The Azores are now close, and the last disturbance, the third, has passed. Alberto Bona is completing day 6 of the Route du Rhum at 9 knots, heading to the South-West with a beam wind that does not exceed 10 knots. At the 7 o’clock check he is ninth, 66 miles from the leader: in the end, he is going past the Azores passing through, east of Terciera, maintaining a slightly lower position than the sailors ahead of him.
All is well on board, at the moment: finally the upwind leg could be over, even if the trade winds haven’t opened the door yet and tactics are becoming difficult, because Alberto needs to replan: he needs to sail fast, analyse all the forecasts again, find a new strategy and a correct course, because now the second leg of the regatta begins, and he must be reaching as soon as possible and get the boat running.
The attention of the general public is also shifting these days to other elements of the race, for example the big Ultims will sight Guadeloupe tomorrow: Charles Caudelier and his Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will see the island on Wednesday morning and will get ready to circumnavigate it, probably by night; some concern also for the decimated fleet, in particular among the Imocas (yesterday there was also a sinking, after a fire on board; fortunately, the sailor is safe) and the Class40s, the category that has paid the highest toll so far, because it ran into more and stronger disturbances: out of 55 boats at the starting line, about 40 are still racing; the others are now safe, or are reaching port due to various failures of troubles. Alberto Bona is fastened to the first ten: mature, focused, certainly tired, he is a lion who attacks, metre by metre.
