Leaders out of the woods

Virbac Paprec 3 and Foncia into building trades in the Barcelona World Race

Image above courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and PredictWind

Positions at 0830 

While all the Barcelona World Race fleet were heading west yesterday, this morning they are all bearing south and life is as it should be, for the time being at least, with all 14 boats now on the correct heading.

The lead duo of Virbac Paprec 3 and Foncia both tacked at around 1200-1300 yesterday, followed around an hour later by the third and fourth placed boats Mirabaud and Estrella Damm. The impressively close five boats behind them - President, Neutrogena, Groupe Bel, Mapfre and Gaes - holding fifth fifth to ninth places, tacked south by 1700. Renault ZE, We Are Water and Forum Maritim Catala followed at around 2300, with the southerly placed Central Lechera Asturiana and Hugo Boss at 0200 this morning.

The leaders early yesterday evening shaved the west coast of Madeira while the rest of the fleet looks set to leave it to starboard.

Next up has been attempting to find the best way through the west-east orientated ridge lying between Madeira and the Canaries. This in the process of transforming itself into a more circular area of high pressure with some circulation. Thus at present the GRIB files are showing a relatively narrow corridor of favourable but light northeasterlies, with now areas of calm currently due north of the Canaries - hence why the boats are currently attempting to put some west in their heading. This is born out in the table above which has Mirabaud, closest to this area, making 6.6 knots compared to Estrella Damm, 40 miles to their northwest, making 10.9 and soon to claim third off the Swiss boat.

Already Virbac and Foncia are past the eastern extremity of the high and have seen the wind veer into the northeast, although it remains light, but the lead duo are now finally out of the woods and conditions will only improve for them as the trade winds properly fill in. The boats behind, particularly the backmarkers who had to tack south while further to the east, will find themselves heading for the light area to the north of the Canaries and will have a more sticky passage to edge past the high. This looks set to be compounded by the high also shifting south over the next 24 hours - by tomorrow morning for example the shift into the north will come just to the north of the Canaries.

For the next 48 hours at least, the concertina will be expanding once again.