The main Volvo Ocean Race fleet set about hauling back French leaders Groupama on Tuesday after straying far too close to Tropical Storm Alberto, with predictably fierce consequences.
Five of the six boats were surprised by a sudden shift in direction from the storm on Monday, with only Groupama being quick enough to set a course away from the crashing waves, strong winds and lightning storms to reach favorable breeze to the east.
Franck Cammas’ team built a lead that stretched to 70 nautical miles early on Tuesday before the pack of chasing boats emerged unbowed and closed back to 15-25 miles by 1600 GMT.
“The weather forecasts say the wind will die ahead of us,” Cammas said. “That will mean the fleet closing up, unfortunately.”
Groupama’s consolation was in having missed the worst effects of Alberto.
“We were trying to ride the extra wind just to the south of it but a violent windshift headed us straight into the eye of the storm,” said Ian Walker, British skipper of the Abu Dhabi team.
“All of a sudden, instead of a fast ride east to the south of the storm we were right in it and in survival mode.
“We came off some terrible waves but most worrying of all was the lightning. The lightning was crashing all around right down to the water and it didn’t seem possible our carbon mast could avoid a direct strike.”
Telefonica, the overall leaders, were safely in the main pack just behind Groupama on Tuesday, with just under 3,000 nautical miles to go in leg seven from Miami to Lisbon.
Camper and Puma, who are also in the running for the overall prize, were also closing fast on the French leg leaders.
With three legs to complete, the top four teams are separated by just 14 points — a tiny margin after more than six months’ sailing around the world.
The race, which began in Alicante back in October, will conclude in Galway, Ireland in July.
Overall standings: 1. Telefonica (Spain) 165 points, 2. Groupama (France) 158, 3. Camper (Spain/New Zealand) 152, 4. Puma (USA) 151, 5. Abu Dhabi (UAE) 74, 6. Team Sanya (China) 27.
Boats withstand storm to launch comeback
