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PUMA advantage whittled down to less than a mile
After more than 6,500 nautical miles of sailing, PUMA’s lead over Telefónica was down to little over a kilometre on Friday as the pair entered the final few hours of Leg 5.
Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean…
Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean…
Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean…
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An epic finish to an epic leg
With the wind now behind the leading duo, boat speeds were sitting above 10 knots as the dash to the finish line in Itajaí intensified.
PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG still occupied the top spot with around 40 nm to go but Telefónica were just 0.7 nm behind at 1400 UTC and sailing a fraction quicker directly south of the leaders.
PUMA media crewmember Amory Ross said while the leaders were concerned about Telefónica’s gains, there was little they could do to stop the advance.
“We’re doing our absolute best but there’s something very disconcerting about watching your lead evaporate sched by sched to a boat thriving in conditions we can’t reach,” he said.
“But therein lies the bright side: there is nothing we can really do about Telefónica, so we’ve been focusing on sailing our own boat as best we know how.
“It’s going to make for a very exciting final day of racing!”
Telefónica MCM Diego Fructuoso said his team were revelling in the thrill of the chase. "We are now gaining lots of miles on our rival PUMA,'' he said. "We all have confidence in the boat and we keep getting close."
The estimated time of arrival for both teams is around 1600 UTC today.
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fisher boy you´re confused which team to back up, go to bed it´s past your bed time fantasy reading.
mdlv, thanks man, you open my eyes. And you forgot that Iker is not himself, he´s Harry Potter with the Polyjuice Potion.
Xabier: the best caption by the Volvo writing staff used to describe what we are watching was "Blind Luck". There is nothing epic about this, Tele's boat broke, their re-start coincided with a powerful front. If you're suggesting this was planned, that is just naivete.
TELEFONICA! Uoop, Uoop, Uoop, Uoop... Just there!!
Say what you will about the integrity of the yacht designs and the fairness of pit-stops, but a 6000+ NM Southern Ocean race coming down to a match racing photo finish is pretty thrilling, particularly for us one-design racers accustomed to tactical buoy racing. Really, what are the statistical chances of two yachts finishing within sight of each other? One of the earlier legs was also tight like this. As far as the results hanging on mid-race repairs (whether at sea or during pit-stops), sure it's less "pure", but not nearly as artificial as freighting the yachts through the pirate-zone in order to indulge a deep-pocketed sponsor in the Middle East.
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