Much of the fleet is still stuck close to Gibraltar!

When they won the first of the six stage trophies, the North-South Mediterranean Trophy, Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron collected the first trophy of this Barcelona World Race when they brought Virbac-Paprec 3 into the Atlantic, passing Gibraltar at 1955hrs on Monday. But the Virbac-Paprec duo, second placed Foncia and third placed Mirabaud will all have looked back today at the frustration and disappointment of their rivals spent hours trapped in the Straits of Gibraltar and given thanks that, by comparison, their escapes were relatively simple.

“We have 25 miles to go to the exit. But we have three knots of wind and don’t progress. The current has been up to five knots. Like this it could be hours before we get there. Or days.” Said Anna Corbella (ESP) from GAES Centros Auditivos. “It’s been the worst of our lives.” Boris Herrmann (GER) reported from Neutrogena “If no wind comes we could be here forever. And that’s frightening.”

Virbac Paprec 3 have profited from their quick exit, heading south west with twice the speed of second placed Foncia to extend their margin to 56 miles. Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) and François Gabart (FRA) on Foncia appear to be sticking with a more westerly track and have 20.5 miles in hand over third placed Dominique Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA) on Mirabaud who have put their incident with Moroccan officials behind them and gained time in third. Wavre put some of their recent success down to good fortune, making the right sail selection at the right time to drive themselves free of the Straits’ grasping tentacles.

And while the leaders have got away, and may extend still further, the difficult combination of very light winds and fast flowing westerly current in the Straits has halted their adversaries for many hours. Neutrogena’s co-skipper Herrmann reckoned they were no more than half an hour from Mirabaud yesterday afternoon, but while Wavre and Paret passed the 5deg 37 mark at 0050hrs UTC yesterday morning, the American-German finally escaped to the Atlantic at 1630hrs yesterday afternoon, the fifth boat to break out of the Med. It’s been especially tough for those who chose the Spanish coast option. As Kito de Pavant noted sagely today from Groupe Bel, 36 hours ago they were in touch with the leaders now they are ninth and have a deficit of 144 miles on Virbac-Paprec 3.