The Volvo Ocean Race, a yearlong, around-the-world sailing competition, bounded into Baltimore?s Inner Harbor Monday evening from Rio de Janeiro ? the start of the adventure?s fifth leg.
ABN AMRO One, a yacht sponsored by a Netherlands bank and one of six vessels in the event, extended its lead from the tip of South America in recent weeks and reached the Chesapeake Bay in first place.
Two local sailors, Dante Almonte and Pete Wertheimer, delivering a boat from Annapolis to Getaway Sailing in Baltimore, got a front-row view of the often spectacular race near the Bay Bridge.
“It was just a lucky break for us; we saw the green sail of the leader, ABN AMRO,” Almonte, a professional sailing instructor and amateur racer, said via cell phone from his boat. “It?s beautiful. The water?s been calm ? the wind?s down ? and since we were motoring, we were able to catch up and we?ve been following it from about a 100 yards. We?ll follow it all the way to the Inner Harbor.”
The race, formerly known as the Whitbred, has taken place every four years for the last 32 years. They launched in Vigo, Spain, in November, sailed to CapeTown, South Africa, then to Australia and New Zealand, and next to Rio, Brazil. After restarting May 7 in Baltimore, they?ll head to New York, England, the Netherlands and then Sweden for the conclusion.
The ships and crews will lay over in Baltimore for the next three weeks and the Volvo Ocean Race teams and sponsors will be part of the activities connected with the Waterfront Festival, April 27-30.
Meanwhile, Caroline Gavignet will be trying to reconnect with husband, Sidney. He?s a sailor on the top boat, and she has brought her children, 8 and 3, here from Paris for some family time.
“It?s very exciting that they are in first place,” she said. “I check the results and their status every two hours on the Internet, but now we need some time together. He?s a sailor. We wait and we wait.”
