Global Ocean Race - Leaders break out of the Doldrums

As the double-handed Class40s in the Global Ocean Race (GOR) negotiate the Doldrums, the fleet leaders were closing-up rapidly 360 miles north of the Equator while the chasing pack scurried west to avoid an area of light airs ballooning towards the fleet from the south-east. The Franco-British duo of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron had a tortuous night on the fleet leader, Campagne de France, with speeds dropping to between two to four knots while the New Zealand father-and-son team of Ross and Campbell Field in second with BSL made double the speed of the leaders despite being less than 15 miles astern and closed down the distance deficit to just nine miles at dawn on Monday – the closest the two boats have been since sailing north of the Canary Islands ten days ago.

Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon in third on Cessna Citation had a fast night on Sunday, digging into easterly breeze and gaining 11 miles on the leading pair of Class40s overnight, trailing BSL by 78 miles on Monday morning. In fourth place, 330 miles south-west of the Cape Verde Islands and furthest east in the fleet, Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs on Financial Crisis dropped to three knots early on Monday morning losing 20 miles to Colman and Ramon overnight and with a more gentle descent towards the Doldrums, Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing in fifth place dropped a handful of miles to the Dutch duo of Nico Budel and Ruud van Rijsewijk with Sec. Hayai as the two Class40s continue to head west and avoid the intense squalls and dead calms frustrating the leaders 430 miles to the south.

At dawn on Monday, Campagne de France picked up speed again with the averages climbing from five to eight knots in a handful hours and the onslaught from BSL was checked. On BSL, Ross Field was growing tired of the prevailing conditions: “It has been real busy on board getting through these damn Doldrums,” he reported late on Sunday night. “We have had nearly no sleep for the past 36 hours and very little food because we have been concentrating on getting every ounce of speed out of this old tub that hates light winds.”