It’s been a drag race to the south overnight (UTC) as the teams look for speed in the trade winds and attempt to get pole position on the big low pressure system that will take them to the finish line in Cape Town.
© Rich Edwards/Volvo Ocean Race
“It’s just about timing of the front and if you need to gybe towards it, or cut the corner and get on board, and there’ s a lot of variation on that,” says Team Brunel navigator Andrew Cape.
“This part is the most straightforward part of the leg, and after this it will get tricky again and when we start negotiating the fronts on the way to Cape Town, it’s a very tactical situation [and] the last couple of hundred miles will be the decider, so that’s what you’ve got to get in position for.”
For this part of the leg, the fleet is dancing with danger to the east – it’s a shorter route which is appealing, but the wind is lighter and from a less favourable direction.
team AkzoNobel has started to take a look there, making a slight move to the east and moving up the theoritical ranking. It’s not clear yet whether they’ll be able to lock in that gain.
Cape’s Brunel team had a good night in a tight drag race with Vestas 11th Hour Racing, and are now position slightly south and further east. The low margin for error makes for high stress levels.
“The stress comes with the game, you’ve got to accept that or not do it,” he says. “This is always a good leg for that exact reason.
“Most of the sailors in this fleet don’t make mistakes [and] it’s not as if everyone’s going to fall over and you come in first; there’s a lot of work to do if you want to beat anyone.”
You can find the latest positions here
