Javier “Bubi” Sansó’s words and the information given in the 16:00 GMT position reports reveal that the last 24 hours haven’t thrown up many changes for “Mutua Madrileña” and “Temenos 2”. Both entries have East-North-easterly breeze of 15 to 20 knots and are sailing at similar speeds. “We’re in a transitional phase, not much is going on and we’re just keeping a steady distance. During the day we’re performing more or less the same, but at night we have the edge speed-wise”, said the Spaniard this lunchtime.

The position reports confirm the skipper’s comments, with the gap separating the third and fourth place entry in this Barcelona World Race standing at 93 miles (172 km), one miles less than at the same time yesterday. The forecasts from onboard ESP-4 aren’t predicting many changes over the next few hours. “We’re just going to keep the pace up for the next 48 hours, but there shouldn’t be many changes. The gap will stay at around 100 miles and I don’t think there’ll be any big  movements for the time being: at this angle our speeds are really similar”.

On “Mutua Madrileña” Pachi and Bubi aren’t giving up on reaching the podium in the Barcelona World Race. They’re just waiting for the right moment to move in: “Further ahead we’ll attack. For us it’s best to wait till they hit a area with no wind at all, but I must admit that it’s going to be difficult as Dominique is very good and with the boat he’s got he could probably squeeze out of any situation. We won’t throw in the towel yet though, and as soon as we have the chance we’ll try to overtake them. There’s still a lot of racing to go, with lots of opportunities up ahead”.

Thinking about the rankings for the eighth leg (Fernando de Noronha-Gibraltar)

Although “Paprec Virbac 2” and “Hugo Boss” are out of reach for “Mutua Madrileña” the chance to lead the rankings for the eighth leg of the regatta (Fernando de Noronha – Gibraltar Straits) is still a reality, as “Bubi” Sansó points out: “’Paprec Virbac 2’ has moved really far up, and it looks like if we pass Madeira on the port side we should be able to make some gains in terms of reaching the gate in a shorter time.

They’re doing a much longer course, and in terms of the scoring gate if we overtake “Temenos 2” we could win the leg, or come second at worst”, both “Mutua Madrileña” skippers have their fingers crossed.

First birthday for “Paprec Virbac 2”

“Paprec Virbac 2” is celebrating her first birthday today: one year her since her launch, and there’s a lot to celebrate. Yesterday afternoon the entry finally gybed East to set course for towards Gibraltar, the scoring gate 539 miles (998 km) away at 16:00 GMT. The boat is just 1,000 miles from the finish at Barcelona now. According to calculations by the race organisers, the leaders could pass the Gibraltar Straits on Friday 8^th February, and reach Barcelona on Monday 11^th following 24,588 miles (45,537 km) of non-stop round the world racing.

Day 87 – 16:00 GMT

1º Paprec Virbac 2, Dick (FRA)/Foxall (IRL),  1,055 miles from Barcelona

2º Hugo Boss, Thomson (GBR)/Cape (AUS), +682

3º Temenos 2, Wavre (SUI)/Paret (FRA), +1,515

4º MUTUA MADRILEÑA, Rivero (ESP)/Sansó (ESP), +1,608

5º EDUCACIÓN SIN FRONTERAS, Escoffier (FRA)/Bargués (ESP), +2,977

    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