1977–78 Whitbread Round the World Race

On August 27th, 1977, 15 boats started out from Southampton for the Whitbread Round the World Race under gale force winds and driving rain.

Leg Start Finish Leg winner elapsed time Leg winner corrected time
1 Southampton, England Cape Town, South Africa Flyer Flyer
2 Cape Town, South Africa Auckland, New Zealand Heath's Condor 33 Export
3 Auckland, New Zealand Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Great Britain II Gauloise II
4 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Southampton, England Heath's Condor Gauloise II

Final Standings

The maxi ketch Flyer was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built at the Royal Huisman shipyard in 1977 for skipper Cornelius van Rietschoten. She won the race. All 15 boats finished the 26,780-nautical-mile (49,600 km) race. Great Britain II was winner on elapsed time for the second race in succession.

References

1973–74  • 1977–78  • 1981–82  • 1985–86  • 1989–90  • 1993–94  • 1997–98  • 2001–02  • 2005–06  • 2008–09  • 2011–12