When the French boat reached the width of New Caledonia, Groupama had a lead of around 100 miles over Puma in second place. For Franck Cammas and his team, the east was just right. Even though it was ugly hot and humid on board and there was less wind in between, they never experienced total calm. On the contrary: thundery showers broke up the monotony from time to time.
The same applies to Puma, which has been much closer to the rear of the French team before, but ultimately had to give up the hard-won miles and is now focussing almost entirely on Telefónica, which is a little further to the west and just under 60 miles astern. "Eighty per cent of our attention is on Telefónica and Camper, the rest on the last part of the stage and the possibility of taking the lead," explains watch leader Tony Mutter. That sounds a bit like resignation, but the best hope for the non-leaders is a lull that slows down the front runners and allows them to catch up.
Even if the boats in the east seem to be well organised at the moment because they are closer to the finish, weakening winds could still really upset things. Telefónica's skipper Iker Martinez, who is 160 miles behind Groupama with his team, is already focussing on Puma, who are only sailing a moderate 60 miles ahead of the blue boat. "We are in a good position. It's still 1300 miles to the finish and the wind should drop a little, which gives us hope."
Sanya, on the other hand, has little hope as it is caught in the doldrums at the back and is already more than 340 miles behind. Abu Dhabi has also dropped further and, at nine knots, is sailing almost half as fast as Groupama, which is making good speed at the front with more than 16 knots.
According to the wind forecast, it should freshen up from the south-east soon, which would be very favourable for Groupama, even if it means banging again.
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