OSTAR
Race Update from June 4:
The last 48hours of the 2013 OSTAR have seen some exciting developments. Early updates on Monday 3rd showed Andrea Mura closing in on Roger Langevin’s position. Around midday the two 50 foot yachts were less than 20NM apart and Mura had finally overtaken and reclaimed his first place position. Late on Tuesday 4th, Mura had extended his lead on the trimaran to over 40NM and it seems that the match race for Line Honours has truly begun.
Almost 400nm to the north east of the two lead boats, the Gypsy Moth class leaders Richard Lett on Pathways to Children and Jac Sandberg on Spirit have continued to sail consistently and despite Spirit being forced further north during the strong winds of Sunday, they are once again neck and neck with less than 10NM difference in their distance to finish. Third place in the class is currently held by the Italian Open 50, Vento Di Sardegna who still owes a lot of time to the smaller boats.
Late on Tuesday, the tracker update showed Ralph Villiger on Ntombifuti had set sail, put Brest behind him and is ocean bound. He’s enjoying a favourable 10-15knot wind from behind the beam which is forecast to continue for at least the next 20hours. Hopefully this will aid in him closing the nearly 600NM gap which now stands between him and the rest of the fleet.
Jonathan Snodgrass reported on his dismasting and repair progress. In the early hours of Wednesday 29th, Lexia‘s foremast failed and Jonathan was forced to cut it free to prevent hull damage. Falmouth coastguard offered assistance but Jonathan insisted on returning to Falmouth under his own steam. Having since returned to Plymouth, he has ordered a new mast and suit of sails and is planning to re-join the race early next week.
Read more at ostar.rwyc.org
