Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel has substantially extended their lead
by Volvo Ocean Race on 18 Feb 2015
Team Brunel - Volvo Ocean Race Team Brunel
Volvo Ocean Race - Team Brunel has gained almost 33 nautical miles on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, now 60nm behind them. Team Alvimedica is now in third place, 30nm west of Abu Dhabi.
The Turkish-American crew has done well in the last 12 hours, with an overall average speed of 14 knots. They have overtaken MAPFRE, now in fourth place. The Spanish team continues to sail blind after reporting issues with the sat-com systems yesterday.
Team SCA is still 30nm north of the fleet and has been the fastest boat doing 14.7 knots on average. On the other hand, Dongfeng Race Team has been the slowest in the last 12 hours, averaging 10.5 knots.
Looking at the tracker, they seem to have sailed on the bad side of a cloud or a squall around 1200 UTC and they’ve experienced a wind shift that slowed them down. The rest of the fleet seemed to have gone south, avoiding the cloud.
To sum it up, this leg is proven to be challenging for the boats and the bodies. Injuries reported - MAPFRE’s Willy Altadill is recovering from a swollen hand after an incident with the outrigger and Team Brunel’s Gerd-Jan Poortman suffered a ruptured eardrum from being washed into a dagger board.
The fleet is now sailing into a transition zone before entering the Intertropical Convergence Zone this weekend. They will be crossing the Equator by Friday morning.
In a couple of hours, Team Brunel will be sailing about 25nm north of Pohnpei Island, the largest, highest and most populated and developed island of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Leader: TBRU
Wind speed: 13-17 knots
Boat speed SOG (15 mins): 12-15 knots
Wind direction: 56º - 61º
Lowest boat speed: DFRT (11,2 knots)
Highest boat speed: TBRU (15,7 knots)
Lowest wind speed: ADOR (12 knots)
Highest wind speed: TBRU (17 knots)
Position report list
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