Groupama sailing team, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing all posted blistering 24-hour runs of more than 500 nautical miles as the southbound stampede continued.
"Sailing this way is fun, and it’s what everyone thinks about when they sign up to sail around the world" - Amory Ross, PUMA Ocean Racing
Ken Read’s crew on PUMA had double the reason to celebrate this morning – not only have they moved up the rankings into second place behind Groupama, they were also the first team to smash the 500-mile mark.
PUMA sailed 522.14nm at an average speed of 21.7 knots in the 24 hours up to 0340 UTC.
Leg leaders Groupama answered back with a run of 501nm averaging 20.9 knots, while fifth-placed Abu Dhabi posted 507nm at an average of 21.1 knots.
“523 miles in 24 hours is a lot of miles for a sailboat,” said PUMA media crew member Amory Ross.
“That’s averaging 22 miles-per-hour over the last day, and it’ll likely improve over the next few hours, too. Not so bad for close reaching in 20 knots of breeze and an awful sea state.
“It’s also the most our Mar Mostro has logged this race (we were unfortunate to miss the high speed run into Cape Town with some minor mast problems).
“It feels good to be going fast, psychologically at least! Sailing this way is fun, and it’s what everyone thinks about when they sign up to sail around the world.
“It’s also a return to the painful existence of slamming and crashing, only this time it’s sunny, wet, and getting hotter by the hour.”
PUMA’s run doesn’t beat CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand’s current race record of 554nm during Leg 1 from Alicante to Cape Town which earned them the IWC Speed Record Challenge trophy for the leg and puts them in contention for the overall award, handed to the team which posts the biggest 24-hour distance over the course of the nine legs.
The 24-hour distance world record of 596.6nm was set by Ericsson 4 in the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race.