A little surprise visit at Cape Verde

“It was a rather nice night as we were making fast headway on flat seas. That has enabled us to stretch away from our rivals again a little, though I think we’re likely to have a few more difficult days ahead of us as we look set to stall a bit in the lighter airs, whilst those behind will be able to play catch-up.  That’s the name of the game, but we’ve done all we can to open up a gap”, commented Martin Le Pape, this Wednesday, shortly before finishing their negotiation of Cape Verde. An archipelago which he and Giancarlo have chosen to round to the east of, passing sixty miles or so off the island of Santiago. Right now, the duo on Prysmian Group is going to have to put in a last well-timed gybe in order to line themselves up as best they can for the famous intertropical convergence zone, which is always a source of dread for sailors. “It’s an important phase, because the outcome at the end of the race can obviously be decided in the doldrums passage. We’ll try to negotiate it as best we can. Clearly the first boats have slipped through without issue. It doesn’t look too nasty, but I know nothing about it since it’s by first passage through! I’ll leave Giancarlo to find the right route”, explained the sailor from the Finistère. Prior to all that, the crew were briefly distracted by a fly-past from a Falcon 50 belonging to Cape Verde’s Navy forces. “It was a nice surprise. It was impressive to see it flying just 200 metres above the water. It was seriously noisy! I got the chance to chat with the crew who’d come out to monitor the fleet. It was a really cool moment”, concluded the Florentine.