11 April 2012
Finally, a hint of the Trade Winds
After nine days of upwind and offwind, stop-start racing since starting Leg 4 in Punta del Este, the Global Ocean Race (GOR) fleet of Class40s are in touch with the South East Trade Winds in their ascent along the coast of Brazil.
Double-handed leaders, Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough, were first to feel the fresh easterly breeze on their Akilaria RC2 Cessna Citation late GMT on Tuesday at 18S and the increase in average speeds rippled south through the fleet with Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo on Financial Crisis simultaneously picking up the pace three hours later with the South African duo, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire and Phesheya-Racing in third, followed shortly afterwards by the Dutch duo of Nico Budel and Erik van Vuuren in fourth with Sec. Hayai.
Before the new breeze lit up the fleet, Colman and Cavanough had already built a lead of slightly over 100 miles against Financial Crisis and while Cessna Citation was averaging over seven knots at 15:00 GMT on Wednesday, increasing their lead by 30 miles over the Italian-Slovak team in the past 24 hours, the rest of the fleet have not been so fortunate and speeds have slumped once again to sub-five knots.
However, Nannini and Frattaruolo in second place kept the breeze long enough to pull away to 33 miles ahead of Phesheya-Racing and, furthest inshore just 13 miles off Ponta de Monsarás, the Dutch team on Sec. Hayai has been clinging onto Phesheya-Racing trailing the South Africans by 38 miles on Wednesday afternoon.
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