Overnight the first four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, due to finish leg seven from New York to Portsmouth later today, have had hideous conditions out in the North Atlantic. The hours of darkness have been super stressful for the teams who now want this leg to end as quickly as possible. “One more night of heinous action… wrote Mike Sanderson, skipper of the leading yacht, ABN AMRO ONE last night. In his report this morning, he said, “165 miles to the Lizard and about 150 miles from there, and yes, I am counting them down, it is time to finish this one.”

ABN AMRO ONE has a lead of 174 miles over Ericsson (Neal McDonald) and can afford to sail more conservatively, although Sanderson desperately wants to win this leg and with it the Volvo Ocean Race overall.

For Neal McDonald and his Ericsson Racing Team, about to post his best result to date, it is a different story. He has Paul Cayard and his team of Pirates breathing down his neck, just 12 miles behind him, but McDonald’s crew are still sailing faster.

Further back in the fleet, movistar has had a quiet night. Over five hundred miles behind the leader, and sailing in a completely different weather system, the crew has managed to repair their broken head foil with a sleeve. They have light air due to a new low-pressure system closing in on them. If that passes them on the wrong side, they will have to beat upwind in 40 knots of breeze short period. They are currently heading a south easterly course to assure that the low pressure passes them on their northern side and avoid an upwind slog.

The heavy weather looks set to provide an exciting finish in the Solent this evening when ABN AMRO ONE screams to the finish line off Gilkicker Point in the eastern Solent.

Share or bookmark this story: