Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam continues to lead the Volvo Ocean Racing fleet, and the boats having circumnavigated the island of Fernando de Noronha close to the Brazilian shore, is now headed towards St Helena.
At midnight UAE time yesterday, Team Brunel was 25nm behind Azzam in second with Vestas Wind a further 64nm back in third.
Mapfre and Alvimedica were sailing neck-and-neck, both 124nm off Azzam while Dongfeng was 91nm off the leader. The all-woman SCA team has not recovered from their second day mistake of sailing too close to the North African coast and were 130nm off Azzam.
And, while Azzam has now covered 51 per cent of the first leg distance from Alicante in Spain to Cape Town, the rest of the fleet have covered between 48 to 49 per cent.
Vestas Wind, meanwhile, chose to move closer to the shore, sailing low and fast off the Brazilian city of Aracaju.
It’s a run south-southwest for now, sailing along the Brazilian coast in southeast trade winds. But these trades are expected to weaken, dropping to 13-18 knots.
Showers and squalls are expected to develop near the land, and the wind likely to progressively shift to the east and the northeast.
This development is bound to affect the short-term options of the competitors and play in favour of those placed offshore.
Long-term though, one strategy seems to be taking shape: the run south, also known as the Big Dive. It’s all about heading south towards the Roaring Forties winds before turning east and heading towards Cape Town.
Meanwhile Azzam’s onboard reporter Matt Knighton wrote in his daily log yesterday: “Heading South towards the St Helena High on port tack. The crew has made the left side of Azzam their semipermanent home. Every piece of stackable weight is pushed as far up the inside as allowed.
“All the food bags, spare parts, and foul weather gear is all positioned carefully. The crew even spends noticeably less time out of the bunks so as to keep their weight high of the centreline. Over long miles, weight placement can equate directly to miles gained and lost.
“The crew is being pushed to the limit as yet again. Adil [Khalid] has been so exhausted that he’s starting to miss crucial meals. We’re trying to encourage him to eat.” The first boat is expected to arrive in Cape Town around November 10, after having covered a distance of 6,487nm on the first leg.
