The last 150 miles into Cardiff look progressively lighter as the boats make their way up the Bristol Channel where the River Severn meets the sea.
Just for the record this estuary has the second highest tidal range on the planet with Spring tidal flows of up to eight knots in some places and the only way to prevent the boats being swept backwards – if there is little or no wind – may be to drop anchor.
On Dongfeng the crew led by Charles Caudrelier are getting ready for what they know could be another decisive re-shuffle in the dying hours of what has been a fascinating transatlantic leg with classic conditions associated with a deep depression.
But now comes the really hard bit and Charles will be doing all in his power to, at the very least, not lose position from the strong third place Dongfeng occupies with 175 miles left on the clock.
At a position about 85 nautical miles southeast of the Fastnet Rock, the Chinese-flagged yacht was just 14 miles behind new leader Team Brunel and 12 miles behind second-placed Team AkzoNobel. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (+36) was fourth with MAPFRE still fifth (+68).
Carolijn Brouwer has been hoping that the disaster of Newport is not re-visited on Dongfeng Race Team off the Welsh capital. “It’s pretty foggy, misty with bad visibility out here,” she said sitting in the cockpit on a grey day off the Irish coast.
“But anyway, we’ve reached the coast of Ireland and looking further ahead possibly having to anchor due to a lot of current. We keep pushing hard with the conditions we have and find some opportunity to get closer.
“We’ve seen some tricky finishes in the past,” she added, “we just had one in Newport and we might see another in Cardiff. In Newport it didn’t go our way – hopefully in Cardiff it will – so we never give up.”
The change of leader in this leg, with Team Brunel managing to sneak past AkzoNobel, could be significant. If Bouwe Bekking’s crew manage to pull off their second win in three legs – and having finished second in Newport – they will move into contention as potential overall race winners, something which would turn the last two legs into a three-way battle for the title.
For bird watchers out there, our On Board Reporter on this leg, Jeremie Lecaudey, has taken some superb footage of what appears to be a northern gannet skimming the waves near Dongfeng, using the drone. Magical….and you can check it out on our Facebook page here.
https://www.facebook.com/DongfengRaceTeam/videos/1985196211532924/
Latest position report at 08:08:00 UTC:
1. Team Brunel. DTF: 144.9nm
2. Team AkzoNobel. DTL: 1.9nm
3. Dongfeng Race Team. DTL: 12.9nm
4. Vestas 11th Hour Racing. DTL: 31.4nm
5. MAPFRE. DTL: 61.4nm
6. Turn the Tide on Plastic. DTL: 83.8nm
7. Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag. DTL: 202.5nm
