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“Telefónica” is now facing some intense days ahead with winds of up to 30 knots (55.5 km/h)

Following more than 5,000 miles (9,260 km) of the first leg covered, “Telefónica” is now at the 'Roaring Forties'. The boat skippered by Iker Martínez crossed 40ºS early this morning. The Spaniards have finally 'caught' the first Southern squall and the entry is the fastest in the fleet, notching up averages of 22.4 knots, according to the most recent position report.

With 1,488 nautical miles to go for the boat to reach Cape Town (South Africa), the distance separating Team Telefónica (the fleet leader for the last five days) and second placed “Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand” is now at 110.4 miles. Both boats are on the same East-Southeasterly course.

As Iker Martínez said during the night, the Spanish boat has had to push further South than expected in order to get around the St Helena High, whilst the New Zealanders enjoyed a more favourable day of breeze yesterday which allowed them to make up ground, but “Telefónica”'s now taking that back.

Time for a new speed record?

With the boat's average speed above 24 knots and a forecast indicating 25-30 knot breeze ahead, the opportunity to break the speed record has popped up.

During the last week Iker Martínez has already commented on a couple of occasions that the area the boat is sailing where the speed records and 24-hour sailing records are usually broken. Whilst the Basque skipper was clear before the race that it was highly likely that the new generation of Volvo Open 70s would break the record, he also said that Team Telefónica wouldn't change their racing strategy to take a record. “When you sail, the aim is to do it well and to do well on the leg and that is always more important than any record”.

Navigator Andrew Cape has added: “This is where the leg record is going to be set for sure, as it's going to a good 30 hour sail in quite strong breeze, so if you choose to do so it's a good chance to push the boat. But I think that no-one wants to break anything now and I think everyone's pretty happy with where they are on the racing side of things so I think the number one thing is not to break anything”.

Some new company: the albatrosses

On board “Telefónica” the famous albatross has been sighted. For Diego Fructuoso, on his first circumnavigation of the globe it was also the first time he'd seen the birds, the huge-winged birds of the Southern Ocean: “We've seen the famous albatrosses and I really liked them! I was inside and Xabi called me out to see them... “, said the Spaniard.

From here the ETA for “Telefónica”'s arrival at Cape Town, South Africa is being talked about and calculated. At 13:30 GMT today (Wednesday) the ETA was the night of Saturday 26^th of November and early hours of Sunday 27^th.

PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 1

ALICANTE (SPAIN) – CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA): 6,500 miles

Day 19 – 16:00 GMT – 23^rd November 2011

1. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), 1,488.8 miles from leg finish

2^. Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson), + 110.4 miles from leader

3^. Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), + 323.2 miles

Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), Retired from Leg 1

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), Retired from Leg 1

Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), Retired from Leg 1