This crossing is easier said than done: the Atlantic ocean is being hit by a series of frightening disturbances, which reduced to eight vessels the Class40s left to compete in the Transat CIC, out of the thirteen who had crossed the starting line. The fifth day of the regatta appears very difficult: Alberto Bona and the Class40 IBSA are in fifth place, 108 miles (4:00 pm tracking) behind Ian Lipinski, who leads the small fleet inside a major depression.
At dawn, Bona slightly reduced the gap he had accumulated between Wednesday and Thursday. In the previous days, in fact, the Class40 IBSA had fallen below the great circle route, ending up in a less favourable position compared to her direct opponents, who benefited better and sooner from the wind reinforcements.
After so much close-hauling, since Thursday afternoon the new disturbance brought running sailing points, and the entire small fleet managed to reach lower latitudes, perhaps also hoping for a rise in temperatures.
“Conditions are really tough”, Alberto said from aboard on Thursday. “The disturbance we are crossing while running will make us surf the waves at quite high speeds. We have had some minor damage these days, but everything is fine now, and the boat is okay. It’s been very cold; the entire fleet is really under pressure.”
While Bona and the leading group continue to sail (for the Class40 IBSA this morning at 9:00 there were still 1,780 miles to go to reach the finish line, 130 miles off New York), the withdrawals and deviations towards the Azores to repair damage continue, both in Class40 and in the IMOCA class. The strong winds and high waves of recent days have damaged sails, rigging and equipment, so much so that a total of 12 boats out of 48 had to return to port for repairs or abandon the race altogether. There are therefore 8 Class40s out of 13 and 26 IMOCA out of 33 left in the race, and it is increasingly clear that this regatta is not just a fight for victory, but no less than a battle to keep the boats intact until the finish line.
