Barcelona World Race: Pack lead by Damm!

Picture by: Jean-Marie Liot/DPPI/Barcelona World Race

On the morning of the first full day at sea Estrella Damm leads the pack by a small margin. The Farr design is tightly grouped with Paprec Vibrac, Temenos, PRB and Hugo Boss. These lead boats are to the east of Ibiza in the Mediterranean. Johnathan Mckee of Estrella Damm takes no great credit for their position, ""It was a hard decision and it wasn't one made with a lot of confidence." Winds are WSW at Force 3 or 7-10 knots.

Delta Dore and Veoila have stayed closer to the shore and not fared as well trailing by 13 and 15 miles respectively. According to Jeremie Beyou on Delta, "After a while it died out completely and a number of boats came to a standstill, whilst others have broken free."

The difference in tactical choices shows as Estrella Damm has made 192 miles in 24 hours while Deta has made 134. Basically a shorter and slower course for the trailers.

The winds have been light and will continue under 15 knots. Skipper comments reflect this as J.P. Dick says, "The wind is quite strange at the moment" and from Dominice Wavre, "We are now dealing with the extremely light Mediterranean air."

Guillermo Altadill of Estrella Damm say, "We've left Ibiza to starboard which we hadn't planned to do but then the weather isn't doing what we thought it would either." Whoever can figure out the conditions that are, of course, not normal will do well.