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Please consult The Around Alone Report Users Guide for an explanation of this report.
Wind, often as uncooperative as any aspect of nature is slowing Class I on the home stretch to the finish. With under 700 miles for Fila, the wind and with it speeds are down.
Fleet Round Up:
Fila's lead has dropped to 286 miles. Reported winds in Fila's area range in direction from north to southwest. However, the real wind problem is that the strength of these various directions of wind is force 2 or under. In Soldini's words: "We’re expecting very light winds, worse than it is now. Then there will be strong winds blowing in the wrong direction. The race is far from over yet”
Somewhere has closed in. Currently Marc Thiercelin has a .6 knot speed advantage. With the light air Thiercelin has closed 18 miles in the last 6 hours.
Magellan Alpha leads Class II by 227 miles. Mike Garside describes his end of leg tactical dilemma: "The route I am following to Charleston is the most direct. But it has the disadvantage that I am being forced too far north as the trades turn clockwise to the south. At some point I will be forced to gybe and could lose a lot of ground if I get it wrong." Also, as Cray Valley is nearly 3 knots faster Garside could also lose by this method.
Yesterday we reported that Magellan had posted a record passage for a single handed 50 foot monohull. However, further research revealed that that J.P. Mouligne sailed 333.6 miles from February 12 to 13th. So by a tiny margin of .4 miles Cray Valley has the best 24 hour run by a 50 footer.
Cray Valley is 2nd. Cray Valley is sailing at 12.2 knots almost 3 knots faster than Magellan. J.P. Mouligne has has more sail difficulties. First he spotted a rip in his genoa. He decided to take it down before more damage occurred. However, this operation did not go as planned and, "After 10 minutes of fruitless effort I decided to let it go and I cut the tack and clew with a knife and watched my $7,000 genoa slip into the ocean." Next his gennaker blew a tack and it took J.P. half an hour to retrieve it. Cray Valley's main is still in questionable shape and heavily patched. These sail problems may affect J.P.'s ability to fully attack Magellan.
Next is the first of the 40 foot Class II entries, Wind of Change. Wind of Change is 714 miles back.
Shuten Dojhi II shows in 4th place again. This by a margin of 9 miles.
www.no-barriers.com is back to 5th place. Neal Petersen has begun his reduced ration schedule. He reports., "Today is a non-meal day. I ate a few crackers and cheese, a piece of pepperoni sausage and I am drinking milk. No fish strike yet."
Paladin 2 is 1725 miles back.
Balance Bar is back racing and trails the lead boats by 1897 miles. Sailing at a speed of 8.1 knots a 3 degrees south latitude Balance Bar is not yet in the Doldrums.
What does it all mean ?
The light air has moved Fila's eta back by 2 days. Until Fila can again sail in consistent conditions Giovanni Soldini will likely feel uneasy.