Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

At 8am this morning Safran was holding a 90-mile advantage on closest rival Groupe Bel and was less than 200 miles from the finish. The penultimate tack south carried out by the leaders have been very beneficial to the leaders and have allowed Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier to widen their advantage by 30 miles on Kito de Pavant and François Gabart. The latter maintained a starboard tack until this morning and have now changed tack into a zone with more breeze that promises to allow the skippers to recover some of the lost miles, at least. The situation was very uncertain between 8 and 11 this morning and in a thrilling twist both entries chose to play their ‘invisible’ cards, taking themselves undercover for 24 hours, meaning their positions are likely to be released as the entries finish, well within the 24 hour frame for this tactic.

Things at Puerto Limon are tricky – showers and unstable breeze, which means that if Groupe Bel’s manoeuvre pays off, anything could happen, although forecasts indicate that Safran has the coveted top spot on the Costa Rican podium in the bag.

Mike Golding and Bubi Sansó are holding a steady third place, unchanged since yesterday. Change has favoured Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes, building up speed as they move ahead. The skippers are now in fifth place, having moved further and further away from Veolia Environnement and Aviva, all in the Caribbean Sea. The move ahead of W Hotels has come at a cost for 1876, which has endured the frustration of zero breeze for the last 24 hours. Towards midday today, Pachi Rivero and Yves Parlier have entered the trade wind zone that their fellow competitors have been enjoying for some days now. 1876 are now positioned in an excellent angle in terms of reaching Puerto Limon, perhaps better than their rival competitors. However, the big question remains… will they take Puerto Rico from the east or west? For the solution watch this space tomorrow.