Istanbul Europa Race- Estrella Damm heads for Menorca

by Estrella Damm Sailing Team Media on 10 Sep 2009
Only 24 hours after leaving Nice, Estrella Damm Sailing Team and their fellow competitors in the Istanbul Europa Race are fighting head to head in an extremely close battle to be the first boat to round Menorca and head to Barcelona.

In the 10 o’clock CET position report, the Spanish boat was second only 4.7 miles from Kito de Pavant’s Groupe Bel, and very closely followed by Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia.

With the exception of DCNS (30 miles from the current leader) the fleet is sailing in a tight bunch (five boats with only twelve miles between them) and everything is still to be decided. Since leaving Nice at midday yesterday Guillermo Altadill and Pachi Rivero’s Estrella Damm has been sailing an average of twelve knots in downwind north-easterly conditions.

At the 10 o’clock position report, the Spanish boat, overall leaders in the round Europe race after the winning the first leg, was 185.9 miles from the finish line in Barcelona, their home city.

Speeds are greater than expected; however there are still various obstacles to overcome that might slow the fleet, as Guillermo Altadill explained yesterday. The passage around Menorca has the danger of leaving the fleet without any wind, and the arrival in Barcelona provides the challenge of both a gradient wind and sea breeze to negotiate.

The fleet will face the first of these obstacles – the passage between Menorca and Mallorca, in the next few hours, and it will be crucial that Estrella Damm manages to get through the channel in a good position to face the final miles to the finish line in Barcelona with a certain advantage.

Predictions for this next stage of the leg are for less wind than the fleet is currently sailing in, very light conditions of about five knots, and the hard work and continuous trimming that Rivero described is certainly common practice on board.

Estrella Damm is currently the most westerly boat in the fleet, sailing a more direct route to the east coast of Menorca. An out and out battle between the teams is underway, whilst the city of Barcelona awaits the arrival of their home team - Estrella Damm Sailing Team, provisional leaders of the Istanbul Europa Race.

The team made up of Barcelona-born Guillermo Altadill, Spanish Pachi Rivero and Antonio Cuervas-Mons, Dutchman Wouter Verbraak and Antoine Mermod from France, are fighting for another good result in home waters.

Estrella Damm Sailing Team website: http://www.estrelladammsailingteam.es

Event website: http://www.istanbuleuroparace.com