High pressure slow down

A report from the Heineken Cape to Bahia yacht race

The dreaded South Atlantic high pressure system has eventually caught up with most of the fleet participating in the Heineken Cape to Bahia yacht race. After a couple of really fast days, the system has almost doubled in size within a couple of hours and light winds have been reported widely. Except for the front runners, most competitors are experiencing significantly slower boat speeds and smaller distances covered.

Gawie Fagan on the small Suidoos 2 is still clinging ferociously to his handicap lead and although they only covered 153 nautical miles in the past 24 hours, they are still leading Rob Meek’s Windsong. Meek and his highly experienced crew are currently the most westerly located monohull and it seems as if their winds have persisted as they managed to cover 210 miles at close to 9 knots.

The ding-dong battle for the third spot on handicap between John Martin and his navy crew on MTU Fascination of Power and the Goldswain brothers continues as Martin swaps moves into third place and Auto Atlantic Thunderchild slips down to fourth place.
Devonvale Broadreach being sailed doublehanded by JJ Provoyeur and Anthony Spillebeen, remains in fifth position and it seems that their route tactics of a more northerly route continues to pay off as they covered close to 200 miles. Provoyeur wrote earlier today that they had an interesting though predominantly light day. “We know the race is about light air tactics and just maybe that gybe north is going to have some silver lining attached to it. We are both physically tired, more from sleep deprivation than physical work. It has become obvious to us that double handed sailing against fully crewed boats is a bit more than we thought and that our combined naturally competitive instincts are forcing us to become smart quickly. Someone on deck 24/7 is imperative to keep the speeds up.”

Polo Sport Gumption continues on its northerly course and confounding spectators with her tactics. Speculations are rife that skipper Nicholas Mace might just have an ace up his sleeves and could cause a surprise if the wind gods smile on him. With the exception of the big multihulls, the lighter Windsong and Devonvale Broadreach, Gumption was the only boat to cover a distance greater than 200 nautical miles. This might mean that she’s still in stronger breezes and if the high pressure system lulls the rest of the fleet, Gumption could be in win a strong chance.

In the mean time a race of a different kind has developed between the Brazilian catamaran Adrenalina Pura and the race organisers to see who will get to Salvador first. After the latest report, George Ehrensperger and his crew are going full throttle averaging over 15 knots with only 823 miles to go to the finish. Having obviously caught the better winds in front of the system, they are recording their fastest speeds of the race to date and could finish as early as this coming Saturday.

Paraplegic skipper Russell Vollmer is also on an absolute flyer on the catamaran Omnimed Segue maintaining an average boat speed of over 13 knots in an attempt to catch rival multihull Blithe Spirit, skippered by Australian Neville Stanford.

Solo sailor Richard Smurthwaite on the Mini Crean is also lamenting the wind changes. “Having had a good day yesterday averaging 10/11 knots and covering 150 miles, the wind has dropped right off today. Spent seven hours creeping out of it by going north, and even northeast for a bit, but is now underway again. Celebrated being out there for one week by having fruit cocktail and evaporated milk! Lots of baby powder and sudocrem are being used for the sore bits, which are now emerging.  

Grateful for that extra piece of foam that was packed at the last minute!  Generally in good spirits though,” wrote Smurthwaite.