It looks like the area of equatorial lulls is now behind "Mutua Madrileña", now headed North up to Gibraltar, the eighth and final scoring gate in the Barcelona World Race. The Spanish entry is enjoying stable Northeasterly breeze, and is eager for an opportunity to go on the attack with "Temenos 2". With the current conditions as they are Javier "Bubi" Sansó thinks it’s best to wait before making any moves.

"We’re on tenterhooks, to see if things will change. With the stable NE we’ve got now being behind them we can stick right to them, beating… but not attack yet," said Bubi Sansó this lunchtime. "Now we just have to be patient, and put up with things. 80 miles between two of these boats really is nothing – it’s eight hours at 10 knots, and seven if you go a bit faster. Now we need to stay close, and make sure they don’t get away and we should have an opportunity further ahead."

A few days ago "Bubi" Sansó was already thinking about the climb to the GibraltarStrait, a leg he considers to be one of the trickiest tactically. "The climb to the next scoring gate at Gibraltar is one of the most difficult in the whole of the round the world race, where the gaps can vary dramatically according to the tactics and the luck one has."

If conditions play out as predicted the "Mutua Madrileña" crew should reach Gibraltar in some 8-10 days, on about the 12th-14th February. However, "Bubi" warns that this calculation is also dependent on many factors, and that after the Canaries things can get pretty tricky.

Macgyver +Russell Coutts = the perfect crewmember

One of the subjects "Bubi" touched on today in his videoconference was the perfect crewmember for a sail like this onboard an IMOCA Open 60. "You need a multi-disciplined person. If it was a solo voyage, then someone like a cross between Macgyver and Russell Coutts might be the right kind of guy for the job," said the Spaniard. "If you’re looking at racing with 2 crew, then each of the skippers has a specific role, but those must complement each other, and both must be excellent sailors, know the boat well and have a decent mileage behind them – experience is key".

Extra miles to reach Gibraltar

Leader "Paprec Virbac 2" has been forced to go further north than desired and has gone past the latitude of Gibraltar due to an anticyclone in the area. The duo were keen to avoid the light conditions, but has also meant that Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall have had to travel further to get to the Strait, and they’re still not certain when they’ll be changing tack East. It’ll be interesting to see in the 16:00 GMT reports tomorrow whether "Hugo Boss", 527 miles (976 km) behind will be able to reap any benefits from the situation.

Day 86 – 16:0 GMT

Position/Boat/Skippers (Nationality)/Distance from leaders

1º Paprec Virbac 2, Dick (FRA)/Foxall (IRL),  1,398 miles from Barcelona

2º Hugo Boss, Thomson (GBR)/Cape (AUS), +527

3º Temenos 2, Wavre (SUI)/Paret (FRA), +1,386

4º MUTUA MADRILEÑA, Rivero (ESP)/Sansó (ESP), +1,478

5º EDUCACIÓN SIN FRONTERAS, Escoffier (FRA)/Bargués (ESP), +2,802

    Veolia Environnement, Jourdain (FRA)/Nélias (FRA), retired

    Estrella Damm, Altadill (ESP)/McKee (USA), retired

    Delta Dore, Beyou (FRA)/Gavignet (FRA), retired

    PRB, Riou (FRA)/Josse (FRA), retired