Competition heats up as fleet head towards the Equator

As the 12 strong fleet competing in this years race head further south towards destination Rio de Janeiro, it’s not just the temperature that’s heating up but the competition too.

With temperatures already reaching over 30 degrees on board OneDLL, a misjudgement of the wind direction saw the team slip into fifth place overnight. It was however a triumphant night of tactical sailing for Qingdao with the Chinese entry moving into fourth place.

While the Northern Irish entry, Derry~Londonderry~Doire, continues to extend its lead in the race, Henri Lloyd have once again been enjoying some very close racing with current third place Mission Performance. With just a mile separating the two entries, the next 24 hours will be crucial to the positions at the top of the leader board.

Skipper of Henri Lloyd, Eric Holden, reveals how holding onto second place is proving to be a race all of its own. “Last night we spotted the white stern light of Mission Performance dead ahead in the distance. As dawn approached we had moved to within 7 miles. All day long we had them in our sights and slowly, sometimes agonizingly slowly, we have been gaining on them.

“It is 0500 UTC now and we are virtually neck and neck with Mission Performance and the lights of Derry ~Londonderry~Doire have just appeared on the starboard bow, so this is really turning into a three boat sprint out in front. The excitement continues.”

You can keep an eye on the fleets progress by checking the Official Race Viewer and to read all of the skipper reports visit here.