Groupe Bel is third !

Groupe Bel, around 175 miles further back in third place, have managed to maintain higher averages at just a shade under 10 knots overnight. However, Estrella Damm in fourth were sailing at just 2.8 knots as this morning's report was taken, some 32 miles north-west of Kito de Pavant and Sebastien Audigane (FRA), with these two boats looking set to diverge further.

Kito de Pavant (FRA), Groupe Bel:

“The temperatures are getting better. It is much warmer, we’ve gained almost 10°C in three days. We’re still lacking a bit of sun and good weather to make it more like summer, but we’ve taken off some layers of fleece and after three days we’re getting warmer inside the boat. It's dry too. At 50° South it was pretty cold that's true, but then that's the Southern Hemisphere summer here. I realised one thing – it had been a week since I had seen a star. I saw a full moon like an egg yesterday. I was the first one to be surprised by what the clouds had been hiding."

“There will be a new start in Wellington and it's going to be fun to race. We have an obligation to stay in port for at least 48 hours so we’ll have a chance to tinker a lot on the boat. We get to change just about everything except the sails. I was among the first to argue against allowing the boats to take a stock of new sails to Wellington. But I would have done better to keep silent because of what happened to us!"

“The great unknown for our arrival in Wellington is the wind, which is not very consistent with what the weather was expected to bring us. We think we will get there on Saturday night or Sunday morning or in between. It is not very precise. And in the far north of Cook Strait it will not be very windy and there will also be a current as it is tidal.”

The video magazine is on www.sharingsmilestour.com. Relive 2 weeks of racing towards New Zealand, on board Groupe Bel!

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