Global Ocean Race - GOR leaders pile into the scoring gate

There is no doubt that the Doldrums have transformed Leg 1 of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR). Just under five days ago, the fleet leaders edged into the zone led by Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron with Campagne de France chased by Ross and Campbell Field on BSL. These teams spent less than two days in the Doldrums, picking up easterly breeze before locking into SSE winds and bolting south-west towards the Fastnet Marine Insurance Scoring Gate off Brazil. For the remainder of the GOR fleet, it has been a different story. In third place, Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon with Cessna Citation entered the Doldrums on Tuesday trailing the leaders by 200 miles with the main pack of four boats spread over 350 miles. Since then, frustrating, unpredictable conditions and light airs have seen Campagne de France and BSL build a lead of two days over the competition while the main group of Cessna Citation, Financial Crisis, Phesheya-Racing and Sec. Hayai have compressed to 180 miles.

By Thursday morning, it was becoming critical on Phesheya-Racing: “Around noon yesterday we were completely becalmed in blistering sun,” reported Nick Leggatt. “We dropped all the sails to the deck as there were a few details we wanted to attend to with regards to their maintenance, and then promptly went for a swim.” Holding fifth place, Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire were averaging under two knots. In third place, 170 miles to the south, Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon had also ground to a halt with Cessna Citation, while Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs on Financial Crisis, 88 miles north of Colman and Ramon, were making seven knots and the Dutch duo of Nico Budel and Ruud van Rijsewijk with Sec. Hayai, 60 miles west of Phesheya-Racing, were also averaging seven knots.

Throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Doldrums lottery continued with speed averages for the four Class40s rising and dropping randomly: “We had some quite pleasant sailing, but at night the heavy rain squalls started again,” Leggatt continues. “We sailed into the evening under downwind Code Zero, but had to change it very quickly to the Solent jib as one of Miranda's famous cumulomonsters hit us with torrential rain and winds over 20 knots.” The squall passed through very quickly and left the South Africans beating into a southerly wind. “Then, in the early hours of Thursday morning, Phillippa called me on deck with the mother of all cumulomonsters bearing down on us in a hurry.”