Monday, August 30, 2010
Well well…..Visit Malta Puma, up until now in the RORC Championships have definitely being the Hare, the one that everyone has been chasing, the one that everyone, whatever the class wants to beat. British Soldier, Puma’s main adversary was overheard to say after the Round Ireland Race that no-one celebrates victory until Philippe has come in, as they know he fights until the bitter end.
Fighting, this is more like war!
The hare became the tortoise after the unscheduled pit-stop at Great Yarmouth, where Puma lost 20 hours on the rest of the fleet. This equated at the time to some 150 miles behind Encore. Well, the tortoise has been slowly but surely creeping up, and tactically today Philippe has got it right. He has stayed west, after seeing those who went further east slow down significantly, and is virtually mirroring the path that British Soldier has taken some 8 hours earlier. The weather is still pretty light and flukey, so every half a knot is worth its weight in gold. When you are sailing at slow speeds, even half a knot can make a huge difference. For example, if a yacht is travelling at 5 knots, and another at 5.5 knots, that is actually 10% quicker…quite a good statistic to think about. Half a knot can just be someone trimming more effectively or the crew hiking out harder, or indeed the spinnaker been set accurately or the pole being at just the right height; it all can make such subtle difference but for those crews who are concentrating it can mean huge advantages.
Playing Around Logic have decided to gybe back west this afternoon, and we are pleased about that. They are still less than 30 miles behind Encore but to get any nearer they must make sure they leave nothing to chance. They are going a similar speed to Encore which is great, and are keeping Cheeki Rafiki at bay. Cheeki Rafiki seems to have cut the deficit between them and Encore substantially today but so has Puma – they are now just 65 miles behind Encore and going twice as fast – this is great news. However we know the forecast will continue to bring light airs so finding the breeze will become imperative to make gains. Encore tactically this race have not put a foot wrong so it will be interesting to see if they come out of this particular fight better or worse than the others. My bet is that British Soldier are in the better position at the moment, but I may have to eat my words during the night!!
No blogs or communication from Visit Malta Puma today – in some respects I am glad about that, so they can make use of all of their efforts in making that boat go fast!!
Allie
