Finally, breeze arrives for the Global Ocean Race fleet

Into the evening on Monday, pockets of minimal breeze hampered many of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR) fleet off the coast of Western Sahara. Separated by 62 miles, Cessna Citation in third and Financial Crisis in fourth fell into a hole of two to four knots around 70 miles off the coast in the mid-evening before 11 knots of NNE breeze arrived before midnight, pushing the two Class40s south at seven knots. Approximately 175 miles further north, the South African duo in sixth with Phesheya-Racing crept round Cape Juby shortly before sunset making seven knots as – 115 miles to the west - Sec. Hayai rendezvoused with a RIB off Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to collect a replacement A6 gennaker. Around 400 miles south, fleet leader Campagne de France and BSL in second place found breeze of between 12-14 knots with the separation remaining locked at 18 miles.

Throughout Tuesday, the north-easterly breeze became increasingly stable, benefiting Campagne de France and BSL first, with Cessna Citation picking up the pace at noon, followed by Financial Crisis a couple of hours later. By 15:00 GMT, Phesheya-Racing and Sec. Hayai – 430 miles north of the leading boat – were also into fresh breeze and for the first time in five days since the six Class40s left the Mediterranean and began the complex voyage along the African coast, the entire fleet was averaging over eight knots of boatspeed.

By 06:00 GMT Tuesday, Ross and Campbell Field had cleared the African coast taking BSL 100 miles offshore and the threat of fishing boats and entrapment in lines and nets receded, but not soon enough: “We’ve had a few more visits from inquisitive fishermen asking for cigarettes,” Campbell Field reports. “One of them was rather persistent, so we readied ourselves for some potential evasive action, turning the phones on and getting a couple of parachute flares at the ready.” As the father-and-son duo prepared to repel boarders, the fishermen reconsidered: “Once they saw me below deck shuffling through bags, they cleared off, much to our relief.”

While Mabire and Merron on Campagne de France have tangled with fishing gear on three occasions, the Fields have also been trapped. “We ran into a long line,” he explains. “We were both on deck and had seen some lights going and thought that we were clear of the end of the net, when all of a sudden our speed started slowly dropping. It was pitch black so couldn’t really see what was going on, but a torch over the side showed a line towards the bottom of the keel.” BSL suddenly slewed through 180 degrees, head to wind, and the spinnaker was quickly dropped. “Over the horizon came the fishing boat flashing lights at us, so we yet again readied ourselves for some action,” Campbell recalls. “They made their way down their line inspecting the floats, then came to us and although we were expecting a pretty hostile reception, they spoke fantastic English, cut their own line and cleared us.”

Dressed in jeans and leather jackets, the three fishermen politely enquired where the two white sailors were from and a relaxed dialogue, 35 miles off the coast of Africa, began: “I asked them if they had caught any fish tonight: ‘only one big one’ was the response with a smile,” says Campbell.