The Anglo-American crew on AMHAS moved into the lead at the Azores gate to the west of the archipelago today at 19H19 UTC with a 51 mile lead over their closest rival more in the south, the Dutch team on SEC HAYAI.
In this final leg, AMHAS’ Craig Horsfield and Oliver Bond have covered nearly 2590 miles, with around 1270 miles to go to the finish in Lorient, Brittany. Like their fellow competitors, they’re having to contend with some particularly difficult conditions with a front rolling through generating 40 knots of SSW’ly wind, gusting to 55 knots and heavy seas with 6 to 7-metre waves. GRYPHON SOLO 2 incurred up to 62 knots of wind speed last night.
AMHAS is ahead of the latest forecasts and could well cross the final finish line in this round the world epic on March 14.
However, the pit stop cost the crew dearly the following week, which was punctuated by a zone of high pressure that was impressive in scale and duration. Indeed, the extensive area of calms stretched from the Moroccan coast to the Bahamas, or up to 400-miles wide, and spanned a period of time reminiscent of a remake of the doldrums.
Ensnared for days in zero or very light airs, the skippers had no other option than to sit tight and wait for the wind to kick back in. They were soon back with a vengeance though, because by hooking onto the southern edge of a low-pressure system located in the North Atlantic, they could finally climb up to the latitude of the Azores archipelago, albeit at the mercy of some meaty winter depressions.
Conditions over the past 24 hours have really put the machines and the sailors to the test, with more of the same due to be served up over the next 24 hours. Having already clocked up over 30,000 miles since the start of the event last June, it’s all about striking a balance in the sprint for the finish.
Race details – Entries – Tracker
Note: The scoring format gives extra value to the longer legs. The coefficient for Leg 8 across the Atlantic to Lorient is coefficient 2.
Standings (after seven of eight legs):
The inaugural Globe40 is an eight leg round the world race for doublehanded Class40 teams. As all legs count toward the cumulative score, the longer distances more heavily weighted. The first leg, which took seven to eight days to complete, had a coefficient 1 while the second leg is ranked as a coefficient 3 leg. The race is expected to finish March 2023. Seven teams were ready to compete, but a Leg 1 start line collision eliminated The Globe En Solidaire with Eric and Léo Grosclaude (FRA) while the Moroccan team of Simon and Omar Bensenddik on IBN BATTOUTA retired before the Leg 2 start.
Start:
Tangier, Morocco – June 26
Stopovers:
Leg 2 start: Sao Vincente, Cape Verde Islands – July 17
Leg 3 start: Port Louis, Mauritius – September 11
Leg 4 start: Auckland, New Zealand – October 29
Leg 5 start: Papeete, French Polynesia – November 26
Leg 6 start: Ushuaia, Argentina – January 8
Leg 7 start: Recife, Brazil – February 5
Leg 8 start: St Georges, Grenada – February 24
Finish:
Lorient, France
