499 miles (924 km) is the distance separating Javier "Bubi" Sansó and Pachi Rivero’s "Mutua Madrileña" from the Gibraltar Straits, the eighth and final scoring gate in the Barcelona World Race. The Spanish entry is sailing at roughly the height of Marrakech and from onboard we’ve heard that the passage through the Straits, forecasted on Friday 15th, will a complicated one.
"We’re not going to get the 50 knots ‘Hugo Boss’ had, but the forecasts are pointing towards 25 or 35 knots of strong Easterly for the night of the 15th", commented Bubi this morning. After that, the duo will go through the AlboranSea, where they’re expecting even stronger winds of 35-40 knots, which Bubi is wary of, "because we can still suffer damage.We need to take care of our equipment. The boat’s tired; it’s worn in various places so we need to keep it in a good state and sail with calm."
In today’s videoconference Bubi admits that the situation "Temenos 2""is more about narrowing the gap than passing them" now. It looks like the Franco-Swiss entry will be beating upwind, while the Spaniards will carry on with the wind pushing them forward; a situation he Spanish duo will make the most of to cut down the mile difference. Even so, Bubi described the current gap as "significant" and added "We knew from the beginning it was going to be tough to catch them up, because each time we got closer they put their foot down hard on the gas. But we’re still here and we’re not throwing in the towel yet".
There’s not a moment to relax on "Mutua Madrileña" and the crew is focussing on the next move in this match. "We’re going to finish, which is the most important thing, and we’re going to carry on as we have been, because if we change it’ll be worse. We’re not going to relax until we finish, but now we must focus on Gibraltar and the Straits," said Sansó.
"Hugo Boss" about to finish
It’s expected that AndrewCape and Alex Thomson’s "Hugo Boss" will reach Barcelona at around 06:00 Thursday morning. At 16:00 GMT, the British entry was 128 miles (237 km) from the Catalan capital city, sailing at some 10 knots.
Day 95 – 16:00 GMT
Position/Boat/Skippers (Nationality)/Distance from leaders
1 Paprec Virbac 2, Dick (FRA)/Foxall (IRL), finished.
2 Hugo Boss, Thomson (GBR)/Cape (AUS), 128 miles
3 Temenos 2, Wavre (SUI)/Paret (FRA), 727 miles
4 MUTUA MADRILEÑA, Rivero (ESP)/Sansó (ESP), 1,015 miles
5 EDUCACIÓN SIN FRONTERAS, Escoffier (FRA)/Bargués (ESP), 2,472 miles
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