Global Ocean Race - Playing the Doldrums lottery

At the start of Week 2 in Leg 1 of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race (GOR), the fleet of six boats were pinned close inshore off the coast of West Africa with a narrow band of light and variable breeze forcing the teams down a corridor east of the Canary Islands with the fleet spread over 400 miles. Sailing close to the sparsely populated coast, the fleet inevitably encountered fishing boats and fishing pots with both the race leader, Campagne de France, BSL in second place and Cessna Citation in third tangling with lines early in the week. On Monday evening, Nico Budel and Ruud van Rijsewijk rendezvoused with a RIB off Gran Canaria and took delivery of a replacement A6 asymmetric for Sec. Hayai in time to catch some more stable north-easterly breeze on Tuesday as the race leaders left the coast for the 400-mile stretch of North Atlantic separating Africa from the Cape Verde Islands.

By Wednesday, the North-East Trade Winds began to arrive as the leading two Class40s reached the Cape Verde Islands shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Opting to head straight through the middle of the archipelago was a calculated risk and while Campagne de France slowed dramatically, BSL came to virtual standstill, drifting in a two-knot current on Thursday. North-east of the Cape Verde Islands, the remained of the GOR fleet were considering the options and the general trend was to keep west of the archipelago: Cessna Citation gybed around the north-western island of the group on Friday, while Financial Crisis cut the corner through the Cape Verdes making valuable gains with Phesheya-Racing and Sec. Hayai following the longer western route on Saturday.

As the fleet dropped south towards the Doldrums over the weekend, the invisible elastic band connecting the boats was highly active. At 03:00 GMT on Sunday, Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron on Campagne de France hit a wall of light airs with speed averages dropping to below five knots and by 15:00 GMT, Ross and Campbell Field with BSL had made up the distance lost while drifting through the Cape Verde Islands, gaining 41 miles in 24 hours, shadowing Campagne de France 21 miles astern and often quadrupling the speed of the lead boat despite the proximity of the two Class40s.