MUSSULO 40 TAKES LINE HONOURS IN DOUBLE HANDED CAPE2RIO 2020 RACE

Team Angola Cables finishes 1st in Double-Handed class, 1st in Monohull class and 5th in overall of the CAPE2RIO 2020 race.

Cape Town, South Africa, 29 January 2020: After leading from the front in its class, Team Angola Cables Mussulo 40 crossed the finish line in Rio de Janeiro after covering 3 702 nautical miles (6 856 kms) of the Atlantic Ocean. Angolan-born skipper José Guilherme Caldas and his Brazilian co-crew member, Leonardo Chicourel took line honours in the Double Handed event – and first place in the Monohull category. Their official race time after departing Table Bay, Cape Town on Saturday, 11 January 2020 was 17d 1h 6m 2. A tired but elated skipper said it had been a tight and tactical contest. “Double-handed open ocean racing is always a tough challenge,” said Guilherme Caldas. “The physical and mental exertion on the body and mind after 17 days of continual racing can be very draining, but we had the necessary preparation, the potential of the crew, the optimized boat, a shared desire from all the team to do our best and the wind in our favour.

A fleet of more than 20 yachts set sail in two stages with the first group setting off on 4 January 2020 while the second group departed Cape Town on Saturday, 11 January 2020.

“The crossing was not all plain sailing. We had a good start to the race and found ourselves out in front of the larger, more high-performance yachts and we able to maintain our lead for a significant part of the race,” said Guilherme Caldas. “But we did have our challenges – including battling a storm with winds of more than 50 knots (almost 100 km/h). We also encountered some issues with some plastic material jamming our propeller which set us back considerably. At the end of the day, Leonardo and I persevered – and that is what teamwork is all about.”

The South African, multihull trimaran entry, Love Water with its crew of 8 members and Craig Sutherland at the helm was the overall Cape2Rio 2020 race winner, setting a new fastest time and obliterating the race record of 11 days by crossing the Atlantic Ocean 7d 22h 9m 15s. António Nunes, CEO of Angola Cables – official sponsors and long-time supporters of Mussulo 40 and its race crew said that the Cape2Rio 2020 lived up to its reputation of being one of the greatest non-stop sailing events in the southern hemisphere. “Our congratulations, respect and admiration go to both José and Leonardo on their fine achievement. While we as a company strive to connect people via our advanced undersea trans-Atlantic SACS connection, we are immensely proud of what these two ocean sailors have been able to achieve above the ocean,” said Nunes.

Nunes said that the departure of the fleet from Table Bay presented a valuable opportunity to engage with our customers and business partners in South Africa. “Much like SACS connects users on either side of the Atlantic, the Cape2Rio 2020 race has brought continents closer together through the challenges and thrills of competitive sailing.”
The Cape to Rio yacht race is South Africa’s premier ocean sailing event and is the only trans-Atlantic race to take place in the southern hemisphere. Since its inception in 1971, the race has attracted some of the greatest names in ocean racing, including the likes of Sir Robin-Knox Johnson, Bertie Reed, John Martin, Eric Tabarly and Giovanni Soldini.

ENDS

About Angola Cables

Angola Cables is a multinational company operating in the global ICT marketplace providing tailored connectivity solutions for the wholesale and corporate segments. With a robust subsea cable infrastructure and highly interconnected IP network, Angola Cables offers customers greater access to the world’s largest IXP´s, Tier 1 operators and global content providers.
Through SACS, Monet and WACS submarine cable systems the company directly connects the Americas, Africa, and Europe and has established partnerships to reach Asia. Angola Cables’ manages the Tier III Data Center AngoNAP Fortaleza (Brazil) and the Data Center AngoNAP Luanda (Angola) as well as the PIX facility in Brazil and Angonix – one of the largest Internet Exchange Points (IXP’s) in Africa. The company offers a range of digital services across multiple industries from customised Cloud solutions to digital gaming resources.

For more information, visit our website: www.angolacables.co.ao/en

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