Dee Caffari and Anna Corbella reached the finish line of Leg 4 of the Vuelta a Espana a Vela in the port of Calpe at 1157hrs BST today. On the South run through the Atlantic GAES Centros Auditivos held their own with the leading group on this, the longest of the six legs of the competition. As expected, the Mediterranean dealt conditions that resulted in a loss of speed that saw them drop back from their closest race rivals.
GAES Centros Auditivos enjoyed a very good first half of the race, crossing the Gibraltar Strait in fourth place behind Safran, PRB and Estrella Damm.
Commenting from the dockside, Dee Caffari said:
“The first half was magnificent. The spinnaker went up all the time and we have not changed the configuration of the sails since we left the Vigo estuary and this allowed us to get away and put us back in front of the fleet.”
Anna Corbella added: “Tactically, we suffered in the Mediterranean resulting in us being left behind. Overall we are pleased with our performance although it is clear that we still have many things to learn to gain better performance from the boat.”
Marc Guillemot onboard Safran was the first boat to cross the finish line securing his third win of the competition. Estrella Damm and PRB completed the podium with W Hotels and Movistar crossing the finish line in fourth and fifth places respectively.
At the end of leg 4, the Vuelta a Espana a Vela is led by Safran, followed by PRB in second. Estrella Damm is the highest ranking Spanish in third whilst GAES Centros Auditivos retains sixth place overall.
Leg 5 begins this Sunday with a short sprint of 140 miles to Palma.