The first Ameria's Cup race had to be re-started due to a massive change in the wind direction and Luna Rossa held the lead until halfway but then Ineos Team UK took over and finished 18 seconds ahead. An interesting factor is that Ineos have six grinders, to keep up the oil pressure to operate foils and sheets, whereas Luna Rossa have eight. This means that Ineos can have more people operating systems. Giles Scott called the tactics brilliantly, and Ineos had better boat speed as well. So Ineos has four wins from four races.
In the second race, American Magic was building a good lead and looking good against Luna Rossa, but was hit by a squall as she started to bear away after tacking around the final mark. Her leeward runner prevented the release of the main sheet leading to a spectacular capsize. All the crew were fine but the boat was leaking and looks badly damaged. Still the capsize did get the event onto the BBC News and they added that Britain's Sir Ben Ainslie team was apparently doing well! Don’t they have a telephone?
The leading boats in the Vendée Globe are back in the Northern Hemisphere and coming up to the Doldrums, usually lying between 1 and 8 degrees on north latitude and which extend in a narrowing cone from the African coast. So the rule is that the further west you go the narrower this patch of squalls and humid calms should be, but it moves around a lot. But the further west you go, the further you sail from the shortest distance to the finish line in France. It’s a calculation every sailor has to make.
Bureau Vallée briefly took the lead during the night, but by this morning Apivia was back ahead by 6 miles. The top six boats are within an 100 miles bracket but already experiencing different winds. Bureau Vallée, the westernmost by a few miles, already has ENE winds whilst the others still have a lighter wind from ESE so the lead could change again shortly.
Pip Hare has yet to find the favourable winds in her 17th place and Miranda Merron is still in 23rd. Sebastien Destremau in Merci has retired at the back so the fleet is down to 25 boats.
Trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has slowed to about 20 knots as she approached the Latitude of Cape Frio. During the past 24 hours she has covered 680 miles.