Cape to Rio yacht race – 1971
Sea Scouts Cape to Rio Yacht Race – 1971
The 1971 Cape to Rio was the first ever participation by the Scout Movement in an inter-continental Ocean Yacht Race.
The 50-foot Bermuden cutter "Active" was one of the 59 yachts which sailed from Cape Town at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday, the 16th January 1971.
The yacht covered the distance of more than 3,500 nautical miles to Rio de Janeiro in a time of 32 days 2 hours 43 minutes and 11 seconds, to be placed 37th against the "world's best yachtsmen."
The skipper of the "Active", Mr. Eric Porzig, and the Navigator, Mr. Dave Powell were both Sea Scout Commissioners, and the remainder of the crew, comprised 6 sea scouts, namely Hein and Paul van Gysen, Alan Cocke, John Ravenscroft, Martin Slabber and the Skipper's son, Jeremy Porzig.
Fifty souvenir covers signed by the Skipper and crew were date-stamped at the General Post Office, Cape Town on the date of departure, and at the Post Office at Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro on arrival. These souvenir covers were carried aboard the yacht "Active" during this epic race, and only 30 of these were available to the general public and were disposed of on behalf of the Boy Scout Movement.
The Training
In June of 1970 it was decided that a Sea Scout crew would take part in the Rio-Race on board Mr Porzig's 50-foot cutter "Active".
Ten Scouts started training, which for the first three months consisted mainly of hard work in the form of a complete refit of the vessel. Of the original 10 Scouts five were chosen, namely John Ravenscroft of 1st Clifton, Alan Cook of 9th Cape Town, Martin Slabber of 2nd Plumstead and Hein and Paul van Gysen of 1st Muizenberg. Brian Coxon of 1st Fish Hoek was reserve in case any mishap befell one of the other crew members.
Just before the race two training cruises - one to Saldanha Bay and one to Dassen Island - gave the boys some night sailing experience. The Dassen Island crayfish provided the Scouts with an experience of a different order.
The State President, Mr. J. J. Fouche met with the skipper and crew of the Active at Government House and wished them well and Mr. Irving presented him with the first of the fifty first-day covers of the Cape to Rio race for his stamp collection.
Two days before the start of the race a Cocktail Party was held at Unitie, where the Mayor of Cape Town gave a letter of goodwill to be handed over to the Governor of the State of Guanabara. At the same evening the Skipper, Mr E. Porzig, and the Navigator, Capt. D. Powell, received their Warrants as Hon. Commissioners from the Divisional Commissioner Colin Inglis. The following evening, they were honoured by the presence of the Chief Scout Carveth Geach who flew down from Johannesburg to attend the Blue Peter farewell dinner for all competitors in the race. The Chief Scout came aboard Active to present them with a kudu horn which they were to present to the Scouts of Brazil on behalf of the Scouts of South Africa. During the race this horn gave off such an unearthly smell that life below decks became well-nigh unbearable.
A voyage to remember
After the hectic preparations it was quite a relief to leave moorings. Following the chaotic start, we were divided up in watches which we would keep for the rest of the race. The three watch-keepers were Capt. Powell, Jeremy Porzig and Hein van Gysen. The first evening we were still in sight of other yachts as we raced neck-and-neck with Pen Duick, who overtook us after a few hours. For the first seven days we made good progress owing to a hard South-Easter, and only had one day's run out of these seven under 150 miles. In this period, we were occupied by sewing sails which were torn soon after the start.
Practically the whole of the rest of the race was hampered by lack of wind, and although we were busy enough, we often had to find relief from the heat by jumping over the side while one crew member kept watch with a revolver in case of sharks. We saw quite a few whales on the way and on the second last day one gave us an anxious time by crossing repeatedly underneath the boat. On night watches we were entertained by whistling noises of the dolphins. Once we had an opportunity to swim among them.
We sighted many flying fish. After many unsuccessful attempts to catch bonito, we managed to catch a few dorado for the frying pan. On the whole our food lasted quite well - onions, squash, carrots, tomatoes, oranges, apples and eggs. The bread developed psychedelic spots, which had to be removed. Most of the cheese had to be thrown overboard.
Rio a welcome sight
We crossed the finishing line at a snail's pace. The sound of the engine was like sweet music. We were welcomed at the jetty in Rio by a reporter of the Burger who stood us a beer. He also told us how to order beer in Portuguese. The three days in Rio were spent in hectic sight-seeing, visiting one of the Sea Scout troops, relaxing at the Yacht Club swimming pool, and drinking coconut-milk. The climate was warm and humid; worse than Durban in summer.
Immediately after the start of the Carnival we had to leave for Buenos Aires - a distance of 1200 miles which we did in 8 days. During this period, we ran into a pampero and a South East storm and we had some magnificent sailing. Buenos Aires only saw us for 36 hours; in which time we had to dismast and load the yacht on board Tafelberg.
SAS Tafelberg was a replenishment ship of the South African Navy and acted as official guardship for the race. Because of politics the ship could not enter Rio de Janeiro and instead travelled up the River Plate to Buenos Aires.
Once on board the Tafelberg our troubles were not yet over because we served as Quartermasters and had to stand watches. Our appetite was a source of wonder to the South African Navy to such an extent that one of the Scouts was given the nickname of 'tapeworm'.
On Monday, 15th March, we arrived back in Table Bay and we were honoured that our Navigator, Capt. Powell could pilot the ship into the harbour himself. After two days of unloading Active and restepping the mast, we were back on the school benches.
Many thanks are due to our Assistant Divisional Commissioner Mr. P. Irving (Rocky), whose background work made this trip possible for Sea Scouts.
Ack: Rein van Gysen and The Cape Western Scouter May 1971
