Blue skies at Ocean Globe Race leg 3 start

Blue skies and steady winds heralded the start of the 6,000-mile third leg of the Ocean Globe Race from Auckland around Cape Horn to Punta del Este, with spectators cheering on the retro yachts from the deck of legendary Whitbread yacht Steinlager 2.

Only 12 of the 13 competing yachts crossed the start line at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Waitematā Harbour, with the Australian team Explorer held back by engine issues and starting a day later. The Swan 57 crew were one of the last teams to arrive in Auckland on leg two and so had limited time to prepare for the third leg.

Sarah-Jane Blake, daughter of the legendary New Zealander, the late Sir Peter Blake, who won the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race onboard Steinlager 2, fired the starting gun.