Having charged into the lead right from the starter’s horn in Barcelona, Team Danielle have shown no sign of relinquishing their hold on the Barcelona-Ibiza race as the teams enter the final 40 nautical miles (NM).
With the teams separated by approximately 1.5 NM yesterday, Team Isabel needed to respond quickly if they were to race their way back into contention. On Tuesday afternoon the fight to gain the lead began. Slowly but surely they started to haul their way back into contention and by late evening the gap was down to just 0.5 NM and gaining. Rozamar dropped by and found the crew in good spirits, taking on food and drink as normal but beginning to show signs of 48 hours at the oars.
The race was heating up.
A turn in conditions was the last thing they needed if they were to chase down the race leaders, but fate had other plans.
Head winds of 15 knots, rougher seas, and busy shipping lanes hampered both team’s progress throughout the night, but by dawn it was Danielle who had ridden the conditions and reinforced their lead over Isabel. Both team’s paces stands at a steady 2.2 knots but with the gap between the teams some 5 NM, Danielle is closing in on victory with forecasted northerly winds set to help rather then hinder their progress.