The fifth stage of the Globe40 also took place last Wednesday. started with the already known pictureTeam Crédit Mutuel and Team Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium, the two fast scow-bug boats at the front of the overall standings, once again fought a constant duel. The Belgians started the penultimate leg from Valparaiso in Chile to Recife on the east coast of Brazil with a lead of just two points over the French, the highlight of which will be the Cape Horn Passage.
Globe40: serious setback for the Belgians
But suddenly the Belgians had dropped back from full speed and set course for the Chilean port of Valdivia, around 1000 kilometres south of Valparaiso, while Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier kept the accelerator pedal to the floor. Technical problems forced the Belgians off course and to stop for repairs in the southern Chilean harbour of Valdivia - a serious setback in the duel for the Globe40 triumph.
This story doesn't start the way we had hoped." Corentin Douguet
The report from co-skipper Corentin Douguet: "Technical problems occurred on Friday evening. First the mainsail traveller broke, then an hour later the J1 halyard! After carefully weighing up the pros and cons, we decided in favour of a pit stop. We are at the beginning of the race and a lot can still happen. But above all, we would prefer to pass Cape Horn with a boat in good condition."
The leaders of the Globe40 classification after the prologue and four of the six legs are now back at sea after repairs have been completed. On the morning of 23 February, the Belgians were more than 285 nautical miles behind the team Crédit Mutuel, which is now alone in the lead with a large margin. That's a lot in a duel whose participants had finished more than once within a minute of each other in previous legs.
The "Crédit Mutuel" rivals set the pace
To make matters worse for the Belgians, they still had to get out of a shallow zone off the Chilean coast and made agonisingly slow progress at a speed of just a handful of knots, while the French "Crédit Mutuel" rivals at the front of the fleet sailed blithely at 15 knots on course for Cape Horn.
The exciting question over the coming weeks will now be whether and how the Belgians will be able to close the gap again. Meanwhile, Ian Lipinski's crew enjoyed the good conditions for the Pacific powerplay, reporting from the sea on the morning of 23 February: "The wind is slowly picking up as a front is approaching to the west of our position. It should gradually increase to 30 knots, with additional strong gusts. So we need to stay alert until tomorrow."
Team Crédit Mutuel noted on the further prospects: "It will be less pleasant behind the front, as the wind will shift to the south and we will have to reef again. Then there will be a short breather of a few hours before we sail downwind again with a second area of low pressure that will probably take us as far as Cape Horn! That's the plan, now we just have to get going!"
Spitzbug boats close together on Globe40 leg five
The five pointed bow boats following "Crédit Mutuel" were still relatively close together five days after the start on 18 February. The French "Free Dom" led the chasing fleet, 146 nautical miles behind "Crédit Mutuel" and around 16 nautical miles ahead of "Barco Brasil". Behind them, with a gap of around ten nautical miles between them, were "Whiskey Jack", the Team Wilson Around the World with Lisa Berger and Jade Edwards-Leaney and the British "Jangada" for the best positions. Click here for the tracking, which is updated every four hours.
There was good news from Team Next Generation Sailing at the same time: the German team, which had to retire on leg three due to mast damage, set off for Recife on Sunday (22 February) after repairs on La Réunion and final adjustments in Cape Town. Skipper Melwin Fink and his team mates Sebastian Dziwisch and Christian Schulzeck reckoned it would take around 17 South Atlantic days to reach the Brazilian Globe40 harbour.
The trio wants to achieve this well before the start of the sixth and final Globe40 leg to the start and finish harbour of Lorient. The starting signal will be given on 29 March. Lennart Burke will then also fly to Recife in time for the final act of the double-handed circumnavigation for Class40 duos. Together, Burke and Fink want to use the final for a worthy conclusion to the race around the world.
The Valparaiso start of the current penultimate leg via Cape Horn to Recife in Brazil took place on 18 February:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
