News
Day 35 (Sun 07 Feb 1330 - Mon 08 Feb 1330)
Another great result for the fleet on day 35 – a total DMG of almost 1400nm, an average of almost 50nm per crew. There have also been some significant changes in the progress board. All crews are now inside the 2000nm barrier, with Charlie Pitcher going inside the 1000nm mark in the last 24 hours. To date, over 30,000nm have been made good – 40% of the total distance, or 1.5 times around the Earths equator.
QBE Insurance Challenger had successfully caught and were level with Karukera by the end of day 35, with both crews leading the pairs class with 1210nm to English Harbour, Antigua. Having been nearly 100nm behind just 2 weeks ago, they have consistently out scored Karukera in the DMG stakes and will now look to build on the recent success and take a notable lead.
While the pairs class continues to be a close race the fours class is currently dominated by Vivaldi (Rames Dames) who extended their lead over Mission Atlantic for an eighth successive day, and now lead their counterparts by almost 200nm.
The solo race is continually led by Charlie Pitcher and he is almost certain to win both the solo class and overall event, now leading the fleet by 250nm. However, behind him, there is little more than a days row between Pete Van Kets and Dave Brooks, with Roger Haines continuing to battle against the lower placed pairs.
A number of competitors have now got an ocean rowers tan. Before the event, the idea of having a full body tan is something of a bonus following the ultra-endurance race, but now in reality the outcome is slightly different. Many of the competitors have now realised that – being north of the equator, the sun always passes on the right hand side of the body, and because competitors face the same way with the same orientation the sun always falls on the same side. So expect the body to be well tanned on the right hand side and back, and slightly paler to the left. As some have alluded, it is the ocean equivalent of the ‘truckers tan’ on the road.
Finally, the wait is almost over for the relatives and friends of Britannia III. At the end of day 35 they had just 200nm to go. Based on their current speed they should get in during the early hours of Thursday morning, after almost 38 days at sea.