We Are Water. Image copyright We Are Water.
by Barcelona World Race media
We Are Water reported to their shore team at 0010hrs UTC this morning that their boom has been broken in the strong winds and big seas they have been encountering some 650 miles to the west of Cape Horn. MAPFRE have gone into ghost mode and Estrella Damm and Neutrogena have crossed the Equator into the Northern Hemisphere.
According to Jaume Mumbrú they were in the stormy conditions and making around ten knots in a very big sea. "The waves began to break dangerously and after taking a very big wave we came out of the cabin to see if there was any damage the discover the boom is broken in half. We retrieved it and made it as secure as we could. We had taken the main down in the morning before the wind had got worse, so it is very difficult to understand what happened really. It seem that it took the force of a wave and is broken in half. We are very disappointed because we had taken all the measures we thought possible to take on this weather without risking the boat or ourselves. Now we have to evaluate what the options are taking into account the weather for the next few days and what the best options are to carry out a repair."
The crew have reported that since the incident that have been making good progress and the winds are lighter than forecast, reporting around 50kts.
With Virbac-Paprec 3 in ghost mode until 1900hrs UTC this morning, their nearest rivals MAPFRE have followed into ghost mode as of the 0400hrs UTC ranking this morning.
Renault Z.E Sailing Team might expect to extend slightly this morning, enjoying slightly more wind pressure than the pursuing pair Estrella Damm and Neutrogena which are about 150 miles behind.
Estrella Damm and Neutrogena have both now passed into the Northern Hemisphere again early this morning, separated by only 22 miles with Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella still having the upper hand over Boris Herrmann and Ryan Breymaier. Both appear to be slowly emerging from the worst of their Doldrums and should have about another 40-50 miles to go to escape into a slightly better established NE'ly breeze.
Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella on GAES Centros Auditivos are in a 12-13kts SE'ly breeze and are presently around 500 miles or 36 hours behind Estrella Damm and Neutrogena, but the girls still have the Doldrums slow-down to deal with. Caffari reports this morning that they are still awaiting flat enough seas to get their composite repair to their ballast tank udner way. Hugo Boss are making good progress in 20 knots of SW'ly winds to the east of the high pressure system some 240 miles ahead of FMC. Ludovic Aglaor and Gerard Marin have slightly less breeze as both work to the east of the high prssure system on FMC.
Barcelona World Race
