Barcelona World Race: The wind increases and so does the tension on board Paprec-Virbac

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Winning a global, non-stop, short-handed ocean race is never easy, but the two sailors on Paprec-Virbac 2 are facing a very stern test in the closing days of their circumnavigation. With the finishing line just 700 miles away, the wind and waves have picked up dramatically, and the second placed boat is closing fast. To add to the difficult circumstances on board, food is now in short supply with the finish still four days away.

“It’s very windy now and quite rough on board,” said an audibly tense Jean-Pierre when he was reached this afternoon. “We are sailing upwind of course, expecting even stronger winds. Now we have 25 knots, big waves, and we’re keeping our finger crossed. We have not been fast these last hours, mostly because of the waves which are up to three metres. The swell is very short and strong, and the boat is pounding into the waves a lot. It’s not great for our speed and not good for our tired boat. We’re going to have similar conditions after Gibraltar, but that’s the way the race goes. The wind is like this…”

Piling the pressure on the leader is Hugo Boss. The black boat has completed a phenomenal 24 hours in gaining just a shade under 200 miles. The margin between first and second is now less than 400 miles and the forecast continues to favour skippers Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape who are cutting the corner to Gibraltar. Although it won’t be long before Hugo Boss is tacking up the strong headwinds as well.

The cat and mouse game between Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña continues with a new twist. After days of shadowing each other, Mutua Madrileña made a move towards the west overnight, as conditions became slightly less stable. The move didn’t pay off initially as it takes them further from their goal at Gibraltar. But the team is hoping that stronger winds will compensate for the extra distance.

“This option to the west has a lot of possibilities for us,” said Javier Sanso today. “Even if every six hours or so the weather scenario changes.”

Ahead, Dominique Wavre was enjoying the clear skies overhead on Temenos II: “It is so nice and sunny, the sea is quiet and calm, and that's fantastic! We are playing with some high pressure bubbles by heading more to the east and we are quite satisfied with our new position... We are making good progress...I don’t know yet if this will be a key moment in our battle with Mutua Madrileña.”

Life is also good on board Educación sin Fronteras where Albert Bargués described ‘great sailing conditions’. With another 250 miles under their belts, the ESF crew is looking to reach the next scoring gate at Fernando de Noronha tomorrow afternoon.

Day 89 – February 7 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL – 698 to finish
2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE – 398
3. TEMENOS 2 - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 1527
4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO – 1630
5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES – 2878

Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS
Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE
Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET
Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE