Nine Remaining Boats Begin Second Leg of Whitbread Race

Icebergs be damned, the nine Whitbread 60s remaining in the Whitbread Round The World Race for the Volvo Trophy charge headlong into the Indian Ocean from Cape Town, South Africa, today to start the second leg of their eight-month, 31,600-nautical mile voyage.

Their destination is Fremantle on the west coast of Australia--only 4,600 miles, as compared to 7,350 for Leg 1 from England, but far more perilous with its strong winds and rough, icy seas.

Left behind will be one of the three U.S. entries, America’s Challenge from Newport Beach, and Chris Dickson, the New Zealand skipper of another American entry, Dennis Conner’s disappointing favorite, Toshiba.

Dickson walked out on a contract believed to be worth about $500,000, while America’s Challenge, supposedly sponsored by four Mexican food and beverage companies, simply went belly up.

The leader is Sweden’s EF Language, skippered by San Francisco’s Paul Cayard with half an American crew, including buddy Mark Rudiger, both Whitbread rookies.

But Rudiger is being hailed as the greatest navigator since Magellan for guiding EFL to a runaway 19 1/2-hour victory on Leg 1.

Meanwhile, there was trouble aboard Toshiba. Arriving at Cape Town in sixth place, Dickson complained about lax shore operations in preparing the boat and asked that five crewmen be replaced. When Conner and operations manager Bill Trenkle--neither of whom is racing--said Dickson’s demands were unreasonable, he quit and went on safari.

Toshiba finished only 2 1/2 hours ahead of America’s Challenge, which was designed by Alan Andrews of Long Beach and showed flashes of performance.

But owner Neil Barth, a Newport Beach oncologist, had to pull the plug. He issued a statement citing “unforeseen circumstances involving a third party in Mexico, which have in the past month undermined the ongoing financial viability of the campaign.”

Others indicated the “third party” was sponsor liaison Victor Cocchia of Mexico City.

Cocchia denied that and also said that although the boat was a floating billboard for Corona, Cuervo, Herdez and Jugos de Valle “no money ever, ever, ever changed hands.”