Flight west

Second placed Foncia closes on the race leader in the Barcelona World Race

Image above courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems

Positions at 0830 GMT

All 14 boats in the Barcelona World Race are now past Gibraltar and out into the Atlantic, heading WSW on port tack bound for the shift on which they can tack south. Back marker, Hugo Boss was to the south of Gibraltar at around 0400 GMT this morning.

Yesterday morning between 0600 and 0800 the three leading boats all tacked west. This has resulted in the race leader, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron on Virbac Paprec 3, becoming the most southerly boat in the fleet, while remaining the most westerly. But since then Michel Desjoyeaux and Francois Gabart on Foncia have managed to reclaim some 30 miles and have close to 28 miles astern of Virbac. Compared to Virbac, Foncia has seen the wind more backed, with the end result is that her route over the last 24 hours has converged with race leader - from 60 miles of north-south separation down to 20 at the latest sched. At present the weather the fleet is experiencing is being dominated by a giant depression now to their NNW and thus Virbac has found herself to be more headed compared to the boats to the north.

Throughout the fleet there has been a general concertinaing inwards over the last 24 hours. The biggest gains have been made by Spanish 49er aces and Volvo sailors Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez on Mapfre (the ex-Foncia) who have pulled up from eighth place to fifth, reeling in 50 miles on Virbac. However we are also liking where Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes have positioned Estrella Damm, to the northwest of Mirabaud and certain to see the shift come first compared to the third placed Swiss boat.

The lead duo are likely to see the shift into the WNW at some point this afternoon or tonight, allowing them to tack south, neatly leaving Madeira to port. But despite this brief respite they will be far from out of the woods for to their south, on an west-east axis just to the south of the Canaries, is a substantial ridge. The GFS model has this ridge shifting north over the next 24 hours, ultimately developing some circulation so that by Saturday there will be pressure - favourable northeasterlies - to its east.