Volvo Ocean Race - Tight battle at the front
by Volvo Ocean Race on 2 May 2015
Leg 6 to Newport onboard Team Brunel. Day 12. The boat heels over and water crashes over the side. Stefan Coppers/Team Brunel
2014 - 15 Volvo Ocean Race - In a tight battle at the front, a tiny 0.3 nautical miles (nm) separates the front three boats. Yes, we have a helluva race on with 1,450nm before we reach Newport, Rhode Island. Just west of Puerto Rico, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is making good progress north, past the Caribbean. The water is warm and the wind is blowing for some ‘champagne’, optimum sailing.
Team Brunel has been placed consistently in the top three over the past few days, but plugging away hard over the last 12 hours, they have found a slight speed edge on Dongfeng Race Team and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.
It is too close to call, however, and the lead will probably change with every position report (every three hours) over the next 24 hours.
Those crews who avoid the seaweed or get the right side of the wind-sucking clouds, will thrive.
Good gains made by navigator, Will Oxley, on Team Alvimedica as Mapfre crossed behind them, reignited a tight contest for fourth place, although the Spanish team lost 6.5nm in the last three hours.
Team SCA, meanwhile, have also made good progress at the back of the fleet, moving a little closer to the leaders.
They have also sailed on a slightly more westerly path in the wake of Team Alvimedica and Mapfre.
As the wind direction shifted 20 degrees to the left, these three teams opted for this option, while the leading bunch opted to sail higher and continue on a more northerly course.
The speculation now is that this will lead to a split in the fleet, with the leaders heading directly to Newport and the rest to follow around the coast to Florida before catching the Gulf stream sooner.
Watch this space.
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