The teams are running down towards the Southern Ocean, the next big challenge for them is the High pressure area that sits over the island of St Helena. The picture is of Hugo Boss in the distance passing Delta Dore.
Date: 29/11/2007 Time: 12:00 GMT Latitude: 09 16.37’ S Longitude: 31 49.02’ W Position: Fourth Average speed: 16.2 knots Finally we have found the conditions in which Hugo Boss revels, 18+ knots of wind from the beam. We know this because we have just sailed past Delta Dore, both yachts with the same sail configiration but we are sailing 1-1.5 knots quicker, thats 15+% quicker, which we are well pleased with. Capey spoke with Sydney onboard Delta Dore via the radio and all is good onboard their boat. He said that they are running at 100% but we are just too fast, but maybe they will catch us in the light winds. We have a fast boat in these conditions but we have to be faster in all conditions and we have to hold the boat together as best we can to have a chance of winning this race. Ahead of us the leaders have better winds, and will do for some time, we are just hoping that the high pressure in the south atlantic will block their route to the southern ocean and allow us an opportunity to show our stuff. The pace is fast now, averaging 16 knots over the ground and we are running at 110% of our polars, thats our theoretical best speed in these conditions. Water is pouring over the boat but she is comfortable and we have yet to fully untilise our water ballast which will give us significantly more power and therefore more speed. The conditons are not allowing us to get on with many jobs outside but today we will attempt to get the generator running and tighten and check the steering gear. Yesterday we hoisted our wind generator and so far we have not had to run the engine to charge the batteries. We had envisaged using it as an emergency, but every amp and every litre of fuel saved now will happliy be burnt on our heater in the freezing temps of the southern ocean! Alex
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