Sailor’s Rio trip canned
STRONG winds blew out trans-atlantic sailor Zirk Botha’s plans to embark on his 7 000km journey from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, and he had to return to dry land after just one day out at sea.
Botha began his solo “Row to Rio” journey on Saturday with the aim of completing the challenge in approximately 100 days.
Botha said: “I have returned to Cape Town, temporarily in the face of extremely adverse wind conditions. My decision to depart on Saturday was based on a small weather window, which required me to be able to get away from Cape Town and far enough offshore to avoid the northerly wind predicted to come through on Saturday night. However, the wind conditions deteriorated early.”
He said during the night, the northerly wind pushed him all the way back to the south of Robben Island.
“Due to the prediction of south-westerly winds for this week and an ongoing northerly wind, I soon realised it would keep pushing me on to shore,” he said.
The National Sea Rescue Institute Table Bay duty crew launched the sea rescue craft to assist him.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said: “North of Robben Island on Sunday, he (Botha) aborted the voyage choosing to turn around and head back to Cape Town instead.”
Tracking his progress, the NSRI noticed he had turned around, and NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) investigated. Member of vessel tracking App FleetMon, Schalk van Bosch, who will also perform weekly reports of Botha’s movements, said: “Cape winds’ direction and speed can change in seconds. In Botha’s case, the wind caught him from the front which meant he was going to exhaust himself fighting against the wind. This will then push him towards the shore which could put him in great danger.”
It could have been a disaster, he said. “Botha made the right decision to return to Cape Town. When in the open waters the wind is with you or against you and it can change in the blink of an eye.”