Franska Groupama ligger i en knapp ledning efter det att de sex deltagande båtarna i Volvo Ocean Race på nytt har börjat kappsegla. Starten för Leg 2 gick på söndagen i Kapstaden. Efter knappt ett dygn ligger Groupama etta med resten av fältet inom 1,5 Nm efter sig. Segraren på Leg 1, Telefonica, ligger efter starten sist.
Det har varit en väldigt lätt bris under det första dygnet som båtarna har varit på väg från Kapstaden. Den inbördes ställningen har ändrats flera gånger beroende av vindarna. Exakt hur båtar kommer att segla mot etappmålet i Abu Dhabi är oklar på grund av det extrastopp som har lagts in längs vägen på grund av pirathot.
Här är den senaste pressreteasen från tävlingsledningen:
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing led the fleet away from Cape Town but were then the first to fall into the windless zone.
At the 0400 UTC position report they lay in fifth place, 12 nautical miles behind new leaders Groupama.
“We made a great exit from Table Bay and built a nice lead before getting swallowed up by the fleet as we sat in no wind further up the coast,” said skipper Ian Walker. “We managed to get through that in second place but then got caught out too near the shore and we have paid a huge price.
“We have only managed to sail 0.6 nautical miles in the last two hours and have been sitting bobbing up and down looking at the notorious Cape of Good Hope for about 10 hours.”
Walker said his main concern overnight was how to avoid being washed on to the rocks by the ocean swell.
“We have been pretty good friends with one rock in particular that has been less than half a mile dead down swell from us for 2 hours. We have just managed to pull forward on it despite some adverse current so it is now 1 mile behind – hopefully we won’t head back towards it again like we did an hour ago!”
Another worry for Walker and indeed the rest of the fleet is the prospect of another 48 hours of windless conditions having failed to hook into a breezy weather system as previously expected.
“All our weather strategy is in pieces now as the fleet has failed to catch the low pressure as planned and I suspect we will all sit waiting for a new Westerly wind to pick us up in the next day or two” said Walker.
So light were the conditions that overall race leaders Team Telefónica were forced to put down their anchor to avoid being washed backwards.
“The wind has died and we have found a lot of current on the approach to the headland,” explained watch captain Neal McDonald. “So it is better for us to anchor here rather than go backwards.”
