We all followed the 2003 SAP Cape To Rio Race, either through the updates in Smooth Sailing or via the race web site. That was the outsiders point of view, Colin Becker, the only Durban sailor to do the 2003 SAP Cape To Rio Race, wrote us this personal account of his experiences on the race:

"Only having got a spot on Maiden, a 58 foot former Whitbread boat, a few days prior to the start meant that the time before the race passed by in a bit of a blur.

The few days before the start were so rushed, sorting out my life and helping sort out a disorganized boat. On race day we were frantically stocking it with food, so much food! Running to and from the boat with packets and baskets was made difficult by the many friends of sailors and curious spectators crowding out the pontoons at RCYC. It was an enormous event in Cape Town - hundreds of spectator craft filled Table Bay, thousands of people lined the shores and hills and about six helicopters circled the fleet snapping shots of the most eye-catching yachts.

The race started on 11 January 2003 and we crossed the finish line on 4 February at 3:53am local time in Rio de Janeiro. So 23 days 16 hours is a very long time to be isolated from the world, but we were in our own world inhabited by fifteen people. After the first few days I thought I would get really bored by the end of it, but once we got to know the others and the boat, time flew by and there were few moments with absolutely nothing to do. There were some really interesting people and being with foreigners made it almost like a holiday in many places. Everyone was so different yet we were all there for a common goal. There were three girls and that kept the language of the men fairly clean.

Maiden is much bigger than anything I have raced before, and different in many ways. Built in the early 80's, some systems are old-fashioned and not-so-high-tech compared to modern racing yachts. It was designed for ocean racing though and has everything required for that. The boat was sailed by Tracey Edwards and her all-female crew in the 1989-90 Whitbread, the first such crew to circumnavigate the world, and they did remarkably well winning two of the legs. It is a 23 ton, 58 foot, aluminium yacht with a 50-foot waterline length. The deck layout is such that the main hatch is furthest back; wheels further forward with instruments; then snake pit and winches (15 of them!); jammer cleats; life rafts; mast and shrouds; then foredeck with baby stay. The inside design seems to utilise space well and is set up for racing - no fancy finishes or comfy couches. From the back there is a lazarette; space with ceiling hooks for hanging gear; heads; roomy nav. station including a bookshelf (yes with books!) and CD player; galley; racks of baskets of food; twelve stacked bunks (even long enough for me); engine room with water maker below the mast; then a big sail locker in the bow.

Living on board Maiden with fourteen others was something different. There is no private space, always someone within a few meters. But that meant there was always company, someone to chat to. For me eating became something to occupy time as well as fill my stomach. We had Joel, who loves everything to do with food, preparing us the most amazing meals. Being in a small galley instead of a restaurant kitchen constrained Joel to the extent that he couldn't go and buy some particular rare herb (that none of us had heard of before, and none of us would notice in the food anyway, for some foreign dish he had read about and wanted to make) that he had forgotten to get when he did the huge task of calculating and shopping for all our food in the last three days we were in Cape Town. Otherwise he could make anything and we were treated to a unique feast every evening, including beef stew on day 20, seafood paella, a Thai chicken dish, ice cream, pancakes etc. When one's turn came around, washing the dishes was a huge mission with so many utensils used by our cook and fifteen of everything else. I couldn't stand up straight in the galley (and most of the boat) so an hour in there was rather exhausting.

The sailing was pleasant most of the time, broad reaching under spinnaker for 80% of the race. Once we were away from the African coast and Benguela current we had little storms blow over most days, bringing about half an hour of welcome rain and twenty to thirty knots wind. Unlike some of the other yachts, we never sailed through 45-knot squalls and rough seas. Helming was a pleasure and something I would look forward to on my watch. I helmed for between two and four hours a day and would like to have done it for longer. Sometimes the wind stayed constant for many hours, so any gybe, sail change or even spinnaker pole adjustment was something to get excited about. The change of limited scenery would bring a welcome variation to the monotony. The times when the wind, or lack of it, varied greatly meant we were frequently changing the set-up, and happy to do so. Being in a race I wanted to push the boat harder, myself being more competitive than most of the others. So the people were fairly relaxed but Spaniard Alberto and I would always look for ways of making the boat go faster. All the sailors had very different sailing backgrounds and were good in particular areas, so I learnt about other methods of doing things and various attitudes towards racing and living in general. I also realized that the standard of sailing in South Africa is not bad at all.

On the routing side, we sailed furthest of all the boats, 39000 miles. After a slow start we took a while to sail around the North-East of a big high-pressure system, got into the trade winds early and had days of constant fresh wind. Our "gamble" to go north seemed to be paying off. We caught up with the fleet but somehow went straight into the next high, through the "H" on the chart! That meant more than three days sitting on a glassy sea with floppy sails. Crossing the meridian wasn't really a big thing but it excited us, as did any unique event. When we had less than 1000 miles to go people started talking about getting back to reality on land and then back home. Excitement grew as we approached Ilha da Trindade, an island to be passed to port as a mark of the race course. A few rocky islands appeared on the horizon, ending weeks without sight of land. A few days later came the distant glows of oilrigs off the coast of Brazil. We were averaging eleven knots approaching Cabo Frio, a peninsula of the mainland a few hundred miles east of Rio, and kept the speed up until just outside Guanabara Bay at Rio de Janeiro. The city looked beautiful from the sea even though it was night. As we sailed towards the Sugar Loaf, we didn't realize we would view the city from the sea for so long. Five miles from the finish the wind died completely and it took five hours for a little breeze to blow over the hills and drive us over the line. At one stage the yacht was actually moved backwards by the outgoing tide at the river mouth. Those hours were desperately annoying - we were all ready to get to shore to party but instead had to wait. Numerous sail changes would not change the situation, stressing my tired mind out. I helmed for the final hour or so and up to the finish which felt special, I think it was the first time since the start that we were beating and even put in a few tacks. Getting onto land and into a shower was a good feeling. The Rio Yacht Club is a huge luxurious property with numerous facilities.

There was usually a positive mood or vibe amongst the crew. There were no personality clashes and every one got on well. But naturally, as the days went on, little things irritated us all and there were times when I wanted to escape from that confinement. The last third of the race was characterized by greater wind changes, and wind strength more extreme at both ends of the scale. The days we didn't have a breath of wind were frustrating, especially knowing that all the boats to west of us still had wind, and those to east were getting closer.

The first five or so nights were cold but not wet, a warm top and thin trousers being sufficient. The remaining days and nights were increasingly hotter and no weather gear was necessary. Rain felt great as it rinsed the salt off our bodies. The final ten days were boiling hot. Any shade on deck was quickly taken up by the most uncomfortable person at the time. I battled to sleep as the sweat flowed off my body in the all-day sauna down below. A bucket of seawater was the only means of cooling down.

We trailed a fishing line most of the time but were only fortunate to catch one fish. It was a Dorado and made an excellent meal on the second day. We saw schools of fish for a few days after the start, but none after that. Dolphins swam in our bow wave on one occasion and were seen in the distance on another. Having seen so much off the coast of Natal, I was quite disappointed with the amount of sea life we encountered. I did however for the first time see a huge turtle a few meters away. More and more birds were seen as we neared land, and a sign that we were very close was the forgotten appearance of a fly!

Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful city, really vibrant and a really exciting place to be in. Many bright green and rocky mountains emerge in and around a vast number of high-rise buildings; several small islands shoot out of the sea a few hundred meters off the coast; the skies are clear and the nights warm. The people in Rio are friendly and helpful, but not knowing Portuguese makes communicating very difficult. The local cocktail is caipirinha - made with a fair amount of potent cachaca (cane), chopped up lime, sugar and ice. It is tasty, powerful and cheap - very popular among locals and tourists alike. Brazilians are crazy about football and there are people playing that and volleyball on beaches day and night. Nightlife is incredible - between 11pm and 4am every pub/club/café/market is buzzing with activity. In the popular areas there are crowds standing, drinking and talking in the streets as inside is too small and stuffy. Many well-traveled people I knew who were there said it is surely the best city they have ever been to. "