An untimely snag on a fishing net cost PUMA their position in the leaders’ pack overnight. It took the team an hour to remove and set them back 10 nautical miles.
But at 0700 UTC the team were starting to claw their way back, narrowing their gap between Team Telefónica and Groupama sailing team to six miles.
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG Media Crew Member Amory Ross reports on all of the drama:
“Yesterday I said it was going to be a make or break 24 hours. It appears now -- after a full 24 hours -- that we were headed for a breaking.
Mar Mostro pulled to within a few hundred yards of Groupama and Telefónica late yesterday, and we were able to match them for most of last night staying offshore while they chose the inshore route; at one point we might have been ahead.
Then came the hostile confrontation with a submerged net early this morning and it cost us a good hour of progress and 10 or so miles on the charts.
Far worse, while untangling the tangled we sat idle as the dwindling night winds vanished, and we now find ourselves struggling in a windless transition zone while the leaders sail away in the old breeze and the trailers catch up in the new. It is upsetting.
We are now closer to CAMPER and Abu Dhabi than we are the other two. Like I said: make or break, and we broke.
Not exactly our fault, but nonetheless, it’s another gut-wrenching setback of the likes we haven’t been able to avoid all race. Fortunately there is still a lot of track left, decisions to be made, and comebacks to be had.
Everything else on board remains relatively unchanged, or in some cases even enhanced.
It has actually found a way to get hotter -- shocking, and freeze-dried flatulence is at an all-time high. Several new challengers for supremacy have surfaced, too. I’m proud to say that I’m a boy amongst men in that contest, but it’s true, there’s something in the air (or the food) that’s taking things to a new level. Ohhhh the wonders of live on board entertainment...and it’s only day eight!
