Taken from News Report on 09:03 18th March 2005
BP Explorer has sacrificed the lead in leg 4 of the Global Challenge in a tactical gamble on the approach to Waypoint Bravo, just north of the Kuergelen Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean.
In anticipation of the strong winds from the southwest that will soon fill in as a conventional Southern Ocean low passes under the fleet, they headed south to line themselves up for the mark.
The southwesterly winds will lift all the teams on the racecourse on the run in to the psychologically and tactically significant waypoint. David Melvile, skipper of BP Explorer, clearly believes his former position would have left him sailing too far north, and therefore further from the great circle route to Cape Town that will take the fleet south again after rounding the mark.
"We have purposefully cashed in our first-place position," reported BP Explorer Crew Volunteer, Naomi Cudmore, "getting some south in, hopefully to better set ourselves up for that 2,500-mile-long line to Cape Town. Whether or not this relatively bold move pays off will be impossible to determine until we finally round Bravo - probably on Monday."
BG SPIRIT has been heading south for some time, now in 10th place and also hoping the winds backing to the southwest and building in strength up to 30-35 knots will propel them through the rankings over the weekend.
At present though, former 2nd place Imagine It. Done. have taken the lead by 13nm; the team placed last on the overall leaderboard in 1st place on the water. After taking a few flyers that have not produced results in previous legs, skipper Dee Caffari promised her crew at the beginning of this leg in Sydney they would be concentrating on boat speed and staying in touch with the fleet. They have done exactly that and Dee's evaluation of their impressive performance was simple:
"We always knew we could sail the boat, but now we're pointing it in the right direction as well!"
Leaderboard DTF
1. Imagine It. Done. 3,088nm
2. BP Explorer 3,101nm
3. Spirit of Sark 3,108nm
4. Team Stelmar 3,114nm
5. Pindar 3,126nm
6. Barclays Adventurer 3,128nm
7. SAIC La Jolla 3,147nm
8. Samsung 3,152nm
9. Me to You 3,162nm
10.BG SPIRIT 3,170nm
11.VAIO 3,206nm
12.Team Save the Children 3,311nm
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