GAES Centros Auditivo. Image copyright Maria Muina/Barcelona World Race.
by Coralie Rassinoux
After passing Cape Horn on the weekend it has been a case of up, up and away for all female duo Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella aboard GAES Centros Auditivos. The GAES girls, who have been pushing hard north east in the Atlantic, yesterday covered the highest mileage in the fleet over a 24hr period which saw them move up the rankings to sixth place.
Earlier this morning, Caffari said:
“The pressure is on closing the gap on the boats ahead. We have a couple of objectives and we want to keep pushing to meet them. We have a high pressure coming in from the west and need to decide when to cross it. We think the later the better so will keep heading north east for now and then come back across. The routing changes every time we download weather data and the American and European models don’t agree with each other, which make things more difficult”
GAES Project Manager, Harry Spedding, commented:
“Having had a great start to the South Atlantic, it is now going to get significantly harder for the girls. They have a very complicated weather pattern forming and they are unable to get the detail that they would like. So they will need to take an old fashioned approach and sail the conditions that are put in front of them. Dee has spent some time studying the weather patterns along this route, and this should help her to make the necessary decisions”
At the 0900 hrs ranking Caffari and Corbella were in 6th place, 551 miles behind Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes on Estrella Damm. Virbac-Paprec 3 leads the fleet with Mapfre and Renault Z.E. in second and third respectively. On Saturday the fleet were alerted to the fact that Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret aboard Mirabaud had dismasted in strong winds and difficult conditions. The duo reported to the race office that they were unharmed and are now heading towards the Argentinian coast under jury rig.
Aviva has been a longstanding supporter of Dee Caffari and her inspirational record breaking sailing achievements, assisting her to three world records including becoming the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in both directions. As Founding Partner of Caffari’s sailing campaign, Aviva is pleased to extend this support to Corbella and GAES for the Barcelona World Race.
GAES Centros Aduitivos
Barcelona World Race
