And then they were 13!
After Elliott who crossed the equator on Saturday, it was Ian and Arnaud’s turn to cross on Sunday, and finally escape the tentacular doldrums and a northern hemisphere they’ve seen too long. In the process, Arnaud and Ian have entered a duel, benefiting the French on Sunday, but not today, while pushing both not to lose contact with the fleet.
Up front, Simon lost 50 miles in his trip to Trindade to try to repair his genoa halyard, to no avail. The forefront of the fleet is becalmed in the trail of the high-pressure system and the averages have fallen below 100 miles/day for the top 5, even 50 for some. The tracker that uses DTF (Distance to Finish) for the rankings is getting confused. It places all those sailing to the west behind those to the east, although salvation will be further south.
The situation is still benefiting the mid fleet group which sails 100 to 150 miles per day but for how long? Meanwhile, Damien Guillou with 150 miles is posting the best 24-hour distance of the fleet, and is now equidistant from Michael and Pat. The back fleet, like the leaders,still have to get on the right side of the high pressure system blocking their route south. Hard to make any predictions today, except that the GGR fleet will spend a few more days upwind.
