"Mutua Madrileña" and "Temenos 2" continue to play cat and mouse in the Barcelona World Race. Over the last few hours both teams have taken turns to move: the Spanish boat in an attempt to reach the third step on the podium, and in the case of Wavre and Paret the aim was consolidating their current position in the race.
At midnight "Mutua Madrileña" decided to go further West, whilst the Franco-Swiss entry preferred to stick to the Northerly course it was already on. ESP-4 has been faster than "Temenos 2" overall during the past few hours, although that isn’t reflected in the gap separating the two as revealed in the 16:00 GMT position report (103 miles). This is probably down to the fact that Javier "Bubi" Sansó and Pachi Rivero have a lower VMG than their rivals.
"Bubi" Sansó spoke in today’s videoconference about the new call: "Perhaps it would have been better to head further in, but we needed to push away from "Temenos 2". It’s a choice that gives us options; it’s no crazy move. It’s true that the situation out here is unstable and the forecasts are very changeable, they change every few hours, but we think that our choice will mean we hold on to a bit more wind for longer." "Bubi" also pointed out that while the forecasts are irregular, the trade-winds have also failed to set themselves, so it will take a few days to see how the latest moves play out.
Onboard "Mutua Madrileña" the team might have been at sea since November 11th, but spirits are as high as ever: "We’re carrying on exactly the same as we have been since the start. We’re trimming a lot at the moment, trying to make the boat go as fast as possible. The watches are 4 hours now (they spend just over half of that time at the wheel), and if we’re driving we do three and three. We are going at full throttle and we’re never more than 15 minutes without exactly the right sail on."
As we write, Pachi and "Bubi" are 1,806 miles (3,345 km) from the last scoring waypoint in this two-crew round the world race: Gibraltar. Latest estimations revealed by "Bubi" indicate that "Mutua Madrileña" could reach Barcelona between Sunday 17th and Tuesday 19th of February. There are still 2,322 miles (4,300 km) to go till the Catalan capital comes into sight, as well as a beat up the Mediterranean, the last few miles, which could still throw up a few surprises over the next few days.
"Hugo Boss" applies pressure
"Hugo Boss" has notched up a healthy mileage for the last 24 hours, covering 347 miles (643 km) between 16:00 GMT yesterday and today. Over this period Cape and Thompson have moved some 200 miles in on the leaders, now standing at 387 miles (717 km) from "Paprec Virbac 2"’s stern, who is feeling the pressure in this final stretch of the Barcelona World Race.
Day 89 – 16:00 GMT
Position/Boat/Skippers (Nationality)/Distance from leaders
1º Paprec Virbac 2, Dick (FRA)/Foxall (IRL), 684 miles from Barcelona
2º Hugo Boss, Thomson (GBR)/Cape (AUS), +387
3º Temenos 2, Wavre (SUI)/Paret (FRA), +1,535
4º MUTUA MADRILEÑA, Rivero (ESP)/Sansó (ESP), +1,638
5º EDUCACIÓN SIN FRONTERAS, Escoffier (FRA)/Bargués (ESP), +2,868
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
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