Foto copyright PGOR
Desafio Cabo de Hornos, el barco chileno lidera las primeras millas de regata
red.jpg)
Foto copyright Jim Bolland
Este sábado 21 se puso en marcha la tercera etapa de la regata que une los puertos de Wellington en Nueva Zelanda con el de Ilhabela en Brasil, pasando por el mítico Cabo de Hornos.
Son 7.500 millas que la flota comenzó a recorrer con unos sólidos 25/35nudos del NNW, Beluga Racer tuvo problemas con sus pilotos automáticos a poco de largar pero luego pudieron solucionarlo sin necesidad de tener que volver a tierra a repararlos.
Este es el informe completo de la web de la PGOR (en inglés)
At 1415 local time (0115 GMT) on Saturday 21st February, the four 40ft yachts in the Portimão Global Ocean Race crossed the start line of Leg 3 in Wellington, New Zealand. Ahead of the seven offshore yachtsmen is a potential of 38 days and 7,500 miles in the most demanding sea areas on the planet as the fleet leave New Zealand and head south-east into the Southern Ocean en route to Cape Horn before turning northwards towards the finish line in Ilhabela, Brazil.
As the fleet prepared to leave Queen’s Wharf, last minute preparations to Team Mowgli were still underway as a courier handed a new masthead wind instrument unit to Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson just 30 minutes before the start and the vital wand was hastily installed before the British duo left the dock. In bright sunshine and 25-35 knots of NNW breeze, the start was high-speed with the majority of boats carrying three reefs and staysail as they reached across the line at 15 knots.
Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme were first across on Class 40 Beluga Racer, chased by single-handed entry, Michel Kleinjans, on Open 40 Roaring Forty with the Chilean duo of Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz in third on Desafio Cabo de Hornos and Salvesen and Thomson on Team Mowgli in fourth place. As the only boat carrying a Solent headsail, Desafio Cabo de Hornos rocketed away from the start on a power reach with Cubillos and Muñoz quickly building a 1.5 mile lead. Beluga Racer held second place followed by Roaring Forty and Team Mowgli in third and fourth as the Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet gybed, set spinnakers and gennakers and shot south through the heads separating Wellington Harbour from Cook Strait, leaving the spectator boats and 11 yachts competing in a double-handed race organised by the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in their wake.
Shortly after the start, Herrmann and Oehme reported problems with the autopilots and rudder reference units onboard Beluga Racer, but the German duo swiftly resolved this potentially dramatic issue and the fleet are in good shape. With the four boats sitting on the top section of a low pressure system heading south-east in the same direction as the fleet, breeze of 30-40 knots from the north-west is expected before the wind turns westerly and decreases, providing the fleet with fast, downwind sailing in the opening stages of Leg 3. As the boats pass through the 50 mile wide exit of Cook Strait between Cape Campbell on North Island and Cape Palliser on South Island, the peaks of the Aorangi Mountains to the north will be the last sight of land until the fleet round Cape Horn, 5,000 miles to the east across the Southern Ocean.
Este sábado 21 se puso en marcha la tercera etapa de la regata que une los puertos de Wellington en Nueva Zelanda con el de Ilhabela en Brasil, pasando por el mítico Cabo de Hornos.
Son 7.500 millas que la flota comenzó a recorrer con unos sólidos 25/35nudos del NNW, Beluga Racer tuvo problemas con sus pilotos automáticos a poco de largar pero luego pudieron solucionarlo sin necesidad de tener que volver a tierra a repararlos.
Este es el informe completo de la web de la PGOR (en inglés)
At 1415 local time (0115 GMT) on Saturday 21st February, the four 40ft yachts in the Portimão Global Ocean Race crossed the start line of Leg 3 in Wellington, New Zealand. Ahead of the seven offshore yachtsmen is a potential of 38 days and 7,500 miles in the most demanding sea areas on the planet as the fleet leave New Zealand and head south-east into the Southern Ocean en route to Cape Horn before turning northwards towards the finish line in Ilhabela, Brazil.
As the fleet prepared to leave Queen’s Wharf, last minute preparations to Team Mowgli were still underway as a courier handed a new masthead wind instrument unit to Jeremy Salvesen and David Thomson just 30 minutes before the start and the vital wand was hastily installed before the British duo left the dock. In bright sunshine and 25-35 knots of NNW breeze, the start was high-speed with the majority of boats carrying three reefs and staysail as they reached across the line at 15 knots.
Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme were first across on Class 40 Beluga Racer, chased by single-handed entry, Michel Kleinjans, on Open 40 Roaring Forty with the Chilean duo of Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz in third on Desafio Cabo de Hornos and Salvesen and Thomson on Team Mowgli in fourth place. As the only boat carrying a Solent headsail, Desafio Cabo de Hornos rocketed away from the start on a power reach with Cubillos and Muñoz quickly building a 1.5 mile lead. Beluga Racer held second place followed by Roaring Forty and Team Mowgli in third and fourth as the Portimão Global Ocean Race fleet gybed, set spinnakers and gennakers and shot south through the heads separating Wellington Harbour from Cook Strait, leaving the spectator boats and 11 yachts competing in a double-handed race organised by the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club in their wake.
Shortly after the start, Herrmann and Oehme reported problems with the autopilots and rudder reference units onboard Beluga Racer, but the German duo swiftly resolved this potentially dramatic issue and the fleet are in good shape. With the four boats sitting on the top section of a low pressure system heading south-east in the same direction as the fleet, breeze of 30-40 knots from the north-west is expected before the wind turns westerly and decreases, providing the fleet with fast, downwind sailing in the opening stages of Leg 3. As the boats pass through the 50 mile wide exit of Cook Strait between Cape Campbell on North Island and Cape Palliser on South Island, the peaks of the Aorangi Mountains to the north will be the last sight of land until the fleet round Cape Horn, 5,000 miles to the east across the Southern Ocean.
