The cliche 'the calm before the storm' could well be used to describe the situation the Volvo ocean race fleet find themselves in at the moment.
The light sea breezes the boats are currently encountering to the east of New Zealand are likely to be in stark contrast to the maelstrom
of what awaits in the Southern Ocean's latitudes ahead of them.
The eight yachts all rounded East Cape in the early hours of this morning, and are headed south.
Tyco continued to hold the lead, from Amer Sports One and djuice.
illbruck followed, then came SEB , News Corp and ASSA ABLOY.
Amer Sports Too brought up the rear.
illbruck and Amer Sports Too were following a more offshore route than the rest of the fleet, but were achieving little discernible difference in boat speed.
From on board Tyco, Kevin Shoebridge said that after rounding East Cape they had briefly extended their lead to two miles. "But about two hours ago we got an 80 degree wind shift. Now we're only half a mile ahead of Amer Sports One."
But Shoebridge says it is still early days. "We're all still in a bunch. In this race 50 miles is a lead, not two, so we'll have to keep working."
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Volvo Ocean Adventure
