Leg 7 Day 9 blog from Amory onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro: One thousand miles to go, and what a thousand miles it is shaping up to be. The last 24 hours have been fast and fun, but they’ve seen a continued compression of the fleet front to back, and that should only continue until we all arrive at what looks to be a seemingly impenetrable wall of light air just west of Lisbon. It is exciting to think that after sailing 3,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean this leg could well restart with just 100 to go, and with Groupama, Telefónica, and now Abu Dhabi squandering breakaway leads due to unfavorable weather, the thrills look set to continue until the end. Once over 90 miles to our east, Abu Dhabi is now just 30 away, and as we’ve brought the stronger winds to them, the guys to our southwest are doing the same to us; at some point we could all line up south to north. Fortunately, the exciting 15-25 knots of wind are forecasted to last at least another day – a final chance to gain some leverage to the north – because when the front begins to overtake us it should again favour the boats further north while lifting and lightening the southern pack. Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing. High-res

Leg 7 Day 9 blog from Amory onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro:

One thousand miles to go, and what a thousand miles it is shaping up to be. The last 24 hours have been fast and fun, but they’ve seen a continued compression of the fleet front to back, and that should only continue until we all arrive at what looks to be a seemingly impenetrable wall of light air just west of Lisbon. It is exciting to think that after sailing 3,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean this leg could well restart with just 100 to go, and with Groupama, Telefónica, and now Abu Dhabi squandering breakaway leads due to unfavorable weather, the thrills look set to continue until the end.

Once over 90 miles to our east, Abu Dhabi is now just 30 away, and as we’ve brought the stronger winds to them, the guys to our southwest are doing the same to us; at some point we could all line up south to north. Fortunately, the exciting 15-25 knots of wind are forecasted to last at least another day – a final chance to gain some leverage to the north – because when the front begins to overtake us it should again favour the boats further north while lifting and lightening the southern pack.

Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing.

Leg 7 Day 5 blog from Amory onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro: Whatttaleg eh? Just when things look to be settled, just when places and positions look to be secured for a little while, you have a day like yesterday that turns everything on its head. Our morning started near the bottom of the leaderboard, maybe a little bummed to be there but positively motivated to claw our way back. Groupama and Telefónica looked launched, again, and pretty poised to lead the long procession east. But at some point things changed, and with it, so too did the complexion of this race. The impact player here is the high-pressure system to our northwest. We didn’t think we could beat it east so we aimed north, for a point that would minimize its passing effects. Soon after daybreak we sailed up to CAMPER and Abu Dhabi, also doing the same. Groupama and Telefónica sped off to leeward, probably thinking they could outpace it to stay in the better breeze, effectively cutting the corner. So now there were two distinct groups, and that is always a confidence-shaking thing to see happen. But Groupama bailed mid afternoon to come back our way – a positive sign – while Telefónica put their bow down even further. Holy smokes…those guys were alllll alone, and that’s a wild thing for a race leader to do! Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing. High-res

Leg 7 Day 5 blog from Amory onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro:

Whatttaleg eh? Just when things look to be settled, just when places and positions look to be secured for a little while, you have a day like yesterday that turns everything on its head. Our morning started near the bottom of the leaderboard, maybe a little bummed to be there but positively motivated to claw our way back. Groupama and Telefónica looked launched, again, and pretty poised to lead the long procession east. But at some point things changed, and with it, so too did the complexion of this race.

The impact player here is the high-pressure system to our northwest. We didn’t think we could beat it east so we aimed north, for a point that would minimize its passing effects. Soon after daybreak we sailed up to CAMPER and Abu Dhabi, also doing the same. Groupama and Telefónica sped off to leeward, probably thinking they could outpace it to stay in the better breeze, effectively cutting the corner. So now there were two distinct groups, and that is always a confidence-shaking thing to see happen. But Groupama bailed mid afternoon to come back our way – a positive sign – while Telefónica put their bow down even further. Holy smokes…those guys were alllll alone, and that’s a wild thing for a race leader to do!

Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing.

Sailing Our Race
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Groupama is out with a broken rig but PUMA now has Telefonica hot on their heels to the finish of Leg 5 in Itajai, Brazil

We Can See Their Every Move

Leg 5 Day 16 blog from Amory onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro:

Even though Telefónica has been making quick northerly progress in better winds (almost to the point of contention), it’s still very much a two-boat game, and that has changed the way we operate. Scheds? What scheds? Half the time the position reports go unnoticed and unread. Nobody looks, nobody cares. Walk up on deck and see with your own eyes! Are we up? Are we down? Fast? Slow? This morning – if they gybe, what do we do? This evening – if they tack, what do we do? Each scenario is scrutinized again and again (until they then do the unexpected!).

These last few days very well could have raced with an offshore mentality on an inshore scale, in other words, coastal weather and routing take precedence. But it has turned out differently: we are sailing with inshore mentalities – boat to boat tactics – on an offshore scale, shorthanded and under-fed. If the last 15 days are any indication, each and every boat length gained or lost is going to prove critical; it could be the decisive one to win with, or the heart-breaking one to lose from. So we push the boat and ourselves as if we’re sailing 2-mile beats, though we are most certainly not! 

Continue reading on PUMA.com/sailing.