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A final few miles for the Anglo-Australian team

16/11/09

With four boats from the Solidaire du Chocolat fleet across the finish line, the fifth boat, Sail4Cancer, is making good speed along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula and at 0800 GMT, the Anglo-Australian team of Tim Wright and Nicko Brennan are making just under ten knots with 40 miles of racing remaining. Wright and Brennan, who are both ex-Global Challenge sailors, will be the first non-professional team to complete the race. Just over 100 miles further east, the Chilean duo of Felipe Cubillos and Daniel Bravo Silva on Desafio Cabo de Hornos in 6th rounded Cape Catoche earlier this morning and are currently making the best speed in the fleet at ten knots with 148 miles remaining. “It has been tiring with really unstable conditions at night,” admits Bravo Silva. “But we’re still in front of the nearest boats to us and we’re adding to the distance over the British boat behind us.” At 0800 GMT today, Desafio Cabo de Hornos holds a 36 mile lead over Peter Harding and Miranda Merron in 7th on 40 Degrees. For Cubillos and Bravo Silva, the race has been longer than anticipated. “We’ve had to resort to the freeze-dried food on board,” confirms the Chilean co-skipper. “The silver-packaged astronaut food that would be familiar to the crew of Apollo 11. Despite the minimal description on each packet – ‘Corn’, ‘Green Beans’, or ‘Orange Cream’ – the food is surprisingly tasty and life has actually improved,” reports the 24 year-old co-skipper. “Normally, you would boil this food, but as we have run out of cooking fuel, we have to eat the stuff served cold or ‘refrescantes’!”

With 184 miles of racing remaining, conditions have just improved for Harding and Merron on 40 Degrees. “After the horrible night we had yesterday, the wind filled in just before dawn, and we were treated to a gorgeous day of proper Caribbean sailing,” reports Merron this morning. “We are crossing the Yucatan Channel, and can see the loom of light on the Yucatan Peninsula,” she explains. “There are 2.5 knots of current pushing us north, and we have just prudently changed from the big spinnaker to the small one, as a large black cloud is bearing down on 40 Degrees.” In the latest position poll, the British duo are approaching Cape Catoche: “In 30 miles, we will be at the northeast tip of land, and from there, we will have about 150 miles of coast to race along to Progreso (how close will depend on the wind, and there are numerous fishing nets apparently),” adds Merron. “So, on this Monday morning, we have less than 200 miles to the finish of this 5,000 mile transatlantic race. No doubt it will not all go smoothly - this is sailing after all!”

Trailing 40 Degrees by 341 miles this morning, Jacques Fournier and Jean-Edouard Criquioche in 8th place on Groupe Picoty continue to head north-west towards the Yucatan and while the French duo are currently due south of the Cayman Islands, the pack of five boats following Groupe Picoty have split either side of Jamaica. The group opting to leave Jamaica to starboard is led by Denis Lazat and Frédéric Nouel in 9th place on PLAN with Mike West and Paul Worswick on Keysource in 11th and Patrice Carpentier and Victor Maldonado on Crédit Maritime in 12th with 52 miles separating the trio of Class40s. While Stephen Card and Shaun Murphy on ORBIS in 14th are still east of Jamaica, Erik Nigon and Marc Jouany in 10th on Axa Atout Coeur Pour Aides and David Consorte and Aubry Arnaud on Adriatech in 13th have left the island to port.

Closest to the island and currently just east of Montego Bay, Nigon and Jouany had an alarming encounter last night. “In the middle of the night off Jamaica, a very powerful cigarette-type powerboat with three guys on board came very close alongside us to starboard and the men started to talk to us in a very urgent tone,” reports the French skipper this morning. “They were all dressed in khaki and carried machine guns although there was no flag or official markings on their boat,” he recalls. “There was no panic, but all sorts of grim scenarios flooded through our minds,” continues Nigon. “They assured us they were with the coast guard and with their guns always pointed in our direction, they asked where we were going and what we were up to. We unrolled the Solidaire du Chocolat flag and when we gave our names, they checked them with the names painted on our coach house roof and seemed satisfied.” As the powerboat roared off into the darkness, Nigon and Jouany’s heart rate slowed. “After a bit more chat, they wished us good sailing and disappeared into the night giving us the chance to start breathing again,” says Nigon.




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