- Leading pack, Pen Duick VI FR (14), Maiden UK (03), Translated 9 IT (09) and Spirit of Helsinki FI (71) battle to dominate. Lead changes daily.
- Fleet split into three groups – fluky winds proved challenging for Godspeed USA (01), Galiana WithSecure FI (06) and Sterna SA (42) bringing up the rear.
- A race within a race. Who will champion among the five French teams? Two Finnish go head-to-head. And the battle of the Australians as fierce.
- Crews reveal their secrets!!
Ocean racing, let alone racing around the world, doesn’t get better than this! The honeymoon champagne sailing is over and big winds are on the way. After a speculator send-off from Southampton on Sunday, the 14 yachts taking part in the McIntyre Ocean Globe passed the Needles to port and set sail for Cape Town. The fruits of years of preparation and work to relive the 50th anniversary of the Whitbread materialised. The race is on!
Finally, the crews could sail beside each other and gauge their relative speeds. Then the first 24hrs became complicated with fog, ships, currents and fickle winds! The fleet split in two, those heading west and the others south. West won out and the others lost valuable time hooked in counter currents and were the last to feel a wind shift to the west then north as they were forced to tack away from France.
Now six days into the OGR the battle to dominate could not be more intense. The leading pack, all former Whitbread boats, including Pen Duick VI FR (14), Maiden UK (03), Translated 9 IT (09) and Spirit of Helsinki FI (71) roared past Cape Finisterre, benefiting from 15-20 knot winds astern and reaching double digit speeds. With Pen Duick VI and Translated 9 trading places back and forth, Maiden, the lighter yacht benefiting from the lighter winds earlier in the week constantly on their shoulders. Today they are set to push past expected strong headwinds that will slow the middle pack and cause challenges for the tail enders. With IRC rating in place, it’s making the race even more interesting!
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