It's a difficult day for the fleet out in the Pacific Ocean, where the objective is to reach the trade winds situated to the East, but to do so without losing sight of the main objective: the South, where Auckland (New Zealand) lies, the final destination on this fourth leg of the regatta.
Achieving these two objectives is proving a struggle with inexact met forecasts projecting conditions that don't often materialise. “The wind is still as crazy as it has been over the past few days. It looks like the same is happening with the rest of the boats: everyone is getting a different intensity of breeze from different directions”, said Diego Fructuoso today from on board “Telefónica”.
The Spaniards and the New Zealanders are locked in a head to head battle on their route South and over the past 24 hours the Spanish have made good progress moving up from fifth place to second having climbed fifty miles closer. According to the 16:00 UTC position report “Telefónica” has moved to under ten miles away from the New Zealanders when that figure stood at 65 miles.
To the North, American entry “Puma” and French entry “Groupama” share the same objective: to reach the trade winds as soon as possible sacrificing the southern positioning, because considering the lateral distances, the Americans are 160 miles from “Telefónica”, the boat furthest South, whilst the French are positioned 130 miles from the Spanish boat. At 16:00 UTC the position report confirmed a difference with the top of the fleet of 70.5 and 31.2 miles respectively. To see the final results before the yachts get on the 'highway' to New Zealand at the Pacific trade winds we'll have to wait to see how both tactics work out.
“Sanya” and “Abu Dhabi” have opted for a more conservative option and they are sitting in the middle of the fleet.
200 miles more for the results to be clear
On board “Telefónica” the crew are certain that the next few hours will be decisive in defining this first third of the leg. Approximately 200 miles and one day of racing away lies the zone that Iker Martínez and crew are eager to enter, where the influence of the eastern winds dominate and the trades that will allow the boat to set course for New Zealand will kick in.
“Cape has told me that this situation will last for some 200 miles more, so we won't know until tomorrow how this has will all played out”, said Fructuoso from on board “Telefónica”, who also sent a message of hope for their tactics saying “we hope it won't go too badly for us because this is where the differences may be established that will set the theme in the leg”.
PROVISIONAL RANKINGS LEG 4
SANYA (CHINA) – AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND): 5,220 miles
Day 7 – 16:00 UTC – 26th February 2012
1 Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson) 4,236.4 miles from finish
2 Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez), +8.3 miles
3 Groupama Sailing Team (Franck Cammas), +31.2 miles
4 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker), +62.2 miles
5 Puma Ocean Racing (Ken Read), +70.5 miles
6 Team Sanya (Mike Sanderson), +73.1 millas
“Telefónica” is maintaining a course South after putting the Solomon Islands astern, and it's looking very much like the risky strategy chosen by the Spanish team for their approach to ...
The cards are on the table and the crew on “Telefónica” have placed their bets: they are taking in the Solomon Islands through the middle, between Choiseul and Santa Isabel. ...
Three hours after crossing the Equator, Iker Martínez found a moment to sit down in front of the computer and write an update whilst checking out the latest met forecasts ...
?The moment for strategy has come. In the Southern Hemisphere, “Telefónica” will now have to choose their next manoeuvre: how to get through the lulls at the Equator and ...
At some 350 miles from the Equator, “Telefónica” continues to notch up high speeds. According to today's 13:00 UTC position report, the Spanish boat is advancing at 17,9 knots ...
This morning, with a change of watch in full swing, “Telefónica”'s satellite telephone was ringing off the hook. Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, some one thousand ...
The past few hours have been thrilling on board “Telefónica”. At average speeds of 21 knots, the Spanish boat has covered a whopping 499 miles (924 kilometres) in the ...
The rankings might tell a story of great differences in the fleet, but the geographic positioning of the top three entries shows that in fact they are lined up to ...
"Telefónica" hasn't had any other choice than to continue as the boat most South in the fleet with the force and direction of the breeze preventing the Spanish yacht from ...
It's a difficult day for the fleet out in the Pacific Ocean, where the objective is to reach the trade winds situated to the East, but to do so without ...
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
TeamTelefonica.com in Twitter 
TeamTelefonica.com in Youtube 
