19 February 2012
Nannini and Ramon push hard as Cessna Citation closes in
Week 3 (12-19 February) of the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR) began with a taste of downwind sailing for the trio of Class40s in the Pacific. For the fleet leaders, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel on the Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation, swift progress was brief as the Kiwi-South African duo ran straight into a high pressure ridge with speeds dropping to sub-three knots.
While the calm conditions allowed Adrian Kuttel to carry out some excruciating home-surgery on his badly infected finger nails, Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon holding second place were piling in from the north-west with Financial Crisis and by Wednesday, both Class40s were elbow-to-elbow at 56S, as the South African duo of Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire crossed the bluQube Scoring Gate in third on Phesheya-Racing.
As the South Africans dropped south, hammered by a vicious cold front, Colman and Kuttel on Cessna Citation reported sighting two icebergs at 55S and vigilance was increased throughout the three boats as the leaders descended deeper into the Southern Ocean. By Friday, with just over 1,000 miles to Cape Horn, Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis were at 59S in light, frigid headwinds as Leggatt and Hutton-Squire continued to reel in the leaders. Early on Saturday GMT, Nannini and Ramon’s southerly option – dropping down to 60S – paid-off and Financial Crisis took the lead. Over Saturday night and Sunday morning the wind moved south and a fast reach to the Felipe Cubillos Cape Horn Gate for the two leaders was underway.
For the front runners, speeds rose over Saturday night, peaking at an average of 11.5 knots for Financial Crisis at 09:00 GMT on Sunday as Nannini and Ramon climbed away from 60S with their course converging with Colman and Kuttel on Cessna Citation. Taking the lead after 20 days of racing through the Pacific was a milestone for Marco Nannini: “Finally, our dive to penguin latitudes paid its dividends and, for now, this is a day I'll never forget and I guess my grandchildren will eventually get sick of hearing the story told a million times over!” he reported on Sunday morning. “We’re obviously incredibly happy as six months ago I would have never even entertain the possibility of leading the race on the approach to Cape Horn,” adds the Italian skipper. “We’re savouring the moment like a rare whiskey, but we’re under no illusion that we will be able to indextain our lead,” he warns.
|
