Passing the Cape Verdes

Virbac Paprec 3 back in the driving seat in the Barcelona World Race

Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and PredictWind

Positions at 0330 GMT

On Friday afternoon double Vendee Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux and Francois Gabart on Foncia took the lead of the Barcelona World Race, only to lose it again to Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron on Virbac Paprec 3 by 0400 on Saturday morning. In fact the position juggling was more a feature of the way DTF figures are calcuated. At midday on Friday, shortly after the leaders had passed to the west of the Canary Islands, Foncia apparently gained the lead when she was first to gybe south as Virbac Paprec 3 continued to forge southwest. Virbac in turn gybed south on Friday mid-afternoon while Foncia gybed southwest on Friday evening, but come the early hours of Saturday when Foncia came to gybe south again, she was back in the wake of Dick and Peyron's boat. The end result of this divergence of tactics was that Foncia went from being 8 miles astern to being around 32 miles astern come Saturday morning. Doh! Since then Dick and Peyron have slowly extended so that at the latest sched they lead by 44 miles.

With the leaders being first to get into the Trades, so the last 48 hours has seen them extend over those astern, up from 103 to 197 miles over the third placed boat. Yesterday morning Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes on Estrella Damm took third place off Dominique Wavre and Michele Paret and this morning hold a 16 mile advantage over Mirabaud.

The gaggle of boats fighting for fifth place all gybed south yesterday morning. Here Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez on Mapfre continue to lead and have been slowly pulling away from their rivals. Of this group Boris Herrmann and Ryan Breymaier on Neutrogena were one of the first to gybe south in the northeasterlies trades and have taken up a berth to the east (a la Foncia) while Mapfre and Jean le Cam and Bruno Garcia on President got their westing in early before gybing. Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella on GAES have fallen back from this group after a poor choice of tactics passing Madeira.

Meanwhile the last group of boats have been taking very different tactics that has taken them through the Canary Islands. Yesterday morning We Are Water and Forum Maritim Catala passed through the passage between Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. They have since continued on towards the African coast before gybing. Central Lechera Asturiana passed between Gran Canaria and Tenerife while, still in last place, Hugo Boss took the channel between Tenerife and Palma. There is now around 130 miles of lateral separation across the race track between Hugo Boss and those off towards Africa. Alex Thomson will have his work cut out for him when he rejoins his boat in the Cape Verdes.