Just over a mile from the head of the fleet, at 4:00 pm on November 17 the Class40 IBSA is still in second place, in complete control of her opponents. Alberto Bona and Pablo Santurde del Arco continue their run among the top positions in this incredible stage of the Transat Jacques Vabre, with half the fleet that tried a Northern option, in order to go and catch a disturbance in the centre of the Atlantic and go all in.
“The Southern option was more convincing for us, both because of the position we held when the opportunity to choose a new strategy arose, and because we were navigating very well between the good and the poor wind”, commented Alberto yesterday. Choosing the “deep trade wind” and chasing it was the choice that – over the last two days – benefitted the Class40 IBSA, that keeps her opponents under control and today reduced her gap from the leader, Ambrogio Beccaria.
“We are fine, we have solved some small problems on board, which is not uncommon in such long races; we stay at the helm a lot and we make sure we sail in the best possible way”, stated Bona, with the utmost attention to the nearby crafts, but also to those located to the North West. “At a certain point, the boats that chose the other option will find themselves with enough wind available, but will then probably have a more complex landing when it comes to approaching Martinique”.
Meanwhile, the pace is not very high, due to a trade wind that continues to blow, to the South, between 13 and 15 knots, keeping the progression well under 300 miles of navigation per day, a condition that is also starting to affect the arrival time in Martinique, currently scheduled for November 21.
