The seventh day of the seventh stage has begun. Overnight, the Spanish team Mapfre, which leads the overall standings, was able to defend its lead. Behind them, Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel has fought its way into second place, just two nautical miles behind. Dee Caffari's Team Turn the Tide on Plastic has recently made a huge leap forward with a gain of more than 32 nautical miles and is in third place, just 5 nautical miles behind Mapfre.
The jibe chase along the ice edge on the course for Cape Horn produces a new order with every new position report, which the race organisers publish every six hours and also make available to the teams. On Saturday morning, the fourth-placed team AkzoNobel with skipper Simeon Tienpont was 16 nautical miles behind Mapfre. Charlie Enright's comeback team Vestas 11th Hour Racing had dropped back to fifth place, almost 20 nautical miles behind. The Dongfeng Race Team, which dropped to 6th place, is now 32 nautical miles behind. David Witt's Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag is still lagging behind the fleet in 7th place, but has recently made up 32 nautical miles. On board Vestas, the crew recorded breathtaking top speeds of up to 37 knots on longer surfs.
The rapidly changing positions are due to the zigzag course that the boats follow along the ice line drawn by the race organisers to protect them. It is as if the boats are moving like Flummis - up (to the north) and down (to the south) in an easterly direction. The crews are not allowed to sail further south - even if they would like to. This is to minimise the risk of collisions with broken and northward drifting one-pieces. However, the teams cannot sail too far north either, because that would mean too many extra miles. This results in the zigzag lines that are clearly visible in the tracker.
And the crews have another important task to fulfil in the stormy winds, which are set to increase once again this weekend: be fast! This is because the many gybes required can be completed more easily in the harsh wind conditions and high swell at high speeds. If you know that up to six tonnes of pressure are exerted on the gennaker winch alone, the basic rule becomes clear: the faster the boat, the less pressure in the sail, the easier the gybe. If a gybe works particularly well, it ideally takes around 15 minutes. At night and in extreme conditions, it can take up to 50 or 60 minutes including stowing.
As is so often the case, the hardest job is done by the foredeck crew. Bouwe Bekking writes in his latest blog: "Changing sails is not easy. Especially not for our foreship man Carlo. He takes the blows of the waves. And let's not even talk about the fact that he has to do the work without gloves. That means very cold fingers. But he's a tough one." Bekking also ventured a first look at the Cape Horn passage, which could become a real challenge for the teams due to the expected winds: "For me, it will be number 9. For others it will be the first. They're scared that Neptune will drop by again. But they don't need to worry. He won't be after them. But he might visit us for a cigar and pat them on the back."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
