Barcelona World Race - Final Miles for Cheminées Poujoulat

by Barcelona World Race Media on 26 Mar 2015 Bernard Stamm (SUI) and Jean Le Cam (FRA) are within 15 miles and about 90 minutes of sailing time of winning the third edition of the Barcelona World Race. The Cheminées Poujoulat co-skippers were still making 8-14kts of boat speed towards the finish line off Barcelona's W-Hotel.

Eighty four days after starting from the same line, on 31st December 2014 midday UTC, the hugely experienced Swiss-French pair have been dealing with a mix of light and gusty winds to complete the final miles of the race. They are expected to enter Barcelona's harbour and moor at the base of the Columbus statue on the Portal de la Pau, within 45 minutes to one hour after finishing.

Meantime Neutrogena in second place are upwind in the NE'ly trade winds, pointing at Casablanca on the Moroccan coast, making almost 10kts, leading GAES Centros Auditivos by nearly 300 miles. Guillermo Altadill and Jose Munoz on Neutrogena should cross Gibraltar on 27th March.
One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton in fourth place, and We Are Water in fifth sail almost parallel courses, now with 120 miles of lateral separation. We AreWater are still slightly quicker than their rivals, but One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton are credited with a lead of 86 miles.

Renault Captur are racing off Recife, Brazil, continuing their climb of the South Atlantic close to the coast. Jörg Riechers and Sébastien Audigane now have an ESE'ly wind and in the next 24-48 hours should enter the doldrums.
Spirit of Hungary is facing a transition zone downwind 15-20 knots, but in the coming days could find an area of ??very light wind.

Provisional classification March 25, 2015 14:00 UTC
1 Cheminées Poujoulat (B. Stamm - J. Le Cam) 37.6 miles from the finish
2 Neutrogena (G. Altadill - J. Muñoz) to 974.2 miles from the leader
3 GAES Hearing Centres (A. Corbella - G. Marín) to 1274.3 miles from the leader
4 One Planet, One Ocean & Pharmaton (A. Gelabert - D. Costa) to 2678.7 miles from the leader
5 We Are Water (B. Garcia - W. Garcia) to 2765.5 miles from the leader
6 Renault Captur (J. Riechers - S. Audigane) to 3655.7 miles from the leader
7 Spirit of Hungary (N. Fa - C. Colman) to 4422.2 miles from the leader
Retired: Hugo Boss (A. Thomson - P. Ribes)