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Amer Sports One takes narrow lead

Annapolis
The fleet was farewelled by spectator boats under Chesapeake Bay Bridge  


ANNAPOLIS, Maryland -- Amer Sports One has a narrow lead of one mile after the first night of the seventh leg in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The eight boats were farewelled from Annapolis, Maryland on Sunday by a large spectator fleet under Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The 3,400-mile transatlantic leg to La Rochelle, France is expected to end on May 11.

Grant Dalton's Amer Sports One was closely followed by overall race leader John Kostecki on Illbruck.

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"The first 1,000 miles is a key part of this race," Kostecki said before leaving the dock.

The navigators will be working hard to get the boats into the favourable current of the Gulf Stream off the US coast.

"Getting in the Gulf Stream first and taking the current advantage east will be extremely important," said Illbruck shore-based meteorologist Chris Bedford.

"We have been carefully reviewing satellite data ...to monitor the position and changes in the Gulf Stream. Cloud cover over the Gulf Stream had obscured our view for several days, however yesterday we got a nice view of the stream and have a good handle on its position and strength," added Bedford.

Iceberg
The race committee imposed a no-go area around the icebergs  

The race committee has set waypoints in the North Atlantic after icebergs had drifted down as far as 40 degrees north off the east coast of Newfoundland – in the middle of the race course.

To prevent the fleet from sailing into the ice zone, the committee has set a prohibited area which the fleet is not permitted to enter.

"It's unfortunate as it completely changes the nature of this leg, they'll nearly be as far south as La Rochelle," said race director Michael Woods.

Dalton believes this could see the teams racing some 350nm south of their position in the race four years ago.

The Labrador Current, which runs down the east coast of Canada toward the Grand Banks, brings icy water south from the Arctic.

The U.S. Coast Guard Ice Patrol, their Canadian counterparts, and numerous cargo ships working the north Atlantic keep track of ice in the area. Their data is crucial for all shipping.

On Leg Four from Auckland to Rio, the teams raced for several days through ice fields in the Southern Ocean. News Corp glanced off a growler at full speed.

"Once east of the iceberg waypoints, the navigators will need to make some important decisions on how best to handle the rest of the leg," says Bedford.

All the competitors would like a leg win. When Jez Fanstone's News Corp won leg six she upset the norm. Up until then only Illbruck and Neal McDonald's Assa Abloy had won legs.

West to east transatlantic crossings are predominantly off the wind. This bodes well for Illbruck - arguably the fastest in the fleet at this angle of sailing.

The leaders will also need to keep an eye out on the three boats at the bottom of the point's table, Team SEB, Djuice, and Amer Sports Too. These three will be trying to impress their sponsors with a leg win before the finish and so they are likely to try some radical splits with the fleet that could put them even further back or catapult them into the lead.



 
 
 
 






RELATED STORIES:
• Illbruck prepares for battle
April 22, 2002
• News Corp beats fleet to Baltimore
April 18, 2002
• Volvo boats breach Miami start
April 15, 2002
• News Corp skipper steps down
April 5, 2002
• Assa Abloy wins leg five
March 28, 2002

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