Barcelona World Race 2007-2008

Barcelona World Race 2007

www.barcelonaworldrace.com - Übersicht

16.11.2007

Estrella Damm
* Visit Barcelona Round the World site'> http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com/en/
* Visit Official Estrella Damm site'> http://www.estrelladamm.es/idiomas/idiomas.asp ESTRELLA DAMM FACED WITH FURTHER CHALLENGES IN THE ATLANTIC CALM

Day 6
At 07:35 GMT on 15 November, Estrella Damm Estrella Damm finally completed first stretch of the Barcelona World Race, leaving behind what has been a painfully calm and windless leg through the Mediterranean Sea. Guillermo Altadill and Jonathan McKee succeeded in crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, and now face an uncertain downhill run to the island of Gran Canaria in what is predicted to be further light winds. The team retain their third overall but have been faced with new challenges and are fighting to keep in touch with the leaders, Paprec Virbac and PRB, and to keep their nearest rivals, Tenemos, at a good distance.

Light winds currently plague the Atlantic and Estrella Damm are no exception to these soft breezes and are currently making about six knots of boat-speed towards the Canary Islands. Light winds have made this a tough and gruelling race for the sailors who have been forced to pore over weather forecasts and make numerous sail changes.

Estrella Damm 14.9.07
© http://www.theirwebsite.com/

"We wish we could relax a bit more," Co-Skipper Jonathan McKee revealed during the afternoon conference call with the Barcelona World Race media centre. "In addition to sailing we've been pretty busy working on a few things on the boat. It has not been the most relaxing sail for us so far. It's been pretty hard work on board Estrella Damm. We wish we were getting more sleep and could relax a bit more...These low-pressure systems are difficult to predict and it's hard to know what they're going to do. You just have to deal with what you have."

Jonathan and Guillermo are currently ahead of Tenemos but by a slim margin of eight miles at the last polling position and are nervous about seeing their third place slip away. "We would prefer it if we could stretch out from Tenemos a bit. They are sailing really well at the moment and at currently we're just battling to keep them behind us."

The two sailors are also quite tired after days of relentless light winds. "Sleep has become a precious commodity." Jonathan half-jokes. Guillermo continues "I hope we get to sleep more.it is always more tiring when you are face with variable wind conditions."

When exhaustion starts to set in the teams' competitive edge really rears its head, "just the thought that the others might be near really keeps you pushing forwards," says Altadill.

The next challenge for Guillermo and Jonathan will be to further prevent the two leading boats getting away on a northern wind which may well have disappeared by the time the Altadill-McKee tandem get to the area. However, if the northerly moves further east, it could well pay off for the Spanish team. Weather models are not proving to be as reliable as they usually might be and the next few days promise to bring a lot more emotion and uncertainty in the Gibraltar to Canaries stage, the next gate for the Barcelona World Race.

Position, Boat Name, Distance to Finish/ Distance to Leader
(Positions at 14:00 GMT)
1, Paprec-Virbac 2, 23,843
2, PRB, +18
3, Estrella Damm, +80
4,Temenos 2, +88
5, Delta Dore, +110
6, Mutua Madrileña, +111
7, Veolia Environnement, +116
8, Hugo Boss, +130
9, Educación Sin Fronteras, +248

For further information about the Estrella Damm Sailing Team, please contact:
Natalia Kim (Spanish)