Tension reigns

This Tuesday, as they leave the Cape Verde archipelago to their East, Giancarlo Pedote and Anthony Marchand are powering southwards. Propelled along by solid yet shifty trade winds, the two men are hurtling along at an average speed of between 16 and 19 knots. At this pace, concentration is key as precision piloting is called for in a bid to avoid very quickly careering off the track. Indeed, the duo already paid the price for such a move mid-morning, with a nasty broach, but they were soon able to dust themselves off and continuing belting along as fast as possible towards the famous Doldrums. Meantime, the leaders of the IMOCA fleet in this 14^th Transat Jacques Vabre are due to reach this inter-tropical convergence zone early tonight. The duo on Prysmian Group will make its entry some 24 hours or so later and it will be interesting to see if the weather systems are mild or tough for those brave enough to enter. For now it’s anyone’s guess. The current game plan is all about adjusting their trajectory according to the gybes so as to avoid the wind shadows created by the archipelago and notably that of the island of Santo Antao, whose volcano culminates at 1,979 metres. No respite on the cards today then.