The 3rd week of a possible 5 in the Leg from Buenos Aires to Wellington. Will the fleet avoid repeating the distastrous previous week in which there were 35 run-agrounds?
After the mayhem of GW13 the fleet regains it’s composure and logs a completely incident free week of racing.
Pool A
Galatasarky is the first to reach waypoint 4 on tack 4 - followed by The Cooler King on tack 5. Darlo Queens is next, on tack 6, but LUFC 1963 can consider himself slightly unfortunate not to make it also - having had it in sight Ronaldo came on watch and due to hopeless navigation sailed in the completely wrong direction.
Elsewhere LukesGiants saw him repeat last weeks erratic navigation approaching waypoint 3 but he finally make it and then headed north.
Back at the front and Darlo Queens took the lead on tack 9, was overtaken by both Galatasarky and The Cooler King but was back in pole position by the end of the week.
Pool B
Robots in Disguise and Presti Spudgunners reach waypoint 4 on the first tack of week - a tack that was to be crucial for SuperSlaves within the main fleet.
Having found themselves close to cape Horn at the end of the previous week it was going to take some good sailing by the SuperSlaves crew to avoid a trip to the repair yards. However with Cech at the tiller and Schwarzer at the charts good sailing was indeed provided as they successfully navigated the narrow channel that was open to them.
Kelly’s Heroes joined Robots in Disguise and Presti Spudgunners on tack 4 and those 3 boats battled each other for the rest of the week - sharing the same water in a tight contest which saw Kelly’s Heroes having the advantage approaching waypoint 5 at the close of the week.
Pool C
With Ardley Athletic having passed waypoint 4 at the end of the previous week the next to reach it were Family Bereavements and Equipe Chat’s Noir on tack 1. Ajax Hamster Jam should have been with them but it wasn’t until the 3rd tack that he did after having had some difficulty with his compass.
Ardley Athletic stayed in front for the rest of the week and by the close had passed waypoint 5 and was heading towards Wellingtion. Ajax Hamster Jam had recouped the ground he lost early in the week and is lying in 2nd with Family Bereavements, Equipe Chat’s Noir and Förbrytarbeteende IK close behind.
Pool D
Coming in for the north atx1303 was first to reach waypoint 4 on tack 3 - followed by Roman Villa on tack 4. They stayed out in front for the rest of the week and were joined, and split, at the midweek point by A Smoked Cheese Pig. By the close they had also been caught by The Drog’s Ballacks with another half dozen boats in close pursuit.
Towards the back crewman Schwarzer was giving Apathetic Thistle some directional issues as well as causing Cow Tipping Frogs to sail backwards on tack 12 - and No-Eye Deer is in last place having not recovered from his disasterous GW13.
With the lead boats now in sight of Wellington the first points of this Leg are bound to be awarded in the coming week - a while the approach to the finish is not the trickiest of the race accurate sailing will still be required.