1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race


The 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race was run from Southampton to Southampton in 1989–90. It was run with several classes.
Steinlager 2 skippered by Peter Blake won the race easily. For the first time since 1981–82, the victor won every leg. The vast difference in speed and capability of the many different boats involved in the 1989 to 1990 race lead to the creation of a committee to examine the commission of a Whitbread class boat for use in future races. Many of the Maxi yachts in this year's race were nearly twice the size of the smallest, and carried well over twice the sail area. The net result of this was that many of the smaller boats finished the longer legs more than ten days after the leg winner. In the overall results, the last finisher was some 52 days behind Blake's Steinlager 2 128-day aggregate time. In addition, the cost of the big yachts was becoming too expensive to fund - even for the well sponsored teams like Steinlager, Rothmans and Merit. Eventually, the new class would be called the W60 - but its gestation would not be quick or lack controversy.
The race featured the first all-woman crew on Tracy Edwards' Maiden. Although in a much smaller boat than many of their male counterparts the women fared well—claiming two leg victories in Division D. Edwards was named yachtsman of the year and awarded an MBE. Recently a documentary has been made about the team's participation in the race.

Route

EventStart dateStartFinishDistance Winner
Leg 12 September 1989 Southampton Punta del Este5,938Steinlager 2
Leg 228 October 1989 Punta del Este Fremantle7,260Steinlager 2
Leg 323 December 1989 Fremantle Auckland3,272Steinlager 2
Leg 44 February 1990 Auckland Punta del Este6,255Steinlager 2
Leg 517 March 1990 Punta del Este Fort Lauderdale5,475Steinlager 2
Leg 65 May 1990 Fort Lauderdale Southampton3,818Steinlager 2

Results

The boat Creighton's Naturally suffered a serious broach on leg 2, at about 3 in the morning. Crew members Anthony Philips and Bart van den Dwey were swept over board. They were both pulled back on deck. Van den Dwey successfully resuscitated, but, after three hours of trying, crewmembers were unable to revive Philips. A few days later, by radio agreement with relatives ashore, Philips was buried at sea.