With an average boat speed of 24.3 knots, Ericsson 3 have opened a 200 mile lead on their two nearest competitors in what had been a closely-fought fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race.
From the ISAF’s sailing.org:
In the last 24 hours, their lead has nearly doubled, while the rest of the fleet made losses of between 14nm at the best and 45nm at the worst. Their pace is fast and furious, but the rest of the fleet has now also been able to set big downwind sails and give chase.
Ericsson 4 and PUMA remain engaged in battle, a little over 200 miles astern of the leader. At 13:00 UTC yesterday, PUMA led from Ericsson 4 by seven miles, but today, when the grey mist cleared briefly, the Ericsson 4 could see PUMA two miles behind. They have since extended the margin by 12 miles.
