The Volvo Open 70 "Telefónica" set off from the Pontevedra estuary yesterday at 12:30 local time and during the past 24 hours the yacht has covered some 486 miles (900 km). Having already rounded Cabo San Vicente, the Spanish entry set to compete in the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race has passed the height of the Portuguese city of Faro, and is just 110 miles from Tarifa (Cádiz, Spain) and from crossing the Gibraltar Strait.
"We've been lucky because since we set off from Sanxenxo we've been pushed by the breeze all the way, with winds of 20 and 25 knots, which has meant great training in these conditions for us ahead of the start," said Skipper Iker Martínez during a link-up with his team.
However, as "Telefónica" moves closer to the Strait, the breeze is dropping, as Navigator Andrew Cape reported from on board this morning: "We had a windy night but the wind is moderating now as we are approaching Gibraltar. Both boat and crew are on top form!”
Iker Martínez, added: "All of the miles that we can notch up at these high speeds here are good for us, both because we'll get home quicker and because we'll collect more data for optimising performance."
Lulls ahead of the Strait and close-hauling to Alicante
Despite the high average speeds of around 20 knots over the past few hours, "Telefónica" is well aware that conditions will change in the next few hours, with a patch of lulls along the last few miles before crossing the Gibraltar Strait, and then a long close-haul to Alicante.
"The forecasts indicate that we'll probably be left with no breeze ahead of the Strait and once we are across it we'll get mainly Easterly breeze, which means we'll be close-hauling all the way to Alicante, our home until the 5th of November," said Martínez.
According to Andrew Cape, "Hopefully we may past Gibraltar just after midnight.” After that it will be time for some crashing around on board and some of the typical shaking about when close-hauling... “We are going to get hammered after that, with more than 30 knots on the nose,” points out Cape.
Latest ETA at Alicante: Tuesday 20th, 13:00 local time
At the time of printing, it is estimated that "Telefónica" will reach the city of Alicante in Spain on Tuesday the 20th of September, at around 13:00 local time.
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