Hugo Boss' easterly strategy pays

Cape Verdes strategies play out in the Barcelona World Race

Overnight the Barcelona World Race front runners' gambits have played out as they have passed through or around the Cape Verde islands.

Cheminees Poujoulat and Neutrogena appear to have done the best, sailing through the northern group of the islands, between Sao Nicolau and Mindelo, with Bernard Stamm and Jean le Cam furthest south at the latest sched. Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin on board GAES Centros Auditivos took a passage through the islands further east, leaving Sao Nicolau to starboard and have since transferred on to a losing westerly gybe. This saw them crossing Neutrogena just 200m from her. GAES came back on course at around 0700 UTC this morning. Jörg Riechers and Sébastien Audigane on fifth placed Renault Captur is following GAES' route through the island.

Taking a third option has been perennial race leaders Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes on Hugo Boss who went west early and left the entire island group to port.

While the excellent Geovoile tracker has Cheminees Poujoulat ahead at the latest sched, in fact Hugo Boss is still leading, around 4 miles ahead of the Franco-Swiss crew, with Guillermo Altadill and Jose Munoz on Neutrogena a further eight miles back in third. Neutrogena appears to have gybed west again, so this will she her making further theoretical losses.

For the front runners are still making good speed in 25-30 knot northeasterlies, but Hugo Boss seems to have found the best pressure in the west and is fastest in the fleet, making 20 knots while the boats to her east are making 15-16, although they are perhaps still in the lee of the Cape Verdes.

With the Cape Verdes now dispatched, crews are now lining up for their Doldrums crossings - hence boats taking hitches west. At present the Doldrums are looking relatively narrow, confined to 1-3°N or around 680 miles away for Hugo Boss assuming she remains on her current course and doesn't remanoeuvre further west.

Renault Captur has been given a giving them a 20 minute time penalty for a rules infringement off the TSS in the Strait of Gibraltar. They reported that they had had a rudder issue at the time which had caused them to stray into the TSS.

On board backmarker Spirit of Hungary Nandor Fa and Conrad Coleman have reported the loss of their big spinnaker. This tumbled from the masthead and was shredded in the water and is beyond repair.

Image below (click to enlarge) courtesy of Expedition and Predictwind