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The Class leaders have almost the same amount of lead. Fila is perhaps more secure due to being closer to the finish.
Fleet Round Up:
Fila's lead has dropped to 196 miles. Fila's speed is back up to a reasonable 8.4 knots.
Somewhere continues to close. He has a .6 knot speed advantage. Still there looks to be only 2 days left to catch Fila and .6 knots better is not enough.
Magellan Alpha leads Class II by 200 miles. Mike Garside is now in the same light air that slowed the Class I boats. Last reported speed was 2.7 knots. Mike Garside reported: "I've made my gybe which gives me the westing I need and keeps me out of the windless hole where Gio and Marc are sitting." Looks as though this gybe may not have done the job.
Cray Valley is 2nd. At 4.6 knots Cray Valley is almost 2 knots faster than Magellan. As with Class I it is unlikely that Cray Valley can make up the necessary miles before the finish.
Next is the first of the 40 foot Class II entries, Wind of Change. Wind of Change is 630 miles back.
Shuten Dojhi II shows in 4th place again.
www.no-barriers.com is back to 5th place. Neal Petersen reports: "I did a 178 mile run in 24 hr. Steady NE trades. Have not touched the sails or tiller all day." Even with this good progress No Barriers has dropped to 63 miles behind Shuten Dojhi II.
Paladin 2 is 1668 miles back. Neil Hunter says, "Looks like we might have caught the northern hemisphere NE trade winds and the doldrums might well be behind us." With a speed of 7.4 knots it looks like Neil's on the money.
Balance Bar is back racing and trails the lead boats by 1836 miles. As Balance Bar crosses the Equator Brad Van Liew comments: "I am happy to have officially rounded the globe by sail boat but it doesn't seem like much right now with Charleston still shining in the distance."
What does it all mean ?
Appears as though Around Alone 1998-99 is less than 2 days from having an official overall and Class I winner.