Please consult The Around Alone Report Users Guide for an explanation of this report.
Class leadership remains in the same hands. In Class I it's Somewhere, while in Class II it's Magellan. The story is in how the margin of lead has changed, more for Somewhere, less for Magellann.
Fleet Round Up:
Somewhere still leads by 42 miles over PRB, a gain of 24 miles. Somewhere's latest report saw a speed of 16.5 knots posted, best in the fleet. Somewhere and PRB are sailing at 53 degrees south latitude, while Fila is up north at 51 degrees.
PRB is 2nd trailing Somewhere by 42 miles. Isabelle Autissier is taking a long term view of Leg 3: "The real race will happen on the way north after Cape Horn." So, up until Cape Horn- close counts.
Fila is now 3rd 97 miles from 1st.
How does Giovanni Soldini handle this high speed sailing ? Giovanni
says: "This is no time to be taking chances. I slept all the time; it was great. When
it's blowing great guns and we're moving very fast, I stay in my bunk, reading or
sleeping. In any case, what can I do? The boat sails herself and
it's too dangerous to be outside."
Gartmore is still underway to the Chatham Islands after being dismasted. Gartmore is moving at 4.5 knots.
Magellan Alpha has grabbed 1st in
class II by only 5 miles over Cray Valley. Mike Garside is very aware of the
closing Cray Valley, "Somehow he manages to sail more than a knot faster than I do.
It drives me mad!" Garside has been tweaking his sail combinations to acheive a
better average speed. More consistent speed could hold off Cray Valley, and "to
cover more than the 315 miles achieved by Pete Goss on one of his 24-hour runs during the
1996-97 Vendee Globe Challenge." For Garside in either case success will breed
success.
2nd is the current overall Class II leader, Cray Valley. J.P. Mouligne also has two goals: "I now have to catch up Mike and try to create a good lead on Brad while I have the right conditions." So far, he's dusted Balance Bar and is closing in on Magellan.
Balance Bar is 3rd in Class II by 82 miles. Brad is sailing Balance Bar very hard, but is still not keeping up with the leaders: "To average 11 over six hours means I am looking at a speedo never go below 10.5 knots and I watch it regularly hit 20 and sit on 14. I don't know why it works that way but that's the way it is. So for JP to have just averaged 15.6 for 6 hours just imagine what his speedo looks like." For Brad, the key is to push enough to be close at Cape Horn.
Next is the first of the 40 foot Class II entries, Wind of Change. Wind of Change is 287miles back. Wind of Change recently collided with a log. No significant damage was done. Further Viktror Yazykov says, "THE SECOND THING AFTER THE LOG COLLISION HAD SLEEP FOR FIVE HOURS, NEVER HAPPANED BEFORE." That second statement shows how hard the Around Alone sailors push themselves.
Next is Shuten Dojhi II. Shuten lies 818 miles from 1st place.
Next is www.no-barriers.com. Neal Petersen is 856 miles back.
Paladin 2 comes next 930 miles back.
What does it all mean ?
Will Cray Valley be back in 1st ? Seems like it. As the boat sail in the consistent winds, they are all looking to be close to their competition at Cape Horn. Then if they can correctly handle the expected variable conditions a leg 3 win could be theirs.