Boat speed: 12-15 knots
Current Location: Approximately 100 miles due east of Gibraltar
Position in the fleet: 6th
Carolijn Brouwer’s expression says it all after an action-packed start in Alicante harbour on Sunday, with Dongfeng Race Team leading the fleet out into the Mediterranean.
As the final spectator boats pulled away and returned to Alicante, the crew were then left alone to breathe (kind of) and focus on the job in hand.
Dongfeng was the first to gybe last night just after 900UTC with the rest of the fleet choosing to go at various times afterwards. The southern group of boats was then forced to gybe again to avoid an upcoming TSS zone, whilst Team AkzoNobel and Vestas 11th Hour Racing took advantage of some inshore wind in the north to gain valuable miles.
It is now all about sailing as fast as you can downwind towards Gibraltar where the boats will all come together at the natural bottleneck of the Strait.
Let’s see who comes out in front and gets into the Atlantic first.
