Global Ocean Race - Into the Cape Verde sweat box

Shortly before midnight on Wednesday, Class40 Campagne de France reached the Cape Verde Islands leading the double-handed Global Ocean Race (GOR) fleet after ten days of racing in Leg 1 from Mallorca to Cape Town. As the Franco-British duo of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron left the island of Sal to port and entered the 150-mile wide archipelago, Ross and Campbell Field on board BSL followed in second place, 36 miles off the race leader’s starboard quarter, with both boats averaging ten knots in following breeze.

At sunrise on Thursday, Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon in third on Cessna Citation were 127 miles behind the race leaders with a 96 mile lead over Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs on Financial Crisis as the two boats dropped south-west through the Atlantic in around 19 knots of north-easterly breeze. North of the Cape Verde Islands by 500 miles at sunset on Wednesday, Phesheya-Racing was making the best speed in the fleet at 11 knots in fifth place leading Sec. Hayai by 20 miles as the two Class40s began their route away from the coast of Africa.

By Thursday afternoon, the leaders were struggling through the islands in minimal breeze as the chasing fleet began to consider the Cape Verde options. Throughout Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs gybed constantly as they took Financial Crisis across the 400 miles of North Atlantic separating the Cape Verde Islands from Africa. “We've had mixed feelings all day about the route to follow,” admitted Marco Nannini as the duo approached the islands. “Cessna seems now committed to go west of the Cape Verdes which may be a successful flier considering that both Campagne de France and BSL have slowed down since reaching the archipelago,” he says. “As for us, we don't have any huge commitments and we're debating whether to go for steak at Santo Antao or Pizza at Boa Vista.” The duo are also looking ahead to the route south: “We’re trying to locate the fastest passage across the Doldrums and into the South Atlantic and by superimposing satellite imagery and weather model data, we concluded that steak is actually our preferred option,” confirms Nannini, taking the western alternative near the densely forested peaks and sheer ravines of Santo Antao.