Barcelona World Race 2007 www.barcelonaworldrace.com - Übersicht 28.11.2007 HUGO BOSS INTO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE IN THE BARCELONA WORLD RACE Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape cross the equator in fifth At 20:58 GMT last night, British yachtsman Alex Thomson and his Australian co-skipper Andrew Cape (Capey) crossed the equator into the Southern Hemisphere, while competing in the inaugural Barcelona World Race. The double-handed non-stop race around the world race, the first ever of its kind, started from Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, 11th November. HUGO BOSS, the only British yacht in the fleet, was the fifth boat to cross the equator in what has been a slow race so far, dogged by unusually light winds. She is currently 222 nautical miles behind the leader PRB and just 21 miles behind fourth placed Delta Dore. Foto: Alex Thompson After a strong start Alex and Capey have worked hard in the difficult conditions, moving from eighth place up to third last week and now lying in fifth. Having navigated their way through the notorious Doldrums, it will be a drag race south to the Brazilian coast, after which the race will open up as the fleet heads into the Southern Ocean. This will be Alex Thomson's first trip back to the deep south after his boat suffered catastrophic keel failure during the Velux 5 Oceans Race last November, which ended with Alex being rescued by fellow competitor Mike Golding. HUGO BOSS is a brand new IMOCA Open 60, the successor to the boat that Alex tragically lost in the Southern Ocean. The boat's first outing in the Rolex Fastnet Race earlier this year hinted at its obvious potential, as Thomson and Cape finished third in a very competitive Open 60 fleet, just weeks after the Formula 1 racing yacht hit the water. Now with more miles under their belt, the duo will be working hard to squeeze as much speed as possible out of the boat and close in on the leaders. Alex commented on the race so far: "It has been a really frustrating race up to now, as we have had to contend with weather that is more suited to sunbathing than ocean racing. Capey and I are getting on incredibly well, and we are both immensely pleased with how HUGO BOSS is performing. We are happy to have left the Doldrums behind us. We have now dialed into the south-easterly trade winds and are looking forward to a fast descent to the Southern Ocean." Capey commented: "We are fairly happy with the strategic decisions that we have made so far. It has been a race of mixed fortunes and we feel that we are unlucky not to be closer to the leader. We still have around 21,000 nautical miles to go - that's about 35 Sydney-Hobart Races - and we will be pushing hard to navigate our way up the leaderboard." The nine international teams taking part in the Barcelona World Race make up a very competitive fleet, with the experience of 36 round the world races between the 18 skippers. The fleet is expected to pass Australia around Christmas time and Cape Horn next January, before sailing back up the Atlantic to the finish in Barcelona in February 2008. - End - Annabel Merrison - Pitch PR M: +44 (0)7721 518411 E: annabel@pitchpr.com Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE