Outremer 51 owner Hans wins Refeno regatta

Meet Hans, the happy owner of Aventureiro 4, an Outremer 51 launched in 2020. Well-known in Pernambuco, Brazil as a seasoned sailor and harbor pilot, Hans has been regularly competing in local sailing races for the past 40 years.

Aboard Aventureiro 4, the sailor recently won the Blue Ribbon of the 33rd edition of the Recife Fernando de Noronha International Regatta (Refeno): an annual gathering of sailors from all around Brazil racing 300nm offshore to the beautiful and isolated island of Fernando de Noronha. It’s the first time a sailor wins this race solo.

Usually with beam trade winds, this year’s race saw more closed sheeted and variable winds. 80 boats started from Recife on Sep 24th but one had a special challenge: Hans Hutzler was sailing an Outremer 51 cat alone to celebrate his 50th birthday. 

The boat that won the previous 3 editions was a strong competitor: a fully racing 48’ trimaran very well crewed. 2 other boats also posed a serious threat: a 53’ very light wave piercing cat and a 47’ cat that already showed good pace in previous races.

The racing tri was ahead during the first 6 hours, but during the night a different choice of sails and strategy allowed Hans to take the lead. Tropical squalls typical of the area brought some spicy moments, with winds reaching 30+ knots and requiring sail changes, but the Outremer behaved very well and was already 2,5 miles ahead of the tri when they broke a structural piece and had to slow down.

Hans kept an incredible pace and arrived in first place after almost 33 hours of race, more than 3 hours ahead of the second.

What’s the next step for Hans who’s always on the lookout for a new challenge? The Cape2Rio 2023, a yacht race across the South Atlantic, from Cape Town, South Africa to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is his next goal! This is the longest continent-to-continent yacht race in the southern hemisphere (3,600 mi across the Atlantic Ocean). The next edition starts soon: January 2nd 2023…

Follow his adventures on Instagram and Youtube.