The fleet close up as the race changes gear

(by Oliver Dewar) The chase is now on as the Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet begin to compress in their approach to the western limit of the mandatory Southern Ocean exclusion zone. Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz are leading the double-handed class on Desafio Cabo de Hornos, taking the overall fleet pole position from single-handed entry, Michel Kleinjans, on Roaring Forty in the latest 1520 GMT (26/02) position poll.

“After five full days at sea, I’m finally finding some rhythm,” confirmed Kleinjans earlier today. “At present, I have 20 knots of wind from the west which is significantly more than the weather files predicted. It’s good to have some breeze, but when the meteo information is not correct, your game plan then becomes flawed.” Currently, Roaring Forty is just two miles off the starboard quarter of the race leader, Desafio Cabo de Hornos. “At present, I’m sailing with all the available downwind canvas set: large spinnaker and full mainsail,” continues the Belgian solo sailor. “However, pretty soon I’ll be on the limit of this configuration and will change down to something smaller. Possibly a smaller spinnaker and one reef in the main to keep the bow up.” With his speed averages dropping from 10.6 knots to 8.6 knots over the past six hours, it is likely that he has already reduced sail.

With the breeze now picking up, Kleinjans is monitoring his Open 40 closely. “I have bailed water from the bilges for the first time and think that I must check for leaks in the engine water intake hose and the ballast plumbing as although the amount of water isn’t huge, I must keep an eye on it.” Clearly in excellent spirits, Kleinjans cannot resist a gentle dig at his fellow competitors: “From a look at the daily press bulletin sent to the boats, it’s clear that Felipe on Cabo de Hornos writes and talks quite a lot. That’s a former lawyer for you!”

At the front of the double-handed fleet, Desafio Cabo de Hornos and Team Mowgli are currently seven miles apart with Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson breaking formation and heading north-east away from Roaring Forty and the Chilean Class 40 at 0620 GMT this morning (26/02). “Today is a special day for me,” writes the highly eloquent Cubillos. “Partly because we took the gamble to leave the Germans to the south and head north hunting for the English boat. Partly because we’re leading the double-handed fleet and I’m racing with a person as exceptional as José. Also it’s due to our meteo team run by Manolo in Chile with the extraordinary, 100 percent precision of our weather expert Marcelo in the Canary Islands.” However, the day just keeps getting better on board Desasfio Cabo de Hornos: “It’s special also because we have the Belgian boat in full view and, until recently, we could see the English boat behind us. Add to this, we are piling through the waves at 15 knots.”

To the south of the main fleet, Beluga Racer was trailing the double-handed leader by 40 miles at 0320 GMT this morning (26/02), but very little could dampen the atmosphere for Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme. “We found good breeze and with the big kite and full main we’ve been going constantly over 11 knots,” reported Oehme earlier. “So, we are pretty sure we are going to make it to Jeremy’s birthday party on Team Mowgli tonight.” The recent conditions for the fleet have been unusual and frustrating and the German duo’s decision to stay in the south while Desafio Cabo de Hornos escaped north-east further prolonged the agony. “This kind of sailing is really ‘sweet’ after three days of Doldrums-style conditions,” comments Oehme with relief.

While the current progress on Beluga Racer has reduced the deficit on the Chilean leader to 30 miles in the latest 1520 GMT poll, the Class 40 was stuck firmly to the surface of the sea until very recently. “Last night was very dark,” recalls Oehme. “No moon and heavy cloud cover. We were surrounded by thunder and lightning, but zero wind.” With no way available to make the boat move, Oehme chose to soak up the scenery. “I was standing on deck, fascinated by the scary atmosphere, when suddenly a whale decided to breathe out some metres away. I caught my breath for some seconds!” Recovering from the surprise quickly, he grabbed a torch from the cockpit. “I did not see it, but who else breathes so loudly in the middle of the ocean?”

Currently averaging 10 knots, the Germans are fully back into racing mode. “The wind has brought our normal life back,” admits Oehme. “We’ve stacked all the heavy gear aft and now we’ve started writing text for our website and have even supplied an English version!” Changing up a gear covers every aspect of life on board Beluga Racer: “After four days of pasta, we will have our first rice meal today. So, we really are back in our old rhythm,” he confirms. “Although I’ve just remembered we are invited on board Team Mowgli tonight, so we’ll save the rice as Jeremy and David promised us duck!” With Beluga Racer still 40 miles south of the British Class 40, it is likely that Salvesen and Thomson will have to party on their own.

The Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet are now 300 miles north-west of the mandatory Leg 3 southern limit’s western extremity: a line of latitude at 45°S stretching for almost 4,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean, preventing the 40ft boats from straying too far south into the huge seas and brutal winds in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean. Weather models predict that the first Pacific low pressure system the fleet will encounter should roll eastwards south of the boats, but nonetheless, the entire game has changed significantly in the past 24 hours.