Barcelona World Race

Estrella Damm, the Spanish beer group announced yesterday it would once again be the main sponsor of the Barcelona World Race, the round-the-world race scheduled to start two years from now, on December 31st 2010. According to its CEO, the first edition of this new event was proven to be a commercial success for the group and as a result the renewal was an obvious choice.

In addition to being the event’s main sponsor, Estrella Damm will also take part in the race with a team that will bear its name, just like it did in 2007 with Guillermo Altadill and Jonathan McKee. The Estrella Damm boat, even though its details are not yet fully known, will be presented next spring and its first regatta will be a transatlantic one between Barcelona and New York.

In the 2007-2008 edition, Estrella Damm was forced to retire one month into the race, following its diversion to Cape Town to repair a problem with its rudders.

The Estrella Damm boat during her official presentation and sail. Barcelona, 27 September 2007. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Valencia Sailing) and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre and French yachtswoman Michele Paret crossed the finish line in their IMOCA Open 60 “Temenos II” to become the third boat in the Barcelona World Race.

They crossed the finish line at 18.09 GMT on Sunday just off the Olympic Port of Barcelona among family, friends and supporters who accompanied the ecstatic skippers back to shore.

After 98 days 7 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds exactly at sea, it has been a truly “unique round the world experience” for both, as reflected by Dominique’s words just hours from the finish.

“We have been really happy with the boat and it is sad to leave it,” said the Swiss Skipper, “It is all a bit confusing in my head for the moment - the race is ending, it is a nice life and we always want this kind of sailing to continue. I will need one or two days to take it all in.”

Partners in real life as well as a winning combination on the water; Wavre and Paret have 8 circumnavigations between them, the Swiss-French tandem have overcome adversity and faced the extremes of this first edition of the Barcelona World Race up to the very end; battling harsh conditions in the Straits of Gibraltar before enjoying the last few days in some welcome calmer Mediterranean sailing conditions.

“We didn’t really talk much.” said Michele when asked about their last moments at sea, “We looked at each other and said to ourselves ‘well, that’s that, we’ve done it’. We left a little room for emotion and it was as if we were closing the door on the race. But we are here at restaurant time this evening and we’re keen to indulge in the pleasures of land!” added the experienced French yachtswoman laughing.

Temenos II crosses the finish line in 3rd place. Barcelona, 17 February 2008. Photo copyright Thierry Martinez / Barcelona World Race

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Jean Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall have crossed the finish line at 20h 49.49 GMT in the port of Barcelona and officially are the winners of the first edition of the Barcelona World Race. The ecstatic duo are clearly over the moon, jumping up and down in celebration of an incredible feat - 92 days 8hours 49minutes and 49seconds having covered 28,329 miles non-stop around the world.

Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall onboard Paprec-Virbac 2 on approach to the finish line. Barcelona, 11 February 2008. Photo copyright Thierry Martinez / Sea and Co / Barcelona World Race

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] After an already epic journey in some of the world’s harshest waters Barcelona World Race leaders Paprec Virbac 2 are finally back into the Mediterranean and their last 400 miles to Barcelona. Yet by no means is the battle over for Jean Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall, who passed Scoring Gate 8 in the Strait of Gibraltar at 18.39 GMT last night (with elapsed time of 14 Days 22 Hours and 14 seconds from Fernando de Noronha.) The Franco-Irish tandem is currently sailing in the Alboran Sea, close to Malaga, with easterly winds still gusting at 35 knots.

“We have had to change down to a storm jib for the first time in the race,” Jean Pierre told us this morning, “the sea is completely white. It is actually quite beautiful but stressful on both us and the boat! We are well aware that the mast and the keel are “tired” now, so we’re a little concerned.”

Very tough sailing conditions have meant a long and very physical approach to the Strait as the race leaders were forced to tack along the coast and shelter from busy traffic lanes and big seas.

“At Gibraltar we passed alongside an enormous CGM cargo ship; we cant let our guard down at any moment,” said the French skipper, “the big question we have to face now is which side we are going to pass Ibiza because there is not going to be a lot of wind…”

Currently the Estimated Time of Arrival for Paprec Virbac 2 is still Monday afternoon 11th February. However as Skipper Jean Pierre Dick explained,

“It could quite probably be the 12th if we come across an area of calm.”

Hugo Boss remains 373 miles behind, and after making some amazing gains on the leader in the last couple of days they will now have to face similarly challenging upwind conditions.

Currently making their way south east down the Portuguese coast, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape are 250 miles from Gibraltar at the 1200 GMT position report. Their ETA for the Strait scoring gate is late afternoon Sunday 10th February, and for Barcelona Wednesday 13th February at midday.

Behind the leaders, the battle for the podium continues between Mutua Madrileña and Temenos II; the Spanish team is now 193 miles behind, and making slower progress than their Swiss-French rivals.

But skipper Javier “Bubi” Sansó is optimistic:

“We still have firing power! In this race we have seen that 200 miles can be made up in just one or two days – there is a lot of race left and we still have our chances.”

At the back of the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras passed Scoring Gate 7 at Fernando de Noronha last night at 18.54 GMT (elapsed time of 17 days 3 hours and 59 minutes from Cape Horn.)
Albert Bargues admits that the thought of home is increasingly enticing:

“We are under 3000 miles away! Cape Horn and the Atlantic were psychologically really important, but once we get past Gibraltar we will be on a home stretch and the hardest part will be over.”

Day 91 – February 9 12:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 389 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 373
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1352
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1545
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2745

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Winning a global, non-stop, short-handed ocean race is never easy, but the two sailors on Paprec-Virbac 2 are facing a very stern test in the closing days of their circumnavigation. With the finishing line just 700 miles away, the wind and waves have picked up dramatically, and the second placed boat is closing fast. To add to the difficult circumstances on board, food is now in short supply with the finish still four days away.

“It’s very windy now and quite rough on board,” said an audibly tense Jean-Pierre when he was reached this afternoon. “We are sailing upwind of course, expecting even stronger winds. Now we have 25 knots, big waves, and we’re keeping our finger crossed. We have not been fast these last hours, mostly because of the waves which are up to three metres. The swell is very short and strong, and the boat is pounding into the waves a lot. It’s not great for our speed and not good for our tired boat. We’re going to have similar conditions after Gibraltar, but that’s the way the race goes. The wind is like this…”

Piling the pressure on the leader is Hugo Boss. The black boat has completed a phenomenal 24 hours in gaining just a shade under 200 miles. The margin between first and second is now less than 400 miles and the forecast continues to favour skippers Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape who are cutting the corner to Gibraltar. Although it won’t be long before Hugo Boss is tacking up the strong headwinds as well.

The cat and mouse game between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña continues with a new twist. After days of shadowing each other, Mutua Madrileña made a move towards the west overnight, as conditions became slightly less stable. The move didn’t pay off initially as it takes them further from their goal at Gibraltar. But the team is hoping that stronger winds will compensate for the extra distance.

“This option to the west has a lot of possibilities for us,” said Javier Sanso today. “Even if every six hours or so the weather scenario changes.”

Ahead, Dominique Wavre was enjoying the clear skies overhead on Temenos II: “It is so nice and sunny, the sea is quiet and calm, and that’s fantastic! We are playing with some high pressure bubbles by heading more to the east and we are quite satisfied with our new position… We are making good progress…I don’t know yet if this will be a key moment in our battle with Mutua Madrileña.”

Life is also good on board Educación sin Fronteras where Albert Bargués described ‘great sailing conditions’. With another 250 miles under their belts, the ESF crew is looking to reach the next scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha tomorrow afternoon.

Day 89 – February 7 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 698 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 398
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1527
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1630
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2878

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The situation is getting more difficult now for the race leading crew on board Paprec-Virbac 2 as weather conditions have forced them further and further north of Gibraltar. Skippers Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall are waiting for the wind to shift to allow them to tack towards the gate to the Mediterranean.

But the forecast shows they’ll have upwind conditions the rest of the way, meaning the next few days will see them tacking up the coast, each tack requiring up to half an hour of hard manual labour as they shift the contents of the boat (sails, water ballast, navigation station) from side to side in an effort to balance the boat and keep it flat and fast.

And they’ll have to do it on reduced rations as their food supplies become more and more meagre by the day.

“Oh man…we’re going to be tacking now after we finish this chat I reckon. This high pressure ridge is messing us around a bit. And it’s going to be one of very many tacks between here and Barcelona because, guess what? It’s on the wind all of the way!” said Damian, considering his fate.

“I was looking at my menu for the next few days. I’m still in the freeze-dried for now and I’m hoping it’s going to get me through Gibraltar and maybe the Alboran Sea before I’m stuck with soup packets. I think it’ll be alright. But it’s going to be a very busy six days or so. We just have to keep the boat together, but our mates on Hugo Boss are going to come into us big time; they have a perfect situation, reaching up on the Southeasterly flow. But we’re pretty close to the finish now, and they have to do all the upwind work as well, but they will get closer.”

Behind them, Hugo Boss is roaring along, closing the gap with each hour. When reached today, Andrew Cape said the black boat was making 22 knots, also heading north of the ideal route, but nevertheless cutting the corner on Paprec-Virbac 2 and gaining miles. The margin between the boats is again under 600 miles, and that will close dramatically over the next 48 hours or so.

“We’re looking for a windshift, but at the moment we’re sailing north of where we want to go so that we stay in the wind,” ‘Capey’ explained. “It looks a bit ridiculous on a map, but that’s what we have to do. They (Paprec-Virbac2) are going to have a pretty slow day today and tomorrow…the timing for us is a bit better so we’re hoping to close it down quite a bit.”

The next 24 hours could also prove significant in the battle for third place as the trade winds give way to small pressure systems. The resulting instability could be an opportunity for either Temenos II or Mutua Madrileña to gain an advantage.

“Over the next 24 hours we’re going to have a big windshift to the North. Temenos II will have it maybe seven hours before us,” Javier Sansó explained. “When we get it we will tack and after that we have to deal with a weak low pressure system…it’s very strange…it’s very unstable conditions that give some wide open options. It will be the start of the big game.”

“If I was them, I would try to use this situation,” said Dominique Wavre, from 90 miles in front, on board Temenos II. “We have some ideas and are going to do our best here.”

Behind the others, Educación sin Fronteras is enjoying stronger trade wind conditions, racing along at 14 knots.

Watch ‘The Barcelona World Race’: Episode Two 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 every Friday.

Day 88 – February 6, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 860 miles to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 591
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1517
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1604
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2965

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] It’s been a fantastic 24 hours for the leading boat in the Barcelona World Race as Paprec-Virbac 2 gybed overnight and began heading more towards Gibraltar at good speed. As a result, skippers Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall have piled on the miles, adding over 150 miles to their lead over the last 24 hours.

But trouble looms ahead as the weather forecast is for lighter headwinds for much of the rest of the way to Gibraltar and even beyond into the Mediterranean. This means the impressive mileage is going to slow and second placed Hugo Boss is likely to make a deep cut into the lead over the coming three or four days. Latest projections have Paprec-Virbac reaching Gibraltar on the 8th of February. That would make their finish in Barcelona likely to be on the 11th.

“We are doing our best, by sailing as fast as we can and yes we turned right last night finally. We are getting closer but we are still about 550 miles away from Gibraltar,” Jean-Pierre explained. “We are full of hope but it is going to be difficult to get there. We are going to have to sail upwind from tomorrow morning the rest of the way there.”

“They should go faster than us today and then we should go faster and close up a bit,” confirmed Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss. “We can’t turn properly yet, we won’t head for Gibraltar for another three days and then have wind on starboard tack before tacking. We won’t be heading there just yet.”

And a tense battle is being fought between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña just north of the doldrums. “There are still a lot of miles to race and the weather situation is not very clear, which is maybe good for us,” said Javier Sansó today, cautioning that for the moment, due to relatively stable trade wind conditions, he doesn’t expect much movement for the next 48 hours or so. The gap between the boats is just 95 miles.

Dominique Wavre, on Temenos II, agreed: “It’s certainly not finished yet. We still have the Azores high pressure and the Mediterranean to deal with. It’s definitely not boring!! It’s like an ocean match race!”

And at the back on board Educación sin Fronteras, Servanne and Albert are enjoying ‘champagne’ sailing conditions, with moderate winds easing their boat up towards the equator.

Day 87 – February 5, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 1407 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 523
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1391
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1480
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2811

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The leading boat in the Barcelona World Race, Paprec-Virbac 2 is now less than 2 000 miles from the finishing line, which translates to about 10 more days of racing. With a 462 mile lead on Hugo Boss, the situation is comfortable for the race leader, but by no means assured as Damian Foxall explained today as stronger winds – up to 30 knots! - have seen their boat speed rise, as well as their stress level.

“I’m beating my brains out…or at least the boat is,” Damian said today on the video conference. “We’re sailing pretty fast, cracked off the wind, heading due north. Running the miles down, putting some north in now so that we can tack over towards Gibraltar tonight or tomorrow morning…It’s nice to see the speedo up but it brings some stress as well. The boat is always on our minds, we’re doing a lot of banging and crashing. It’s a bit worrying every time you jump off a wave and land on the other side of it. (But) it’s a great boat and there’s no reason why we can’t keep going like this.”

Current weather routing software puts Paprec-Virbac 2 sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar on the 8th of February, making a finish on the 11th likely. That will be exactly three months since the start of the race on November 11th – and not a moment too soon for Damian.

“It’s funny you should mention this is day 83,” he said laughing this afternoon. “I think I’m beginning to know what it feels like to be 83 years old! But if we can hold on to the finish we’ll have really achieved something great for ourselves and the team.”

The battle for third place is still very close with Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña racing north together as if attached by a string. The delta is just shy of 100 miles with both boats sailing near identical headings and speeds. And the fight here is more immediate than for the finish – as they race towards the scoring gate at Fernando, both are vying for the best time on this seventh stage of the race.

“It’s still a hard fight with Temenos II, that’s for sure,” said Pachi Rivero from Mutua Madrileña. “It’s been an intense night, with the wind shifting a lot. Tonight we’ll be at the gate.”

The fifth place boat, Educación sin Fronteras, has been slower over the past 24 hours, stuck in the middle of a low pressure system off the Brazilian coast. While their speed is getting better now, it hasn’t been a pleasant 24 hours, with the boat “violently hitting the waves” as a fatigued Servane described today.

Day 83 – February 1, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 1974 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 462
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1396
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1493
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2760

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The fight to get on the podium in Barcelona is intensifying as Mutua Madrileña has taken more miles out of Temenos II over the past 24 hours. At one stage overnight, the delta was down to just 20 miles, before Temenos II stretched away again.

This afternoon, just 44 miles separate the two boats after 79 days of racing. That’s close enough that just one small mistake in the variable South Atlantic weather could be the difference maker. Although they’ve left the Southern Ocean, the pressure hasn’t eased at all for these two competitors.

“We haven’t been able to relax at all,” said Michèle Paret this afternoon. “It’s been very stormy weather, very difficult for the past 24 hours. We’re manoeuvring all the time and really getting quite tired of this pace. I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Pressure is coming from behind where Mutua Madrileña is ensuring there is no time to relax: “Last night we caught up a lot to Temenos II and we woke up with them ahead by just 36 miles,” explained Javier Sansó. “They went a bit more westerly and it was a very good strategic move and now they are sailing to windward of us. He gained a bit this morning because we are going through a lot of squalls. The forecasts aren’t very accurate in here but overnight we should have the wind going east and increasing to 8 to 12 knots and that should take us up to the doldrums. By this time tomorrow we should be on starboard tacking making nice progress north at 10 knots - I hope!”

The battle at the head of the fleet is much closer as well, with Hugo Boss having gained over 300 miles since Friday afternoon. The black boat is now less than 550 miles behind race leading Paprec-Virbac 2. But with the doldrums looming ahead, Hugo Boss isn’t expecting to keep up this recent pace of impressive gains.

“We’ll slow up tomorrow or the next day when we hit the doldrums but I think it will still compress a bit,” Andrew Cape said today. “We’ve both been pretty slow and it’s complex for both of us so we’ll see. I think it’ll get better but probably not enough.”

Complex weather is exactly what Paprec-Virbac 2 is facing. Skipper Jean-Pierre Dick said he and co-skipper Damian Foxall are still uncertain about their next move: “The situation is not easy and there are still a lot of miles to gain or lose.”

Educación sin Fronteras continues its steady pace at the back of the fleet. The fifth place boat is averaging about 10 knots, while steadily posting 240 mile days in the South Atlantic.

Day 79 – January 28, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 2660 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 546
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1638
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1682
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2931

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Paprec-Virbac 2’s great “Trade Winds escape” continues, and the Franco-Irish duet has gained a whopping 169 miles over the past 24 hours. The situation is still tactically uncomplicated for Hugo Boss, but despite the “lovely conditions” described by Alex today, things could be a bit better as speeds stay in the lower range, while things remain unsettling on the rudder front. During the night, Temenos II made a move to the west and has reduced the lateral gap with Mutua Madrileña, but as predicted Dominique and Michèle dramatically slowed down today. The two boats fighting for third place now have to face a very unclear weather situation.

“It’s always very tiring to be struggling to make progress in light airs”, said Michèle Paret today, “we have to constantly trim the sails, and the fact that it’s now very hot doesn’t exactly help either.” Obviously, the situation has radically changed for Temenos II, who yesterday was still storming along under spinnaker - but things nevertheless don’t look too bad. “We followed the wind last night, and we ended up this morning north of Mutua Madrileña, which is good but not intentional, since we don’t have any position reports at night, we were not trying to control them. Logically, we should be the first to come out of that high pressure zone, but the weather files are notably unreliable these days, the situation is very complicated”, said Michele, echoing what Javier Bubi Sanso had previously explained.

“I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out how it all will evolve”, said the Spanish skipper, who commented on yesterday’s tactical move: “We gybed to get away from the hole, it went really well and we gained more miles on Temenos II”. The battle is as exciting as ever between the two crews, but today Michèle sounded very confident and positive about the outcome - it’s a matter of finding a little passage to get out in first position, and Mutua Madrileña is bound to slow down in the next hours anyway… Steel nerves and tactical lucidity will be the key factors during the next 24 to 48 hours for the crews, as gaining just half a knot of boat speed proves at the same time crucial and extremely demanding when the wind does not exceed 6 to 7 knots.

Surely Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape can relate to that, as Hugo Boss is still slogging along at 7,5 knots while Paprec-Virbac 2 is roughly twice as fast. The “Men in Black”, as Jean-Pierre Dick calls them, lose around 15 miles every two hours, and there simply isn’t anything they can do about it. “It’s a straight line job, we’re at the top of the high and it’s very simple”, said Alex who could have added “and very frustrating”. As mentioned yesterday, Hugo Boss still experiences rudder problems which do not seem to be easily fixed on board. “We repaired it again”, explained the skipper, before admitting that things did not really improve - the crew faces a big challenge, considering a substantial part of the port rudder blade is missing.

In quotes, Michèle Paret, Temenos II
“I miss the south already because the life is more flat here, it is less emotional in the south all your emotions are close to the surface and everything is so exciting, more stressful it is very different. Now it is a lot less exciting, the further north I go the more I miss the south. Simply an intensity of life that you have down there and not comparable to anything else, and the more I will go to the north the ‘flatter’ life will get. And the south is another planet, you are far from everything – your emotions, life in general is totally different in a totally different world- and it is a lifestyle I like.”

Albert Bargués, Educacion Sin Fronteras
“The only way to get to do things is based on hard work, putting in effort is what produces results in everything and not just sailing. You can be good at what you do but you have to be constant and stubborn to carry something through. It is the work of every day that pays off.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Conditions are getting better on the comfort front for the majority of the fleet, yet from a strategic perspective more difficulties lie ahead. It seems today that only race leader Paprec-Virbac 2 can actually look forward to tomorrow: having picked up some steady wind, Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall are leaving Hugo Boss behind, the Anglo-Australian duet fighting upwind in light airs. Further back, Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña are still neck and neck, coping with decreasing winds and having to work their way around the high pressure system on their path…

After having these past two days been caught up in storms and squalls, Jean-Pierre Dick seemed relieved to have found a more stable breeze when we spoke to him today during the video conference. “The Trades are steadier and stronger now, we’re reaching in 15 to 20 knots of breeze. The sea is very blue, it’s getting warmer and the conditions are great… it’s like tropical sailing!”, said Paprec-Virbac 2’s skipper, enjoying the sight of his boat’s speedometer while knowing that further back, his rivals aboard Hugo Boss were significantly slower. “They’re going through what we experienced ourselves, and going upwind on the kind of boats we sail is really painful. We’re going to extend our lead, but the Doldrums lie ahead, so we’d better gain as many miles a we can while we can, because Hugo Boss will come back strong at some point.”

Meanwhile, if Jean-Pierre and Damian are already working hard on their weather tactics for the feared Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape try to fight their way out of a tricky area… While at the same time having to cope with yet more rudder problems, which might explain Alex’s lack of enthusiasm during today’s call. “We discovered our rudder is broken again today we have had to try and sort it out again, it has cost us some miles whilst we were trying to fix it. We thought the last repairs would last but they havent, we hope it will last now but are not overly hopeful at this stage”, said Alex.

Hugo Boss suffer from rudder problems once again. Southern Atlantic Ocean, 23 January 2008. Photo copyright Hugo Boss

A tired Dominique Wavre answered the phone today aboard Temenos II, and explained that both him and Michèle were sensing the effects of sleep deprivation, having had to hand steer under spinnaker for the past three to four days. “We take turns on deck, two hours on, two hours off, and manage to grab an hour of sleep here and there… The fact that the wind is dropping ahead of us isn’t particularly comforting, because sailing upwind in light airs is also very tiring and requires a lot of concentration.” Still only 60 miles ahead of Mutua Madrileña, Temenos II must feel the pressure even though Javier Sanso explained today that they wouldn’t really be able to gain more miles: “We’re in the same system, Dominique and Michèle are very good and the boat is quicker (…) yet it’s very interesting and a lot quicker when you have someone to race with”, explained the ever-cheerful Bubi, letting on that himself and Pachi were getting a lot of sleep, the boat being stable under autopilot. This contrasts with Temenos II’s situation, and could be - to a certain extent - explained by the fact that psychologically it is much more comfortable to be the one putting the pressure on that to be the one having to deal with it… But different wave directions probably enter the equation.

Finally, young Servane Escoffier aboard Educacion Sin Fronteras gave us an account of her first Cape Horn passage, which sounded absolutely delightful: “It was a great, great moment, very emotional. The black silhouette of the cape appeared beneath the heavy sky, the wind was blowing at 25 to 30 knots, the sun came out and started to make the top of the waves shine… It was simply magical (…) I wanted to thank everyone supporting and sharing our adventure, you’re helping me get through this journey.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] There is a pair of battles taking place in the Barcelona World Race as the fleet moves into the South Atlantic. Currently, just Educación sin Fronteras remains in the Southern Ocean. On Sunday afternoon skippers Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier were roaring towards the Cape at 15 knots, knocking off another 350-mile day. With the Cape less than 700 miles away, Educación sin Fronteras should join the others in the Atlantic Ocean by early Tuesday (GMT) at the latest.

The battle at the front is being fought in a give and take manner, with one and then other of the first two boats racking up a daily advantage. On Saturday, it was Paprec-Virbac 2 who was regaining some of their lead. But over the past 24 hours, despite less than ideal conditions, Hugo Boss has made up 68 miles.

“It’s a bit bumpy for us right now. We had up to about 37 knots of wind last night and now we’re sailing on the other gybe in a leftover sea,” said Alex Thomson. “We’re trying to keep the boat fairly slow as leaping over waves isn’t very pleasant.

“We just want to get to the other side of this front and start sailing upwind in more favourable conditions,” he said. “A day or two ago we sat down and said we should do whatever we can to get through this front, no matter what the routing says, but we can’t do it, so we just carry on doing what we can.”

Temenos II is doing its best to hold off Mutua Madrileña and for most of the day, Dominique Wavre’s Temenos has been the faster boat, but nonetheless, Mutua Madrileña can claim another gain of nine miles for the day. Now, the gap is just 91 miles.

“Today (Sunday) is sunny, but still cold as we’re still below 50-degrees south latitude,” said Dominique Wavre this afternoon. “The albatross are still with us but we can feel that things are getting better and better.”

Day 71 – January 20, 16:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 4354 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 546
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2061
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2152
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3178

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] The South Atlantic isn’t giving anything away to the two boats leading the Barcelona World Race fleet as they race towards the finishing line off Barcelona. Overnight, race leading Paprec-Virbac 2 nearly held its own and then this morning, it was able to grab back some miles from the chasing boat, Hugo Boss. But the tide has turned again and this afternoon Hugo Boss was the faster boat in pursuit.

The overall effect of this has been something close to a stalemate, with Hugo Boss able to grab just 13 miles over the last 24 hours. Unfortunately for the guys on Hugo Boss, at this stage of the journey around the world, they need to grab bigger chunks if they hope to overtake Paprec-Virbac 2 before the finishing line.

“We had a busy day yesterday, with pretty strong winds, averaging 30 knots, but gusting up to 50,” Hugo Boss co-skipper Andrew Cape said. “It’s going to be a bit slower going for us for the next 48 hours. Over five to six days, we hope we can cut their lead a bit more, but we’re in vastly different situations. Paprec-Virbac 2, I think, is ahead of the front that just passed us. If she manages to stay in front of that, she’ll have regular wind. We have a bunch of (weather) obstacles in our way, so we’ll just have to hope the situation plays out the way we hope.”

The contest behind is also getting closer as Mutua Madrileña has pulled within 200 miles of Temenos II, with both boats streaking towards Cape Horn in great sailing conditions. The pair are making good about 300 miles per day, with Temenos II expected to pass Cape Horn, now 436 miles away, overnight on Friday night / Saturday morning.

“We have 20 knots and it is going to shift to be downwind from tonight to about 15 knots. I think Temenos II will probably take some miles off us,” said Javier Sanso today from Mutua Madrileña. “From tomorrow morning there should be a good Northwesterly kicking in that will take us through to Cape Horn at about 15-16 knots, and then going up to the Falklands looks like being quite fast. We can’t complain! We will soon be up into a warmer area again.”

There is a bit further to go for Educación sin Fronteras who are still some 1600 miles from the famed Cape. But Servane Escoffier and Albert Bargués have had a good day, making nearly 300 miles in the past 24 hours. Albert is projecting they will be at Cape Horn within a week.

Although it is very difficult to project a finish date this far in advance, it appears as if the leading boat will be pulling in to Barcelona around the 8th of February, plus or minus a couple of days.

Day 68 – January 17, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 4994 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 581
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2332
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2521
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3466

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

In Quotes – Andrew Cape, Hugo Boss, describes the decision making process on board: “We both review the information that we get and we have to get a consensus. You can’t just dominate the tactics; we have to agree on what to do. You never want a situation where you end up saying ‘I told you so’, or something like that. But for us, it’s all working out fine, no problems at all.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Hugo Boss has put on a remarkable performance over the last 24 hours, taking advantage of difficult conditions that are slowing the race leader Paprec-Virbac 2. Over the past day, second-place Hugo Boss has taken a full 179 miles out of the 800 mile lead Paprec-Virbac had painstakingly built over the first two months of the race.

“We had a great night with really favorable conditions, perfect for the boat, and up over 20 knots for quite a while. I think we averaged 18 knots for the night,” Hugo Boss co-skipper Andrew Cape told us. “It helps a lot when you’re going 120 miles in one night, that’s for sure.”

There doesn’t appear to be anything Paprec_Virbac 2 skipper Jean-Pierre Dick can do about the situation as the enormous Saint Helena high pressure system is much further west than one would normally expect and it is acting like a roadblock in front of the race leader.

“It’s very unfortunate but we are in different conditions than Hugo Boss. We are sailing upwind and tacking while they have been in strong downwind conditions which is bringing them up fast to us,” acknowledged Jean-Pierre. “We have the conditions we have and we are trying to do the best we can, but that is the nature of offshore sailing.”

While they’ve made a remarkable gain over the past 36 hours or so, it won’t be entirely smooth sailing for the chasing Hugo Boss in the coming days, as Andrew Cape says the forecast is for a deep low pressure to engulf them over the next day or so, which could bring winds as high as 50 knots.

“We’ve got a big issue with a depression coming off the coast of Argentina, so we’re probably looking at 50 knots at some point tomorrow. A bit nasty, but all in all we should make good progress all the way to the Brazilian coast so we’re hoping over the next couple of days to still close it up further,” Capey said.

While the chasing boat has the advantage at the front of the fleet, it’s the opposite situation in the Southern Ocean where Temenos II watched Mutua Madrileña pull to within 100 miles at one point a few days ago, before the Swiss boat began to stretch away again. Over the past 24 hours, Temenos II has added 97 miles and now leads the battle for third place by nearly 300 miles as the pair approach Cape Horn, now just over three days of sailing away.

Both boats are sailing in big Southern Ocean conditions, with Temenos II skipper Dominique Wavre reporting winds of up to 45 knots overnight; Mutua Madrileña’s Javier ‘Bubi’ Sansó had similar conditions, along with a problem with the mainsail to deal with yesterday when they found and repaired a tear in the sail. The repair to hours to effect – see quote below – and slowed the team down for several hours.

Trailing the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras continues its cautious approach to this second phase of the Southern Ocean. Skippers Albert Bargués and Servane Escoffier are sailing a full five-degrees of latitude to the north of the boats they are chasing, as they ensure they avoid the ice zone along with the potentially devastating winds of the Furious Fifties. As a consequence, they made good 211 miles yesterday.

Day 66 – January 15, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 5465 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 614
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2426
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2716
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3560

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source; Barcelona World Race] Hugo Boss has made great strides over the past 24 hours in chasing down the leader of the Barcelona World Race, Paprec-Virbac 2. While the leading boat made its way up inside the Falkland Islands, Hugo Boss was enjoying tremendous Southern Ocean reaching conditions and has put 422 miles behind them over the past 24 hours.

“We have had a good break with the weather,” explained co-skipper Andrew Cape. “The conditions since yesterday have been 25-30 knots and the boat was really excelling. We are now just below 20 knots wind speed and sitting on about 17 or 18 knots of boat speed. We expect it to pick up again in about ten hours as we get nearer the coast and Cape Horn. We think our ETA at the Horn is just over 24 hours - tomorrow afternoon (GMT) for sure.”

In front, Paprec-Virbac 2 opted to sail west of the Falklands to avoid winds that were forecast to be as strong as 60 knots on the outside of the Islands. Instead, the leader gybed its way between the mainland and the islands in relatively benign 25 knot winds, although waves and currents still made it a tricky proposition. While dropping just over 150 miles to Hugo Boss over the past 24 hours, Paprec-Virbac 2 still enjoys an 833 mile buffer.

At the other end of the fleet, Educación sin Fronteras has been forced to sail cautiously with a Southern Ocean gale bringing winds of upwards of 35 knots on the forecast. For the moment, it’s much more manageable with winds of 20 knots today. Servane Escoffier and Albert Bargués on deck to change some broken battens in the mainsail. Servane says they are being very cautious in these conditions and aren’t expecting to sail particularly fast.

Mutua Madrileña and Temenos II continue to sail along in lockstep towards Cape Horn with just 150 miles separating the pair. Javier Sanso, on Mutua Madrileña described the current conditions with one word: miserable!

“It is miserable,” he said laughing. “We’re reaching along, going up and down the waves and the boat is really slamming. You get thrown over the waves and the boat slams so hard your ears are buzzing. Besides that, everything is fine!”

Day 62 – January 11, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 6510 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 833
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2856
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 3007
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3609

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

In Quotes – Dominique Wavre, Temenos II: “Sunrise and it’s a little bit grey outside, but it’s ok. We have the low pressure behind us and a high pressure ahead and we’re sort of sandwiched between the two. It’s not too cold, there’s not a huge sea running but there is more wind coming from behind. We’re trimming a lot, but not much to do in terms of being on the wheel.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

Paprec Virbac 2 officially through the Cape Horn scoring gate at 0600 GMT! Great speeds for the leading two boats overnight, both Paprec Virbac 2 and Hugo Boss averaging 17-18 knots of boat speed, although the Franco-Irish pair are now just 20 miles from the Cape Horn - due through in just a couple of hours. A little bit further north at 54ºS Alex Thomson and Andy Cape will be happy to have their black boat up to speed; the fastest boat overnight they recovered 54 miles to the Paprec Virbac 2 tandem, although are still just over a thousand miles behind.

The second battle between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña continues to rage although both boats have been slower (10 and 11 knots average respectively) and dropped miles to the leaders, Temenos has come a little further south and the distance between the two has increased to 177 miles.

Educación sin Fronteras is finally moving a little quicker; she gained 45 miles on the Spanish boat ahead of her and is now averaging 15-16 knots on a steady 105º heading

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Paprec-Virbac 2 is closing in on Cape Horn, as the leading boat in the Barcelona World Race has just over 500 more miles to run before reaching the great southern Cape. Cape Horn has great significance to any round-the-world sailor, and it’s no different in the Barcelona World Race. In fact, in this race, it also marks the next scoring gate in the race as well.

“It’s the gateway to the Atlantic and the exit from the Southern Ocean. The thing about the Southern Ocean is that it’s constant and it feels like it is just never-ending,” says Damian Foxall, from on board Paprec-Virbac 2. “It’s relentless, it’s always blowing, or about to blow or it’s just been blowing and there’s always a big sea – and this in the summer! It’s an amazing place, but Cape Horn marks the door to leave and we’ll be happy to leave because it means we’re heading north for the final section of the race.”

As they predicted yesterday, the guys on Hugo Boss have dropped nearly 200 miles to Paprec-Virbac 2 over the last 24 hours. The speed differential has shrunk now, but for much of the last day, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape were a full 10 knots slower than the leader. Things have improved over the last few hours though.

“We now have 17-20 knots of wind and we are sailing pretty much hard on the wind,” Thomson said. “Hopefully in the next day the breeze will go left a little bit, which should free us up and we will go faster. We are not suddenly going to do eighteen knots but slowly our speeds should increase.”

The battle for third place is currently being won by Temenos II, who have gained 15 miles over the past 24 hours on Mutua Madrileña, with both boats making good speed and averaging near 15 knots.

That leaves Educación sin Fronteras trying to keep up. But they don’t have the conditions to make that easy and have dropped nearly 80 miles to the two boats in front.

Day 59 – January 8, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 1022
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2903
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 3025
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3466

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

In Quotes – Damian Foxall, Paprec-Virbac 2: “We’ve had a difficult Southerly breeze for the last 36 hours, really squally conditions. We’ve been reaching, so the autopilot has been able to do a lot of the work, but it’s squally enough that you’re on deck all the time, ordering the autopilot up or down depending upon how the waves are and what the wind is doing and trimming the sails all the time. It’s been very cold and that takes a lot out of you. On the upside, we’re going straight down the route, very quickly, and we have a 1000 mile lead on Hugo Boss and it’s nice to have that buffer going into the Horn.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] There are a few tough days ahead for Hugo Boss as the race leader, Paprec-Virbac 2 has hooked into a nice Southern Ocean low and is running away, while Hugo Boss is stuck in very mild conditions – in every sense of the word. Describing their current situation, the words of Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac 2 and Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss couldn’t have been more different.

“There is a lot of rain and gusty winds, up to 35 knots. It’s very difficult to sail the boat,” Jean-Pierre said. “It’s very, very cold here, so just checking the sails and adjusting the sheets is torture. It’s terrible really.”

The consolation is a boat speed approaching 20 knots. Meanwhile, Hugo Boss is in the same ‘Furious Fifties’, but struggling to make 5 knots on a sunny, warm, windless day.

“Our situation hasn’t really changed for the past few days. We’re still catching up to this ridge of high pressure and sailing along with the ridge,” Alex Thomson said on the video conference today. He then switched the camera to an outside view, showing a beautiful, sunny, blue sky, the sea calm and nearly flat. It certainly looked like anything but the Southern Ocean. We asked Alex if it was frustrating.

“We’re not too fussed about it. There’s nothing we can do about it. We stopped for 48 hours in New Zealand. We could sit and complain that we’re so unlucky and he’s so lucky but the fact is we stopped and you can’t expect to be right up next to him a week after you stop,” Thomson said. “We’ll wait and see what happens after Cape Horn.”

Behind them, the rest of the fleet has picked up the pace as well. Temenos II is trying to fend off the advance of Mutua Madrileña, who has picked up 75 miles over the last 24 hours. Javier Sansó and Pachi Rivero are now just over 100 miles behind Temenos II.

Educación Sin Fronteras crossing the Cook Strait. Wellington, 6 January 2008. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

“We are quite happy to have the wind again. I think we’ve lost about three days to the high pressure,” complained Dominique Wavre, from on board Temenos II. “In a way it’s nice to have Mutua pushing us, but in a way it’s very frustrating. He gained 200 miles so easily because we had bad timing coming out of Wellington. We don’t feel there is a lot of justice in it! But it will be better in a few days.”

And Educación sin Fronteras is up to speed today again, after passing through Cook Strait yesterday and leaving New Zealand behind. Albert Bargués is happy to begin the second half of the race without having stopped, and is looking forward to Cape Horn, over 4000 miles in the distance.

“The importance of Cape Horn is that this place is a symbol for us really, of all of our hard work so far,” he said. “It’s an accumulation of all the effort by everyone associated with our team to get us this far. That’s why it will be special for us.”

Day 58 – January 7, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 863
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2837
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2944
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3311

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

In Quotes – Alex Thomson, Hugo Boss: “Can you see the sunlight there? This is the Southern Ocean and it’s like a millpond. We haven’t had the sea this calm since that light spot before the Canary Islands. It’s pretty amazing actually. It’s like a millpond and the boat is hardly moving - it’s the Furious Fifties! This leg of the Southern Ocean for us, we’ve had maybe six hours with the wind over 22 knots and apart from that it’s been less than 20 knots, and it’s going to stay that way most of the way to Cape Horn.”

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

[Source: Barcelona World Race] It’s been a challenging weekend for the Barcelona World Race fleet. The two leaders are having uncharacteristic Southern Ocean conditions with Paprec-Virbac 2 losing miles due to light headwinds, while Hugo Boss is blocked by a ridge of high pressure in front of it that is limiting its progress towards Cape Horn.

“Right now we’ve got a 15 to 20 knot Northeasterly in front of a little front that’s here. That should overtake us shortly and then we’ll be left with a Northwesterly and we’ll have to alter course or change sails to suit where we want to go,” said Andrew Cape from Hugo Boss this morning. “Conditions aren’t too challenging at the moment, it’s a bit chilly where we are, always a bit grey…it’ll take us another day or two until we get a decent breeze over 20 knots.”

Meanwhile, Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña are suffering in light winds near New Zealand.

“We are still in very calm weather surrounded by high pressure. We are not tired and it’s not difficult sailing but it is frustrating to be so slow,” said Temenos II skipper Dominique Wavre. “We hope for more wind tomorrow.”

In an even more difficult situation is Educación sin Fronteras who has made good just over 130 miles in the past 24 hours as they’ve been nearly becalmed approaching Cook Strait. But things are looking up now as they make better speeds inside the Strait.

Day 57– January 6, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 768
3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2733
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 2917
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 3230

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

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

At 08:50 GMT on Saturday morning, Mutua Madrileña left the quay in Wellington to rejoin the Barcelona World Race. The Spanish sailors say they’re happy with the state of the boat and ready to get back to work, chasing down Temenos II. When Mutua Madrileña left the dock, they were some 250 miles behind Temenos II.

Mutua Madrileña rejoins the Barcelona World Race after a successful pit stop. Wellington, 5 January 2008. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back

At 08:50 GMT on Saturday morning, Mutua Madrileña left the quay in Wellington to rejoin the Barcelona World Race. The Spanish sailors say they’re happy with the state of the boat and ready to get back to work, chasing down Temenos II. When Mutua Madrileña left the dock, they were some 250 miles behind Temenos II.

Mutua Madrileña rejoins the Barcelona World Race after a successful pit stop. Wellington, 5 January 2008. Photo copyright Chris Cameron

Original post by Valencia Sailing and software by Elliott Back