It is no surprise that Spirit of Sark skipper Duggie Gillespie is readying himself for a period of change, currently in the pack of 6 boats still within 14nm of one another in terms of distance to finish.
“After coming through moderate winds in the last 24 hours”, he continued, “we are experiencing lighter conditions yet again before the possibility of gale force headwinds. With such changeable weather it will be whichever crew maneuvres fastest and adapts quickest that will get through the difficulties that these conditions could bring. It could be the most physically demanding time in this leg, which could be a bit of a shock to the system after four weeks of relatively sedate sailing!”
Imagine It. Done. is leading the densely packed group placed third to eighth, but only by a marginal 3nm. Asked about the close quarter sailing they are embroiled in, skipper Dee Caffari replied:
“A matter of 5 miles could cost about 6 places - it’s that close out here and I’ve got visions of about 8 boats racing up Boston Harbour to the finish line at the moment. Hopefully it’ll work in our favour this time - there’ll be a lot of weather going through between us and Boston.”
“We thought there was going to be a big hole but that’s now changed and there’s a big low-pressure system to go through, with some 35 knot winds in and there’s another light patch beyond that so it could really split everybody up, even now so close to the finish.”
Dee reported steady winds of around 10-15 knots with clear skies today, whereas Duggie Gillespie said the wind had already died, leaving them struggling in light airs this afternoon. Over the next 12 hours, the whole fleet, including BG SPIRIT, will see the wind speed fall to around 5 knots. The low-pressure system tracking east from coast of the United States will then bring winds up to 35 knots in approximately 24 hours time.
BG SPIRIT has completed their strategic move to the west, tacking back to the northwest this afternoon to aim for Boston with the fleet behind them. They may well have an opportunity to regain some of the miles lost completing this move since yesterday if they see the stronger winds of the low-pressure system before the rest of the fleet.
Dan Wedgwood
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