Dubbed the “big dogs” of the Cape2Rio 2020 race, the ocean-going, multihull racing vessel Love Water was pitching itself against the race champion Maserati – aiming to break the record for the trans-Atlantic crossing in eight days.

The trimaran is one of the 10 fastest ocean-crossing yachts in the world and had sailed to Cape Town from Portugal to prepare for the start of the Cape2Rio.

Love Water was berthed in the V&A Waterfront outside the Table Bay Hotel during its weeks of preparation. It was here that Rick Garratt, crew member and chairman of HomeChoice, signed the South African Plastics Pact on behalf of his company at a special WWF event. HomeChoice is one of the first South African companies to have made this commitment to tackle plastic pollution in their day-to-day business.

Eventually, the long preparation for the race was over and the competitors in the “second start” of the race set off on a perfect Cape Town’s summer day on January 11.

Among the messages that the campaign highlighted is the fact that one dump truck of plastic per minute enters the ocean every single day (the equivalent of around eight million tonnes a year). The real cost to the oceans is in the order of US$13 billion per year. 
  

As it turned out, Love Water was the first to cross the finishing line and smashed the record for the crossing by three days. It took them 7 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes and 2 seconds (Maserati came in a few hours later, in 8 days 3 hours 39 minutes and 34 seconds).

At the finish, skipper Craig Sutherland described the crew as an “ecstatic, exhausted, salty, smelly bunch of sailors”.

At WWF, we love water, nature and the oceans. Thank you to the Love Water and HomeChoice teams for joining hands with us and for highlighting the issue of plastic pollution during your record-breaking, trans-Atlantic race.