Puma behåller sin stabila ledning på väg mot etappmålet i Miami. Under det senaste dygnet har Camper gått förbi Telefonica och låg på måndagsmorgonen (svensk tid) på en andraplats. Båtarna beräknas nå Miami under onsdagen.
Här är den senaste pressreleasen från tävlingsledningen:
At 0700 GMT today PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG (Ken Read/USA) had the biggest leading margin, 32.7 nautical miles, since the start of Leg 6 as they spearhead a sprint to the next set of Caribbean islands. Team Telefónica (Iker Martínez/ESP) have reclaimed second place after CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand (Chris Nicholson/AUS) lost 11 nm to the leaders in three hours.
Ken Read and his men left the glassy seas of Saturday at the front of the field, finding new breeze overnight midway between the Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. They have extended their lead at average speeds of around 17 knots, while others made losses, but with the breeze set to drop once the fleet reaches the Bahamas, the race is likely to remain open until the last few miles.
The team are keeping their cool, avoiding stress but sailing as aggressively as they can to protect their lead. Media Crew Member Amory Ross points to some of the most relaxing and enjoyable days of the racing so far. “Maybe that’s because it’s warm and we’re sailing a Volvo open 70 without shirts or shoes, but I think it’s because we’re confident and comfortable, happy and loose. Team chemistry has always been great, but our performance so far on this leg has helped to affirm our abilities,” he said.
While PUMA are eating up the miles while they can, and Telefónica 28 miles further east are sailing almost as fast at 16.8 knots, for CAMPER it is rather a different story. Their course, eight miles to the west of PUMA’s line has not yielded such good results and their progress in the last three hours has only been at around 11.6 knots, the slowest in the five-boat fleet.
In fourth place, Groupama sailing team (Franck Cammas/FRA) are slipping back and heading towards the dreaded 100 nm in arrears marker, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) are trailing by over 133 miles, having lost 10 miles to the leader in the last three hours.
The fleet are expected to cross the finish in Miami on Wednesday, May 9.
Foto: Hamish Hooper/CAMPER ETNZ/Volvo Ocean Race.
