Fotogalerie
24.09.2013 / Day 16 / RACE 02
LoNDON, UK - Rio de janEIro, brazil
A race to the Southern Hemisphere as tactics play out
As the Doldrums continue to try and test the patience of the 12 strong fleet of matched ocean racers competing in the Clipper 13-14 Race, the battle to make gains in the midst of ‘nothingness’ sees the race heat up as it’s all change at the top of the leader board.
After clinching the lead from GREAT Britain early yesterday afternoon Mission Performance is now in second place with Henri Lloyd top of the leader board once again with a lead of just five miles.
As the fleet continue to battle through the challenging and uncertain conditions of the Doldrums, tactics are more important than ever as each team desperately try to claw back valuable miles. As Mission Performance head west, and Jamaica Get All Right, Qingdao and PSP Logistics head east the rest of the fleet are heading south east; destination the Southern Hemisphere in search of stronger trade winds.
Chris Hollis skipper of PSP Logistics explained, “This really is a race to the other side of the nothingness (ITCZ), where all bets are off and the drag race to Rio is on.”
It was a close encounter of different kind for Team Garmin who after 2,500 miles of racing came within a boat length of rivals Invest Africa overnight. Although making steady progress, Rich Gould, skipper of Invest Africa shared his frustration of the ‘luck of the draw’ of the Doldrums.
“The most frustrating thing is that looking at the weather forecast it looks like in two days’ time the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is almost none existent. If we had arrived at where we are now instead of 4 days ago it would have been plain sailing all the way, but that’s what it’s like ocean racing. You have to make the most of what you have got, you simply have to play the hand you have been dealt.
In other news Old Pulteney has been celebrating after moving into fifth place (now currently in sixth place), their highest position in Race 2 to date.
You can keep an eye on the fleets progress here at the Official Race Viewer. To catch up with all of our skippers, you can read the daily skipper reports here.
Eric Holden:
The past 24 hours have finally seen some miles made good. We have been moving for most of the day in a light breeze. It feels so good to be moving again after so long spent doing very few miles. In the afternoon we were moving ok boat speed wise, but we were playing Frogger (a la retro arcade game) with the squalls and...
latest boat standings
position / team
dTF
HENRI LLOYD
2032.1M
MISSION PERRFORMANCE
2040.8M
ONEDLL
2051.1M
GREAT BRITAIN
2066.6M
DERRY~LONDONDERRY~DOIRE
2086.4M
OLD PULTENEY
2105.4M
QINGDAO
2123.9M
TEAM GARMIN
2130.9M
SWITZERLAND
2143.3M
INVEST AFRICA
2147M
PSP LOGISTICS
2148.2M
JAMAICA GET ALL RIGHT
2224.2M
|
