Route des Princes - Leg 2 start

Route des Princes leg 2 start from Lisbon © Mark Lloyd / www.lloydimages.com

Route des Princes leg 2 start from Lisbon © Mark Lloyd / www.lloydimages.com

Route des Princes leg 2 start from Lisbon © Mark Lloyd / www.lloydimages.com

On the short inshore loop over which Lisbon bid goodbye to the MOD70's and the Maxi 80 Prince de Bretagne, Spindrift were quick to establish a lead, using the favourable wind bend along the south shore of the river and extending again on the downwind leg back to one last turn off the Praça do Comerció before heading for the open Atlantic.

This leg, via the famous Fastnet Rock off the SW of Ireland, promises several strategic keys. After an initial high pressure ridge on the ascent of the Portuguese coast, the first to be managed will be the transition around the centre of a depression that will reach them just around Cape Finisterre early tomorrow. The balancing act is to time the move to be closest to the centre, gaining maximum breeze and the quickest access to the fast reaching in the E'ly winds which will offer a fast, mostly direct course towards the Fastnet.

Guichard showed no effect from having just returned to Lisbon this morning three hours before the start having been competing in Geneva's Bol d'Or. The black and white MOD70, current class champions, were quickly back in control of the fleet. Their ace navigator Pascal Bidégorry was looking forwards to a leg with a few more strategic options and a bit more going on than Leg 1 from Valencia to Lisbon:

"It will be important to get out of the river because there is a bonus point to take at the exit, near Cascais. Then on a close reach there will be a small ridge to manage before we start to aim towards the centre of the depression. We will go round the east of the centre around Cape Finisterre with favourable winds, around 25kts. It will be hard then but not violent. At the back of it we will be reaching quite fast before the wind will drop for the difficult bit between Fastnet and Dublin."

"It will be an interesting leg from strategic point of view. There is a lot which will happen but it would be good to be getting to each of them first and taking the points on the table. There will be a lot to do in the south of Ireland. It will be nice."

The consensus is that this will be a fast leg, three days or perhaps just less depending on how quick or slow the final 190 miles from Fastnet to the finish might be. Many of the teams will recall that last year's finish of the European Tour in Dun Laoghaire, which saw three boats finish within five minutes of each other on the line.

For sure the sunshine and warm temperatures of Lisbon will give way to an Atlantic greyness, overcast skies with rain and cooler temperatures.

Multi50

Up ahead, having left 24 hours before, during Saturday afternoon, the leading Multi 50s were in a fresh 25kts breeze NW of Cape Finisterre having made great time from Lisbon. Average speeds were of the order of 22kts when Actual, FenêtréA-Cardinal and Arkema - Aquitaine passed the Cape around midday. Rennes - Saint-Malo Agglomeration are around 100 miles behind from the leader Actual. Already, strategies are emerging with (Actual) working east and in the west FenêtréA-Cardinal, Arkema-Aquitaine. In the coming hours the weather looks set to be complicated, winds variable in strength and direction meaning a nice puzzle for the navigators and lots of hard work on the deck.