The German virtual racer had a slender 1.62-mile lead before opting to go ‘stealth’, a move that hides a player’s position from the rest of the fleet for 24 hours.
After days of full-speed blasting through the North Atlantic in perfect southerly conditions, the virtual fleet had today slowed after hitting a high-pressure ridge around 300 miles west of Ireland. Speeds were down to the early teens – a stark contrast to the 20+ knots enjoyed over the last few days.
But the slower conditions are not set to hamper the 42,000 virtual skippers for long – once through the ridge they will be into decent northerlies that will fire them towards the Leg 9 finish line in Cardiff, Wales.
© Virtual Regatta
Second-placed karriv and third-placed Salomon, both from Finland, were continuing to push leader januin-VSC hard as they entered the final 500 miles of the 3,300-mile leg.
The top ten players were today within nine miles of one another, while the top 50 were split by just over 20 miles. Interestingly, the three top players overall – Tessa94, Sideshow and Marcusbelgicus – are not in the top 50 in this leg.
The current ETA for the leading players is unkown.
www.volvooceanrace.com/game
