The remaining Venture 14 boats are mustered in London and ready to go
Two thousand five hundred miles lie between the five remaining Venture Cup boats – currently mustered in St.Katharine Docks, London – and the finish line in Monte Carlo.
Now dubbed Venture 14, the boats and their crew will follow the same path as the disbanded Venture Cup and hope to arrive in Monte Carlo in 16 days.
The remaining boats are Tally-Ho, Grey Ghost and Hot Lemon – all 10m Scorpion RIBs – and plus the Boss 36 Cube52 (formerly Boss One).
The group may be diminished but the teams are upholding the competitive spirit, Paul Glenister of Grey Ghost says: “The field is smaller now and many of us are in the same class so naturally we’re going to look out for each other.
“We always have a good battle with Hot Lemon as she is pretty much an identical boat to us, so that will be fun.”
The skipper of Tally-Ho Steve Banks has plenty of long-distance cruising experience but this is his first actual race. “I’ve had the boat for 13 years,” he says, “We used it as a family boat in Alderney for a while but then I wanted to restore her and get her ready to race, the boat has such a good hull, she’s made for it.”
Organiser Aidan Foley says: “We’re obviously disappointed with how the race has turned out but that doesn’t take away from what a great commitment it is from the remaining teams.
“It’s still an epic journey that will really put the boats and the crew to the test.”
The spirit is alive and well then, it’s great to see these five boats committing to this incredible trip and all of us at Motor Boat & Yachting wish them the best of luck. It’s just a shame to think what this race could have been.
You can track the teams’ progress on the Venture Track website.
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