Global Ocean Race - Leading GOR Class40s are through the Leg 1 Scoring Gate

As the two leaders in the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR) sailed into the Southern Hemisphere and through the Fastnet Marine Scoring Gate on the western side of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the main pack of four boats were gradually working clear of the Doldrums. The Franco-British duo of Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron were first through the gate at 17:08 GMT on Thursday onboard Campagne de France, celebrating their 16th day at the front of the fleet with the maximum six points. Just under four hours later, Ross and Campbell Field passed through the gate taking five points for BSL.

As the two leaders cleared the gate and headed south 160 miles off the coast of Brazil, Conrad Colman and Hugo Ramon in third with Cessna Citation had found the Doldrums exit ramp and were picking up speed while the Italian-British duo of Marco Nannini and Paul Peggs in fourth on Financial Crisis had to endure headwinds 100 miles north of Cessna Citation until the early hours of Friday morning before finding the south-easterly breeze. The same cycle awaited Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire on Phesheya-Racing in fifth and the Dutch duo of Nico Budel and Ruud van Rijsewijk with Sec. Hayai in sixth.

The Fastnet Marine Insurance Leg 1 Scoring Gate represents around 40 per cent of the total distance from Palma, Mallorca to Cape Town and this fact was not lost on Miranda Merron: “Now that we have more or less crossed the Atlantic to within a relatively short distance of the coast of Brazil, we are embarking on another transatlantic crossing to Cape Town,” she observed shortly after crossing the gate. “There is still a very long way to go!” While the Fields took BSL around Fernando de Noronha in near-darkness, Campagne de France passed close to the island in daylight: “They’re stunning green islands,” says Merron, “and we’d like to come back and visit sometime, since as is often the case when racing, we merely pass beautiful and interesting places and don’t stop.” Since crossing the gate, both Class40s have been picking up speed, regularly trading nine and ten knots in the south-easterly breeze with Campagne de France adding a handful of miles to their lead between dawn and 15:00 GMT on Friday, separated from BSL by 28 miles.