The Global Challenge 2004/05 Portsmouth-Kap Hoorn-Kapstadt-Portsmouth 03.10.2004 - 17.07.2005 www.globalchallenge2004.com - zur Übersicht 22.03.2005 Spirit of Sark steals marginal lead over Imagine It. Done. Break from heavy weather conditions brings respite for crews The majority of the fleet have now rounded Waypoint Bravo and, despite having the honour of rounding the (albeit imaginary) mark first, Imagine It. Done. has just been superseded at the top of the leaderboard by Spirit of Sark as of this afternoon's poll. Skipper Duggie Gillespie and crew have worked steadily to claim the 10nm separating them from the front-runner, but no doubt Dee Caffari's team on board Imagine It. Done. will be determined to get back in front, having shown consistently strong form whilst leading the fleet for the last 5 days. The first two yachts made the rounding in a south-westerly breeze without having to tack. BP Explorer nearly made it before the wind swung to the west, but was forced to put one short tack in to make it around the waypoint.The rest of the following fleet were more adversely affected by the westerly breeze which effectively shut the door, enabling Spirit of Sark and Imagine It. Done. to consolidate their position. However, the leading two will be watching their backs, as an area of light winds, due to the formation of a new high pressure system, look likely to settle over the Kerguelen Islands area in the next 24 hours. This may give teams in the chasing pack – BP Explorer, Team Stelmar and Pindar - an opportunity to close the gap. VAIO's northerly flyer has certainly put some north/south distance between them and the rest of the fleet. Although they have covered the greatest distance in the last 24 hours, time will tell whether sailing the extra distance will pay off, while the rest of the fleet stay further south to sail the quickest route to Cape Town. The teams are currently just a few hundred miles to the north of the Kerguelen Islands. In this area the seabed shelves dramatically from a depth of thousands of metres to just over a hundred, so they may well be thankful that conditions are light. In strong winds the seas can become ferocious with waves of 12 to 15 metres not uncommon. The current break in the weather has brought some much-needed respite for the crews. Whereas sail configurations up to now have tended for the most part to be heavily reefed indexs and storm staysails, many of the yachts are currently flying no 1 yankees with full index. "This sail plan has not really been used this leg yet but believe me it is a pleasure," says crew-member Pete Austin on Barclays Adventurer."It is even getting warmer with most of the crew resorting back to foulies and have hung their dry suits up - once and for all." When asked for comment, Cal Tomlinson, Sailing Manager at Challenge Business stated with a wry smile, "wishful thinking." 22 Mar 2005 16:48 GMT Kate Hayler Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE