“Amazing” is the the only way to describe the first 12 hours raced by “movistar”. First the Spanish entry regained a massive number of miles on the fleet, prior to and following the 16:00 GMT position report, but they have also managed to overtake the entire fleet, taking the lead in the rankings on the way to Cape Horn and Rio, the Brazilian destination for this leg.
At 10:00 GMT it was already possible to see that the Spanish team were took moving in fast on the fleet with only four miles separating them from the Swedish entry “Ericsson” and to “Brasil”, whilst “ABN One” maintained a considerable leadership of 13 nm. Just six hours into this fourth leg, Movistar’s performance has been truly amazing, with the Spanish team ahead of the entire RTW fleet.
The tactic chosen was to sail at a closer angle and to stay more to the West, and it seems to have paid off, as the team have sailed almost 50 nm more than any of the other twin designs.
The first objective was acheived: to hunt the fleet down, having started two hours late, and now the team look towards their next objetive: to beat “ABN Two” on the Overall Classifications. The fleet must first reach the scoring waypoint at Cape Horn and sail the 6741 n.m left to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
The course to Cape Horn, with the ice gates, is at the forefront of the the team’s minds: “All the team are in agreement about the ice gates” the olimpic medallist Xabi Fernández told us prior to the start, “because it is a very dangerous place. On the last leg we saw some crewmembers injured. Without the ice gates the course would be much more dangerous”.
Bowman Pepe Ribes, gives his opinion on the matter: “I think the ice way points are a good idea and it aids the security of the race. There’s a lot for us to worry about during the race, without us having to worry about hitting an iceberg, especially when sailing at 25 or 30 knots”
The skipper of the Spanish boat –Bouwe Bekking– notes “this leg is always going to be tough, but now there will be less risk in terms of hitting an iceberg thanks to the ice gates. The weather will be better than in other editions, but we are going to sail more close haul and reaching and less time running. Anyway, I think this will always be the toughest leg”.
“On the matter of the ice gates, I think that every detail that can aid safety out there is good for the race, good for the boats, and above all good for the teams, and there’s no more to it. All those who think otherwise just don’t comprehend the dangers involved in a race like this”
Provisional Classification 4th Leg
Wellington (NZ) - Río de Janeiro (Brazil)
Report at 1600 GMT
1º MOVISTAR (Spain), at 6.741 miles from finish
2º ABN One (Holland), at 0 miles from the leaders
3º ABN Two (Holland), at 1 mile
4º Ericsson (Sweden), at 3 miles
5º Pirates of the Caribbean (USA), at 3 miles
6º Brasil 1 (Brazil), at 18 miles
7º Brunel (Australia), retired