The slalom in the Strait of Malacca has so far been just as entertaining as expected. There has been no restart, but Telefonica and Groupama are almost level at the front, Puma follows at a slight distance, and then the big gap opens up. Abu Dhabi was able to fight its way up, perhaps also because a stray bat clung to the reefing thimbles of the mainsail to save energy. Regardless of this, they sailed just a stone's throw behind Camper, who had made a mistake yesterday and got stuck off the Malaysian coast. When the tide turned, the New Zealanders had to anchor and dropped out of the leading group. Meanwhile, the poor at the back are getting poorer and poorer. Sanya was almost 140 miles behind. Opportunities to overtake are rare because everyone has to sail in a narrow corridor due to the traffic.
That was the score, but the position tracking showed that Abu Dhabi and Camper could at least narrow the gap to Puma. "There will be more compression," hoped Nick Dana, Abu Dhabi's cameraman. But it remains treacherous and unpredictable. As if the wind, current and weather problems - even a waterspout was recorded - and the dense shipping traffic were not enough, the sailors also have to watch out for the rubbish they are literally sailing through. Pretty much all the floating rubbish that we are unfortunately all too familiar with was spotted: lighters, trainers, abandoned fishing nets and plastic of all kinds. There was even a polystyrene block the size of a small car.
"It's great to sail here, but it's also really sad how much rubbish is floating around," resigned Puma's skipper Ken Read. His boat collided with floating rubbish a few days ago, which damaged the jettisoned centreboard. "It's really scary at night, you can't see anything but you know the stuff is there," explained Brandon Casey, one of Puma's two bowmen. A half-sunken kayak and a flip-flop with a crab crew were also spotted. "What are three crabs telling each other on a bathing sloop in the middle of the Straits of Malacca?" asked Casey rhetorically.
All boats are sailing just under land on the Malaysian side, and the leaders should soon pass Singapore before leaving the eastern part of the Strait of Malacca. Then the probably rough third leg of this leg begins, up north towards China and the finish in Sanya.
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Current positions and distances in the Tracker.
This article was originally published on 26 January. The text has been updated to reflect the current status.
