Although the crew have switched to a Southeasterly course, Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández's IMOCA Open 60 continues to be the entry furthest West in the fleet after “Foncia”
On board Mapfre. Image copyright Iker-Xabi/Mapfre.
by Helena Paz
It is the eighteenth day of racing in this Barcelona World Race. Having moved back into view yesterday evening at 19:00 GMT, “MAPFRE” with double Olympic medallists Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández were progressing at the level of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on a south-southeasterly course at a speed of 5.2 knots.
The Swiss entry “Mirabaud” is following a more direct course to the waypoint, the Atlantic gate, having moved forward a place in the general provisional rankings and now sailing in third place, to the detriment of Iker and Xabi's “MAPFRE”. The current gap between “Mirabaud” and the Spanish duo stands at 19.7 nautical miles.
Onboard conditions are “pleasant” for the moment, a situation that won't last for much longer: “It's still very hot, but we are not complaining,” said Iker Martínez late yesterday evening. “In just a few days time we will start being very cold, for a long time. It's likely we'll spend almost a month without taking off the bad weather gear, even for sleeping, so being bare-chested and barefoot now is a luxury!,” pointed out the skipper from Hondarribia (Basque Country, Spain).
Meanwhile, it seems as if the fleet is bunching up again, probably due to the fact that the IMOCA Open 60 leading with Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella has slowed right down to 6.3 knots, according to the 14:00 position report. However, both the North-South and East-West distances with their most direct rivals seem to still favour the Spanish pair.
“Virbac Paprec 3” the second entry to dive undercover
Former winner of the Barcelona World Race Jean Pierre Dick and co-skipper Loïck Peyron decided, with this morning's 04:00 GMT position report to become the second entry in the fleet to activate “Ghost Mode”. So, until tomorrow (Wednesday) at 14:00 GMT, “Virbac Paprec 3” will remain invisible.
Like fellow French entry “Foncia”, the French pair chose to head West after a pit-stop in Recife (Brazil). At the point of 'disappearance' from the charts, “Virbac Paprec 3” was in fifth place in the overall provisional general rankings.
GENERAL RANKINGS
Day 18 - 14:00 GMT
1. ESTRELLA DAMM SAILING TEAM (Alex Pella - Pepe Ribes) ESP, 20,693 miles from finish.
2. GROUPE BEL (Kito de Pavant - Sebastien Audigane) FRA, +95.7 miles
3. MIRABAUD (Dominique Wavre - Michéle Paret) SUI, + 153.7 miles
4. MAPFRE (Iker Martínez - Xabi Fernández) ESP, +173.4 miles
5. VIRBAC-PAPREC 3 (Jean Pierre Dick - Loïck Peyron) FRA, **GHOST MODE**
6. NEUTROGENA FÓRMULA NORUEGA (Boris Herrmann - Ryan Breymaier) NOR, +253.2 miles
7. GAES CENTROS AUDITIVOS (Dee Caffari - Anna Corbella) GBR/ESP, +260.6 miles
8. RENAULT Z. E. (Pachi Rivero - Antonio Piris) ESP, +275.8 miles
9. FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux - François Gabart) FRA, +336.5 miles
10. HUGO BOSS (Wouter Verbraak - Andy Meiklejohn) GBR, +394.8 miles
11. CENTRAL LECHERA ASTURIANA (Juan Merediz - Fran Palacio) ESP, +421.8 miles
12. WE ARE WATER (Jaume Mumbrú - Cali Sanmartí) ESP, +502.1 miles
13. FÒRUM MARÍTIM CATALÀ (Gerard Marín - Ludovic Aglaor) ESP, +622.9 miles
** PRÉSIDENT (Jean le Cam - Bruno García) FRA/ESP, RACE ABANDONED
Iker-Xabi
Barcelona World Race
