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| Hamish McRae |
CAMPER navigator Will Oxley said this morning that the Gulf Stream and the potential for thunderstorms on the approach to Miami could still create a chance to overtake PUMA.
“If it does get light and funky at the end, with thunderstorms, then 17 miles will mean not much” Will Oxley - navigator, CAMPER
At 0900 UTC, as PUMA closed on the final waypoint before the finish -- the Great Stirrup Light -- their lead over the chasing CAMPER was around 18 nautical miles (nm).
“We are doing about 17.5 knots right now, on course in about 13 knots of breeze,” Oxley said. “PUMA came into this ahead of us so they have extended a little since Eleuthera.
“For now it is straight line and until we get close to the end it is going to be hard to compress their lead. They have sailed extremely well to date, but we have had quite a few close finishes in this race so far.
“You never say never and there are few navigational hazards along the way -- the Gulf Stream, some thunderstorm activity this afternoon and the final approach the Miami -- which could all turn the race on it’s head,” Oxley said.
“Assuming we can keep it together, it looks like it will be between us and PUMA.”
Oxley said he was hoping the warm waters of the Gulf Stream would throw up some weather anomalies to enable CAMPER to challenge PUMA before the finish.
“They are in a good position at the moment and if we go straight in they are going to be very difficult to get past,” he said “If it slows up on the way to Miami then we will get the compression which we have seen on a number of previous finishes.
“If it does get light and funky at the end, with thunderstorms, then 17 miles will mean not much.”
Oxley said there could be options to try a split from PUMA across the Gulf Stream which flows north at up to four knots, but expected the American crew to be covering them hard.
“Traditionally you would come around the final waypoint and hold high to the south, so that when you cross the Gulf Stream you have some distance that you can get swept north,” Oxley said.
Oxley said the other option would be to cross the Gulf Stream fast and get beyond it and then play the shore line to the finish.
“They are not dummies on PUMA though,” Oxley said with a dry laugh. “You might have noticed we have been trying a few things to get past them and they have done a great job of covering those moves. I imagine they will do the same thing through the Gulf Stream.
Up in the lead, PUMA skipper Ken Read said the American crew had spotted lightning flashes on the horizon.
“We have thunderstorm activity ahead of us right now,” he said this morning -- adding drily: “Of course we do -- I mean, we wouldn’t have it any other way, would we?
“It could be anything, it could be sheet lightning, we don’t know yet, we will have to wait and see. It’s another 60 miles yet and we will deal with it when we get there.
Read said it had felt good to stretch out on CAMPER after nearly losing their lead around Eleuthera.
“Since then we have been getting into the breeze first and pulling away a bit,” he said. “But we will accordion back together a bit when we reach the final waypoint and start to sail slower angles -- and against four knots of current.
“So that is another door ahead that needs to be shut and will slow us down and take a chunk out of our lead.
Read said there would be no chance to relax in final 100 nm of Leg 6, particularly given the volatile nature of the localized weather around the Gulf Stream.
“If the breeze stays like it is at the moment or something like it then it should be a case of straight to Miami and just negotiate the current,” he said.
“But the thing about the Gulf Stream is that it creates its own weather system. So nine times out of ten, what you see before it or after it has nothing to do with what is in it, as far as weather is concerned.
“So you can’t really deal with it until you get there. It is never the same twice and that’s for sure,” Read said.
At 0900 UTC PUMA led CAMPER by 18.4 nm. More than 90 nm behind, third placed Groupama held a narrow seven nautical mile advantage over Telefónica in fourth.
Abu Dhabi remained in fifth, 186 nm off the lead.
The leading boat is expected to cross the finish line around 1600 UTC today.
OSM news service
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