After passing the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the four teams do not set course directly for Cape Town, but head almost directly south. For two reasons: An area of high pressure in the South Atlantic blocks the direct route. Although they could pass to the north, this would result in wind from the front.
Deep in the south, on the other hand, the low-pressure systems of the Roaring Forties move from west to east with gale force. If you catch one of these, you can sail into Cape Town with a stern wind and at top speed. It's a diversion, but it's the faster option, the motorway as opposed to the country road. In the last race, Ericsson 4 took the lead from Green Dragon and set a 24-hour record.
In the position report at 7.00 UTC, the Spanish team Telefonica was only 13 nautical miles ahead of Puma. However, the distance to the finish is taken as a reference, and Puma was slightly further east than Telefonica. The actual distance between the two was around 50 nautical miles, so Telefonica already had a very good starting position. Team Camper was 113 nautical miles behind, again calculated to the finish, Groupama 365 nautical miles.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
