South African day
A few stats to put the race in perspective this 1st of December: Kirsten is as of this morning the holder of ALL the GGR fleet records! Best speed over 4 hours at 9.8 knots, best distance over 24 hours at 218.9 nautical miles, and best distance over 7 days at 1143.7 nautical miles. Hats off!
Simon, who is now closer to Hobart than Cape Town, has sailed 40% of the course so far, while Ian and Elliot 3000 nm behind are 30% of the way round the world. As expected yesterday, he other south African sailor in the fleet Jeremy has broken his 24 hour record at 164 miles, we are now waiting for the 7 day figure!
The high-pressure over the South Indian Ocean has expanded, trapping Abhilash and Michael, and forcing Kirsten to dive south. Ian and Elliot are finally sailing east in a steady wind and Ian is about to hit the strong current towards Australia!
In the Atlantic, Arnaud who has just drawn a nice oval has his weekly call tomorrow and will inform us of his repairs. Guy is taking advantage of the SSW flow to rack up the miles, nearly 100 this morning, and is now only 800 miles from Cape Town. There is no small victory in the GGR!
Update: Arnaud Gaist is retiring from GGR 2022
Message just received:
With the barnacles and my weakness in the mast it would be Cape Horn in April. The route back is to St Helene and back to Les Sables d’Olonne.
Arnaid Gaist
Listen to the SoundCloud call here.
