Fleet Leaders Head for Lisbon

PHOTO: Nick Dana

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing managed to stem the flow of miles lost to their rivals overnight as the fleet continues its headlong rush across the Atlantic towards Lisbon.

With all six teams’ average speeds hovering around 20 knots during the night, by 0700 UTC this morning Abu Dhabi had 954 nautical miles to run and had locked their lead over second placed PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG to 31 nm.

Further back, the chasing bunch had divided into two finely balanced, head to head scraps, with Groupama and CAMPER both just a jot over 50 nm from the lead in third and fourth, and Team Telefónica and Team Sanya separated by five nautical mile in terms of distance to the finish.

In his latest report from the boat, Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker said that despite the increasing pressure from behind and the daunting prospect of protecting their lead through a light air zone in around 24 hours time, the Emirati team remained calm and focused.

“It is business as usual onboard and we have learnt not to let large losses at every position report affect our mood,” Walker said. “There is quite simply nothing we can do about it if the boats behind bring three or more knots more wind up into the back of you.

“Sooner or later they will get close enough to be in more similar wind and then we have to hope we can compete. By then I suspect the wind will be very light and it could be anyone’s game.

Walker said with fast angles, smooth seas and not too many sail changes the sailing conditions were very easy on the crew as they ate up the miles to Lisbon at an average speed of 20 knots.

“Our plan is to rest people up while the going is easy so that we have fully charged batteries for what will certainly be a frantic last 36 hours. If that means everyone on deck then so be it; there will be time to rest in Lisbon.

“If anybody in Miami had offered us even a one mile lead with 1,000 miles to go we would have gladly taken it.

“We may have lost 60 miles in 24 hours to the chasing pack, but we remain closest to Lisbon and we hope to be for some time yet.”