Leg 5 started! Iker is back and the crew is as motivated as ever. After winning leg 4 MAPFRE is fit and ready to give everything in this leg. The delay in Auckland felt really long and nail-biting, but the time came when we could start with a perfect atmosphere on the pontoon.
There were people everywhere and they were following us until the last mark before setting off.
Conditions were picture-perfect, with sunny skies and between 18 and 20 knots from behind as we left Auckland.
The fleet is really tight and MAPFRE is sailing in the top three all the time. The landscape around us is amazing and after several gybes we reach the open sea.
Little by little the wind started to drop as forecast due to the high pressure that’s following Pam’s low, and the fleet compressed until we aligned with Brunel, Dongfeng and Alvimedica.
A long night in light, unreliable breeze awaits us and it’ll be tricky to sail.
“We’ve been really busy, a lot of sail changes and the race so far has been really tight. The wind was better than expected, and we are progressing well towards East Cape”, says watch captain Rob Greenhalgh.
Fran Vignale