Global
Challenge - High-pressure system catapults Team
Stelmar into the lead
The
past three days of Leg 5 of the Global Challenge
have seen a number of victims of the lighter airs.
So
far on this leg, Team Save the Children, Me to
You and Pindar have all experienced the stress
of spinnaker damage and are now persevering with
the repairs to restore their sail wardrobe to
full strength. Downwind sailing has many benefits
but flying the kite demands constant attention.
Skipper Dee Caffari, Imagine It. Done, explains:
“This
is great sailing. However, if and when it goes
wrong at any time, it normally goes hugely wrong
and confidence amongst the crew is very easily
lost with a spinnaker trauma. Therefore, it is
quite stressful in my position and sleep is a
rare commodity.”
The
high-pressure system shadowing the fleet has also
dealt a cruel blow to the teams furthest west,
but they had been well aware of the dangers the
system posed.
While
the weather pattern driving these leaderboard
movements is slightly unusual, SAIC La Jolla and
Samsung knew they were taking a risk by maintaining
their course to the west of the fleet, and they
have suffered the consequences this afternoon.
Hence,
Team Stelmar has been catapulted into first place,
along with BP Explorer, reporting the same distance
to finish, followed by Barclays Adventurer in
third. However, the margin between the top seven
yachts have been dramatically reduced in the process.
This morning 25nm separated the top 7 yachts in
terms of distance to finish and this afternoon
it is just 5nm.
The
South Atlantic high-pressure system is being split
into two parts - east and west - by the formation
of a low-pressure system centred in the mid-South
Atlantic at around 35 degrees south. The eastern
high-pressure cell situated west of the fleet
has been providing the fleet with steady winds
from the southeast for the last 2 days, but it
has tracked eastward, bringing light airs to the
western flank of the fleet first.
And
this was reflected in the first reports to race
HQ today.
SAIC
La Jolla reported fluky winds of 5 knots today;
at the same time Team Stelmar was reporting 12.
The densely packed group of 5 who had taken the
middle line held on to the breeze longer than
those out west as the high-pressure moved in.
Their fortune has subsequently brought an abrupt
end to the profitable run that took SAIC La Jolla
and Samsung to the top of the table, now lying
in fourth and fifth respectively.
SAIC
La Jolla skipper Eero Lehtinen made a prophetic
statement in an interview today before the latest
positions were known: “We are trying to
head north at the moment but attempting to stay
on course, which we probably should have done
a bit earlier but it tasted too sweet …
It all happened very quickly. We’ll just
have to try and protect what we still have as
I think the next sched [position report] will
be a shock.
If wind speeds continue to drop out west, SAIC
La Jolla and Samsung may well slip further down
the rankings. The pack of 5 in the centre of the
fleet area would then take control of the sharp
end of the leaderboard.
But
the real question is the extent of the high-pressure
system’s influence. BG SPIRIT and Imagine
It. Done. are much further east, hoping the rest
of the fleet will be afflicted with light airs
while their progress continues relatively unhindered.
While talk of leaders and positions is academic
at this stage, it looks as if the boats that stuck
to their game plan to the east will enjoy a spell
of faster conditions than those to the west.
“Our
plan was always to take the route that we are
on at the moment,” explained BG SPIRIT skipper
Andy Forbes, “Hamish [Oliphant] did a lot
of work prior to the start of the leg and all
our weather and routing pointed to being on this
side of the course. We knew we’d be propping
up the fleet initially, but I think we should
see our gains come into play in the next four
or five days … I think we’ll start
to see this fleet slowing down, certainly the
guys to the west, and we’ll stay to the
east and the north and hopefully hop round the
outside of them.”
As
Eero admitted earlier: “It might be the
guys out east are laughing soon!”
Race
positions:
Team
Stelmar 6,048 (distance to finish)
BP Explorer 0 (miles to leader)
Barclays Adventurer 1
SAIC La Jolla 1
Samsung 2
Spirit of Sark 2
VAIO 5
Me To You 20
Pindar 22
Team Save the Children 26
Imagine It. Done. 50
BG SPIRIT 55
For
further information on the race, please visit:
www.globalchallenge2004.com
