Clouds rolling over the race track are causing big holes in the wind or shifts or dramatic increases in wind strength, forcing crews to change sail and tack. Their impact on the race is completely random and one team can sail straight through while another just a mile away can suffer big losses in a short time.
Mid-way through their fifth day at sea, the fleet is now 230 miles southeast of Salvador de Bahia and around 500 miles south of Recife. It has been relatively slow going. There is still a 40-mile lateral split with backmarker Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag not benefitting from being the most westerly boat.
The leader is still Turn the Tide on Plastic which has eased in from the east and has a 10-mile advantage over Vestas 11th Hour Racing with Dongfeng – now the most easterly boat - three miles further back.
Dongfeng’s big rivals MAPFRE seem to have suffered more than their fair share of cloud-related setbacks and are currently in sixth place, 20 miles behind Dongfeng and 32 miles behind he leader.
There is still a long way to go on this stage to Newport with 4,123 nautical miles on Dongfeng’s “distance to the finish” dial.
Position report at 09h28 UTC:
1 - Turn The Tide of Plastic 4 090nm from Newport
2 - Vestas 11th Hour 12.2nm
3 - Dongfeng Race Team 21.9nm
4 - Team Brunel 26.9nm
5 - AkzoNobel 28.1nm
6 - MAPFRE 42.1nm
7 - Scallywag 46nm
