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Day 102 Caffari and Corbella on the verge of history, ready to finish sixth in the Barcelona World Race
A slow night passing the
latitudes of the Balearics, the transitional sticking point that has
hampered nearly all of the five Barcelona World Race teams which
have already finished, gave way to a fine last full day of racing
today for Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella
before they make history, expected now early morning on the
finish line.
The English-Spanish duo which
came together for the first time just over one year ago, enduring a
full February winter delivery from Gosport down around a full storm
strewn Atlantic system in to the Med to Barcelona.
It was a massive baptism by
Biscay for Corbella’s first real IMOCA Open 60
experience but tomorrow the Barcelona born and bred co-skipper
becomes the first Spanish woman to race non-stop around the world,
while Caffari completes a remarkable fourth
circumnavigation of the globe.
The British sailor will have
sailed twice round the world Westabout, and tomorrow raced twice
Eastabout following her sixth place in the solo 2008-9 Vendée Globe.
They are the first all-female duo to finish the Barcelona World
Race.
The duo are expected back in to
Barcelona around 0700-0800hrs Local time (+2hrs UTC).
Follow the arrival streamed live
as GAES Centros Auditivos cross the
finish line in sixth place from 30 minutes before finish time on
www.barcelonaworldrace.org
Quotes
Dee Caffari (GBR) GAES
Centros Auditivos: “Sadly for Mediterranean the
forecasts are often a bit different from the reality. We do expect
that to be the case, but in fact each time it happens it is a bit of
a kick in the teeth. So we are doing our best and now we are moving
which is a little bit better than what it was like last night, and
so I am just hoping that we cover the ground through today enough to
get us closer enough so that our overnight float allows us to get in
for breakfast.
It is all very positive on
board today. We are very tired physically, it has been quite
demanding with the sail changes and the manoeuvres. We kind of
expected that, so we are trying to rest while we can. But really we
are also just enjoying the sailing. The sun is out. The water is
flat and if you are going to have a last day’s sailing which is
going to take a little longer, these are perfect conditions. We have
prepared for our arrival, we have washed our hair, and done our hair
and stuff, we will be smelling better than anyone would expect.
We have been talking about
the finish. I have just been talking with Anna about things which
will happen and so on, so in fact the more we talk about it, the
more excited we get.
It has been a very positive
experience for us both I think. I was very nervous about the two of
us being on board and I think that has gone better than both of us
expected, and definitely there are strengths and weaknesses on board
and we have both worked on them, and a few frustrating moments but
we dealt with them all really well.
And with Anna I don’t think
it has really sunk in to her that she has sailed around the world,
and I don’t think it will be for a few days, once she has spoken to
a few people about it that it really will sink in.
For me it is a mixture of
feeling really pleased about our success, a little frustrated
because – hindsight is a great thing – thinking well I could have
pushed a bit more, I could have done this, I could have done that,
but you are tested in different ways each time. I had a
boat-building exercise to do this time which I did not have to do
last time, so you develop new skills each time. I think that overall
I am really pleased. It has hard to be doing that reflective bit
until we have finished.
I continue to learn all the
time. One thing I am pleased with is my strategy, weather and
understanding of making the right decisions has improved a lot. I
have made a lot fewer mistakes. It is now about the boat and the
people and keeping up the pace, backing off too early, taking it
easy for a bit too long, rather than the tactical errors that I made
before. I am learning, and getting the confidence to push more each
time.
I have worked hard on the
weather side, but I made a couple of errors and recognised them
straight away which is a definite sign of progress.”
www.barcelonaworldrace.org
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