Mental imagery & a fan

Having crossed the equator to enter the southern hemisphere yesterday evening at around 19:30 hours, Giancarlo Pedote, who is currently approaching the latitude of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, is continuing to make headway at an average speed of over 15 knots, propelled by around a dozen knots of SE’ly trade wind. For him, as is the case for his direct rivals, the challenge is to really hone the strategy to be implemented in order to negotiate the Saint Helena High and make the Cape of Good Hope as quickly as possible. For now, the skipper of Prysmian Group has opted for a westerly course and is making the most of the favourable conditions offshore of Brazil. “There is quite a nice atmosphere aboard. Conditions are pleasant and the sea is relatively smooth. As such, we’re not being shaken about too much and I’m making headway at full speed on a reach, but as the boat heels at over 5 degrees nearly all the time, you have to do a bit of climbing if you want to hunt something down that’s to leeward!” joked Giancarlo this Friday morning, during a chat with his team. The only drawback for the skipper: the heat. In the daytime, the temperature fluctuates between 28 and 30 degrees inside his racing steed. “I have found a technique to combat it: I imagine that I’m in Brittany and it’s cold and wet, or the heating has broken down in the house. It requires some concentration, but I manage to offset it a little in this way. I also have a little fan, which enables me to create a bit of apparent wind on my nose, which reminds me of my running sessions when I’m on land”, explains the skipper of Prysmian Group, who’s obviously in great shape and is clearly set on hunting down his closest rivals.