Two high speed chases are happening today. One is onboard Sunergy and Friends (Grant Wharington) and one is onboard a Wilhelmsen Wallenius freighter on the other side of the Atlantic, in Cadiz, Spain.

The crew of Sunergy and Friends have waited and waited, and now, finally, this team, who were forced to put into Porto Santo near Madeira to fix their boom, which was damaged in the first night storm, has started to sail fast. Very fast. Today, they achieved the third fastest for a Volvo 70 so far in leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race with a run from noon to noon of 503 nm, averaging 20.9 knots.

“Our 540 nm target was based around ABN AMRO ONE’s run (estimated), and was becoming achievable as time rolled on, projecting forward our hourly runs. However sensibility took over from ego, and we are now down to a jib top and staysail, and are still cruising along at and 18 to 19 knot average, but with a great deal less stress,” wrote Campbell Field an hour ago.

The delay for repairs meant that for remainder of this leg, Sunergy and Friends (Grant Wharington) has been sailing in a completely different weather system from the rest of the fleet. They have not had nearly as much ‘easy weather’ as the first four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet and they have struggled hard to stay in phase with the favourable winds.

They still have a long way to go to the finish in Cape Town, but they are finally out of the grips of the South Atlantic High and are making great progress towards the finish. Navigator Campbell Field will be working hard to keep the boat in sweet spot just ahead of the front where the strong northwesterly winds will give them a fast angle on course to Cape Town.

Wharington and his crew will be hoping to ride this front for as long as possible, but it seems that the front is moving faster than they are and will eventually roll over them. After some violent squalls with the frontal passage, winds will shift into the southwest and south and then ease back. Initially, this won’t be bad and a gybe from port to starboard will keep them pointed roughly in the right direction. However, the not such good news is that the wind is set to drop behind the front and later tonight they could very well be playing cat and mouse with some wind holes in the wake of the front.

A small area of high pressure is expected to develop behind the front and may actually capture Sunergy and Friends for a few hours if they are unlucky. Careful analysis of the heaps of weather information being sent to the boat will help them to find a path through, but it won’t be easy.

It looks like the wind gods have not quite done with them yet!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a ship is waiting for movistar. Volvo Ocean Race Official Shipping Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, has to come to movistar’s rescue and has diverted their freighter, MV Toronto, to Puerto Real Shipyard in Spain, close to Cadiz, to load movistar onto the deck tonight. Loading will begin at 1800 GMT and the team expects it to be completed tonight so that the ship can leave immediately. The trip will take approximately 16 days.

Movistar will be loaded on to the freighter’s deck on her cradle by a 40-metre crane. Her mast will also be on the deck and her workshop container will also be loaded. The shore crew has been bolstered by two of the sailing crew, Pepe Ribes and Xabi Fernandez, who are helping with the logistics of this operation.

Skipper, Bouwe Bekking said this morning, “The boat, if the plans goes in the proper way, will be at South Africa on the 16th or 17th and, after tuning the boat, we will have her ready to go to the water in one or two days. We are looking forward to starting the training programme again on the 18th December.”

Fourth placed, Ericsson, is now sailing in the light conditions that affected Brasil 1 this morning and her estimated time of arrival in Cape Town is now 0634GMT tomorrow morning.

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