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Dynamic Dutchman Cornelius van Rietschoten, who made such an impression on the 1977 Race, returned to defend his title, sparing little expense in the pursuit of victory by building a brand new maxi yacht with the stated aim of crossing every finish line ahead of everyone else AND winning the race on handicap. He also invited some exciting new talent, including a thrusting young Kiwi called Grant Dalton, to help him with his mission.

Experiences gathered from competitors, officials and sponsors in the previous two races was analysed and used to shape the changes for the third event. The upshot was a massive hike in the number of entries – almost double to 29 - reflecting both the growing integrity of the event and its increasing prestige, a fact not lost on the 15 nations who fielded their finest candidates. Another factor was the entry fee – a mere £250, which most found affordable.

For the first time, organisers had their toes dipped into the thorny world of sporting politics when the British government, having signed the Gleneagles Agreement banning sporting contact with South Africa, withdrew their Ministry of Defence facility HMS Vernon as berthing centre for race assembly after discovering the first leg would finish in Cape Town.

“Margaret Thatcher had hardly got into office before she started banning the naval establishments from helping the Whitbread race,” says Rear Admiral Charles Williams, the chairman of the Race Committee. “She instructed her ministers not to attend any of our functions and asked doctors and dentists not to get involved. The government put pressure on us to take Cape Town off the race course and put a ban on South African entries. But we resisted. We were determined not to bow to the pressure. As far as we were concerned, politics did not come into it.”

Berthing was made available at Camper & Nicholson’s marina on the other side of the harbour. On the other side of the Atlantic, Rio was removed from the race track due to the unhelpful weather patterns and a legacy of ill-feeling between the crews and the exclusive yacht club during the Carnival celebrations. It was replaced by Mar del Plata, a few hundred miles south in Argentina.

Chay Blyth made a comeback in his original boat, now named United Friendly after his sponsor, and crewed by amateurs prepared to pay for a berth, an idea that was to spawn a major new business enterprise for the ex-paratrooper.

And Peter Blake, the Kiwi who crewed with British yachtsman Les Williams in the first two races, entered his own 20 meter boat Ceramco New Zealand and filled it with a pack of ten countrymen, selected from 140 applicants, who all had to qualify by completing a three-day assault course across the mountains as a test of their character and mettle. Blake had also managed to secure $600,000 funds from benefactor Tom Clark, who ran a conglomerate of engineering companies in Auckland.

Blake’s aluminium boat was a pukka race boat, designed and built for a round the world event. His crew were young talented sailors and his ambition knew no bounds. It was no surprise then that the bookies ranked him as favourite when time came to call the odds on who might win.

Italian entry Vivanapoli arrived eight days late after it was boarded by an Angolan gunboat. A few of the crew were South African, who were all promptly arrested on suspicion of spying.