachts from Croatia, the UK, India, Italy, Angola and Germany.

Flying the SA and ZYC colours aboard Nomad are Craig Deverson – owner, Wendy Deverson – crew, Tyron de Jager – bowman and trimmer, Gerrit Morkel – crew, Rod Banwell – tactics and navigator, Michelle Banwell crew and Andrew Plasket – skipper.

The time limit for this the 14th Cape2Rio race expires at midnight on 31 January 2014, giving all the participants 27 days to complete the race, with the prize-giving taking place on 1 February.