Hat trick for Cessna Citation in GOR Leg 4

Crossing the finish line at #13 buoy to seaward of Charleston’s twin, offshore breakwaters, 28-year-old Colman and 30-year-old Cavanough lit orange flares in celebration as their Class40 ghosted north in minimal breeze on a long, oily swell beneath a half-moon and cloudless sky with the loom of Charleston’s city lights as a backdrop. Engaging their engine, the victorious duo motored down the clearly-marked channel towards Charleston Harbour,  passing between Morris Island and Sullivans Island, then through the 2km-wide gap with Fort Sumter to port and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island and into the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina.

Colman and Cavanough led the GOR fleet from the start on 2 April in Punta del Este, building a lead of 230 miles by the time Cessna Citation reached the Celox Sailing Scoring Gate at the easternmost point of Brazil after 21 days of racing and increasing further to almost 400 miles as the duo closed in on the Caribbean. For Kiwi skipper Conrad Colman, this isolation at the head of the fleet was satisfying, but the lack of close combat left an empty feeling: “We actually felt a little bit envious of the others as we made a quick break at the beginning and then the wind favoured us, so we very quickly extended out,” he explains. “Then it was just us and the flying fish, whereas the other guys were bouncing off each other and having a good time,” says Colman. “I’ll never get sick of winning, but it was a fairly relaxed way of winning the leg.”