Two days ago the IMOCA Open 60 "Mutua Madrileña" chose to go West, in an attempt to get away from her most direct rival: Dominique Wavre’s and Michèle Paret’s "Temenos 2". Today the gap between the two entries stands at 210 miles (389 km), a distance which Javier "Bubi" Sansó has found reason to justify today: "we wanted to move away from the influence of ‘Temenos 2’. We knew we’d lose some miles, but we’re still in the game."
So far, the boat’s speed today has been optimum, around 10 knots, and according to the position reports only "Temenos 2" has been faster. The reason for this is probably that Wavre and Paret have enjoyed more stable breeze than "Mutua Madrileña". Pachi Rivero and "Bubi" Sansó have been through numerous squalls and have had some very shifty breeze "but it’s coming from the right direction and at least we’re not beating against it", pointed out "Bubi".
"The truth is that ‘Temenos 2’ was marking us well constantly. We had to make a choice to do something fast, before Gibraltar, so we decided to move away, the first move we could make. We did well tonight. Wavre and Paret have made better gains because they get the wind first. Those lost miles are the price we’re paying for the move away", said Sansó.
The arrival in Barcelona is near, after more than three months at sea. To the surprise of many, Sansó says that once he’s in port, all he needs is three days of rest to get back to normal. The Spaniard’s already thinking about future projects and challenges. "Bubi" has made no secret of the fact that he wants to do the next Vendée Globe -another non-stop round the world race, but a solo challenge. "I’d love to get a Vendée Globe project going, but this isn’t over yet and we still need to make a good finish. Whatever happens, I hope this is just the start, as I’m eager to get down to work on a new racing project."
The leader faces the final 368 miles to Barcelona
"Paprec Virbac 2" is already in the Med and is now just 368 miles (681 km) from Barcelona. Yesterday evening at 18:39 GMT Jean Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall finally crossed the last scoring waypoint in the Barcelona World Race, situated in the GibraltarStrait.
Another boat to cross a scoring gate, although this time it was the penultimate in the race, was the oldest entry in the fleet, an Owen-Clarke design launched in 2000, that’s also sailing a good race.
"Educación Sin Fronteras" reached the Fernando de Noronha (Brazil) scoring gate, six days after the entry in front – "Mutua Madrileña". It’s thought that tonight or tomorrow morning the Franco-Spanish entry will cross the Equator and head into the Northern Hemisphere.
Day 91 – 16:00 GMT
Position/Boat/Skippers (Nationality)/Distance from leaders
1º Paprec Virbac 2, Dick (FRA)/Foxall (IRL), 368 miles from Barcelona
2º Hugo Boss, Thomson (GBR)/Cape (AUS), +372
3º Temenos 2, Wavre (SUI)/Paret (FRA), +1,322
4º MUTUA MADRILEÑA, Rivero (ESP)/Sansó (ESP), +1,532
5º EDUCACIÓN SIN FRONTERAS, Escoffier (FRA)/Bargués (ESP), +2,740
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