The Around Alone fleet enters its 4th day at sea. Today's big story, is the rapid climb of Giovanni Soldini's Fila. Soldini fell down the fleet rankings soon after the start. However, by holding his northern position Soldini has now achieved significant gains, including 28 miles in the last 6 hours !
Still, PRB, Group 4 and Somewhere are ahead of him. Soldini looks to be in a good position to continue his gains. His is over 1 degree of latitude farther north than all of Class 1. At last report his boat speed was 13.1 knots, with others in the 7's and 8's. Project Amazon has made slight gains while Modern University for the Humanities continues to split tacks and stay well south of the rest of the fleet.
In Class II Cray Valley continues to lead. Close pursuers Magellan Alpha and Balance Bar have gained 8 miles each.
The fleet continues to sail in an easterly direction. Compass courses range from 088 to 122 degrees, or within 30 degrees of dead east.
Several skippers have reported back via e-mail. Neal Petersen on No Barriers is sailing through some lite air:"I am sleepy, but will listen to music & drive. the new Autohelm works great, but it can't make decisions I can." Looks like he will push himself hard in the lite stuff. Mike Garside on Magellan Alpha is struggling with tactics: "I misread J-P's position. Thinking he was way behind I let him haul out to the left of the fleet, where I knew I should be." Garside can likely see Fila's huge gains made while Fila is farthest left.
Conditions are expected to best around 31 North and above. So, look for the bulk of the fleet with Soldini perhaps having enough northerly leverage to continue his rocket ride up the leader board.
| Class I | ||
| PRB | Distance to next boat | Relative Position |
| Group 4 | 8.0 | Dead Astern |
| Somewhere | 14.4 | Slightly to the west of lead pair |
| Class II | ||
| Cray Valley | ||
| Magellan Alpha | 18.5 | South and west of CV |
| Balance Bar | To the west of lead pair | |