Love Water wins Cape2Rio yacht race in record time

Cape Town - South African racing trimaran Love Water has won the celebrated Cape2Rio yacht race, ahead of rival Maserati.

Cape2Rio is the southern hemisphere’s premium sailing event - a trans-Atlantic crossing from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro.

Love Water made history by crossing the finish line in pole position on Sunday, January 19, completing the race in approximately 7 days, 22 hours, 9 mins and 15 seconds, smashing the previous record of 11 days.

An important mission

Love Water is a 80-foot vessel, skippered by Craig Sutherland and manned by a majority South African crew.

The Love Water team set itself two goals - to break the Cape2Rio record of 11 days set by rival vessel Maserati, and to promote environmental awareness around the impact of plastic pollution on marine life while doing so.

In partnership with WWF SA, the Love Water team has been sharing stories about plastic pollution during their voyage on social media and digital platforms. The crew will end their trip with a Commitment Day when they will share what they’ve learnt and seen of plastic pollution during the crossing and make their own pledges to do something about it.

Commenting on the win, Sutherland says: We are an ecstatic and exhausted bunch of sailors. The biggest most important prize is who gets to Rio first. And we did it! The World Record will also be in our name. Thanks so much for all the support, we hugely appreciate it.”

Partner support

Shedding light on the partnership between Love Water and WWF SA, Pavitray Pillay, Environmental Behaviour Change Manager at WWF South Africa said: “Congratulations to the Love Water team on their historic victory. We'd also like to commend their efforts to highlight the impact of plastic waste in our oceans, during this gruelling yet famous yacht race.”

Rick Garratt, sponsor of Love Water and founder of HomeChoice International Ltd, added: “We were excited to be participate in this record attempt and in so doing, highlighting the pollution of our oceans and water. As a company, with the help of WWF, we are committed to reducing our use of plastics in 2020 by signing the SA Plastics Pact and we urge other companies to follow suit.’’