There’s obviously been a big split between Team Brunel and Team SCA to the north, and those of us who decided to keep heading towards the Philippines.
Yesterday it seemed that the northern option was going to pay and they would make big gains. But today we woke up to that option not being that much better than ours.
We are sailing towards the north east and this afternoon we expect to bear to the east to start counting down the miles towards New Zealand. In the last 24 hours we kept sailing away from them.
In our route towards the north the wind is unstable and the clouds make sailing more difficult, causing constant position changes between Dongfeng, Abu Dhabi, Alvimedica, and us. It’s hard to position yourself well after two or three days of hard work and then see a cloud spoil the party for you.
This morning MAPFRE was leading the south pack till a black, mean, and windless cloud got in our way. This made us lose ground upon our rivals. Again we are sailing neck and neck with Abu Dhabi, and the cat and mouse game soon starts again.
The rain and wind were unstable and are causing this stretch towards the fresh wind of the north to be a question of luck. The fleet stays together and no one’s been able to sneak away so far.
Onboard we are all safe and healthy, the new under 30 Guillermo Altadill blended in perfectly and is sailing neck and neck with his watch mate Ñeti.
#vamosMAPFRE
Fran Vignale