Barcelona World Race - First to forty

by Barcelona World Race on 24 Jan 2011 Barcelona World Race update.

The first boat in the Barcelona World Race to approach the ‘Roaring Forties’ as the latitudes of usually strong westerly winds south of 40° latitude are known, is Virbac Paprec 3.

Having passed the waypoint of Gough Island yesterday afternoon at around 1525hours, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron (FRA) are now heading south-east from their current position of 40 30 S at around 13 knots.

Whilst their nearest rival, Foncia, remains in ghost mode for the next 24 hours, the duo on Virbac Paprec 3 will be unable to determine if they have extended or lost their lead on the fleet. However, in third place MAPFRE are maintaining a steady margin between two at just over 520 miles back in third, and sailing a similar average pace of 10-11 knots overnight. Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez (ESP) are currently around 390 miles from the Gough Island waypoint.

Estrella Damm in fourth and Groupe Bel in fifth remain closely matched, with just 10 miles separating them in the leaderboard, followed by Renault Z.E. clear in sixth. Meanwhile Mirabaud has regained seventh position, directly followed by Neutrogena some 25 miles north-west, with GAES Centros Auditivos just over their shoulders at 11 miles back.

Ryan Breymaier (USA) emailed overnight about the frustrations of losing the place they had gained from Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA): 'The weather has forced our hand a bit this evening. We would have liked to continue east like Groupe Bel and Estrella Damm, but wind from the west filled in on top of us, but at around 5 knots. This forced us to make the decision to start going south, consigning us to a longer period in lighter air than the two in front of us.'

Hugo Boss has reclaimed 10th position from Central Lechera Asturiana, as the rear group also succumb to the high pressure system, with Central Lechera Asturiana the slowest boat on the course overnight, averaging just 2.1 knots.

Barcelona World Race website