31 January 2008
Day 82 : "A tricky beast"
While aboard Hugo Boss Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape are psychologically ready to struggle against light conditions until Gibraltar, things started to move a bit more swiftly this afternoon for race leader Paprec-Virbac 2. Which certainly doesn't mean the situation is clear for Dick and Foxall, who will have to play hide and seek with a high pressure system whose movements are less than predictable. "A tricky beast", said Jean-Pierre today during the video conference.
Making their way towards the North as fast as they can in order to catch the strong (25 knots) easterlies blowing west of the Canary Islands, the Franco-Irish team have been keeping busy at the chart table for the past four days, trying to figure out how to avoid their "invisible" enemy. "We'll have a hard time determining how the high pressure system might move, and things will be difficult all the way to Gibraltar, basically", said Jean-Pierre. Weather models seem to contradict each other and tactical decisions will have to be made very cautiously - "It's not the right time to make a big mistake, so we're assessing various scenarios, examining all the options we have", added Paprec-Virbac 2's skipper, before concluding, "For the moment, it's a matter of catching those easterlies before they drop. that would certainly give us an edge."
Further back, for Hugo Boss it's still "painfully slow. but we're getting there", said Capey today. Grey weather, 15 knots of wind blowing from the North East. the song reindexs the same, and Gibraltar lies some 12 days ahead for the Men in Black. "Timing is still similar, we're 3 to 3 and a half days behind Paprec-Virbac 2", added Capey, "and the status quo will be indextained" - even though Hugo Boss's co-skipper admitted they did not have the full weather picture yet, so surprises cannot be completely ruled out. Temenos II and Mutua Madrileņa are both up to speed, with a similar average of 12 knots, their passage towards Gate 7 facilitated by steadier east north-easterly trade winds. Dominique and Michele are now just over 400 miles from Fernando de Noronha, with the Spanish boat just 91 miles behind both should cross the gate in the next 48 hours.
Currently benefiting from steady south-easterlies off the Brazilian coast, Educacion Sin Fronteras is this afternoon the fastest boat in the fleet, and should continue to gain miles on the leaders, helped by a low pressure system located off Rio de Janeiro. The crew encountered a light patch yesterday, and Servane climbed up the mast in order to inspect the rigging. "I looked behind and imagined Cape Horn, I looked ahead and imagined Barcelona" wrote the young skipper this morning, who also realised that Educacion Sin Fronteras was now less than 5000 miles away from the finish line.
In quotes
Dominique Wavre, Temenos II
"The wind still drops from time to time. The cloud passages modify the strength of the wind, but we should keep hold of a fairly established tradewind until the Doldrums. We're still too far away to decide where we'll pass through. This zone is evolving very rapidly, but we are already watching the grib files. We're also looking at how the climb up the North Atlantic is going for the 2 frontrunners. Evidently the situation isn't easy. It's interesting and instructive to see how they negotiate it."
Watch 'The Barcelona World Race': Episode One of the six-part series, 'The Barcelona World Race' is now available to watch online at: http://www.barcelonaworldrace.com/player/. A new episode will be posted each week.
Day 82 - January 31, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader
1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 2164 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE - 459
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1454
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO - 1544
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES - 2788
Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE
See the multimedia section at www.barcelonaworldrace.org for all the latest photos, videos and audio clips from the race course.
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Lou Newlands
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