On Sunday 23rd January Caffari will be celebrating her birthday in the South Atlantic aboard GAES Centros Auditivos, making this the third occasion she will have notched up another year on a round the world voyage. However, the difference this time is that Caffari will not be alone as she has the company of her Spanish co skipper, Anna Corbella onboard to help her get in the party mood. Having climbed several places during the week, GAES Centros Auditivos has now entered some volatile weather conditions and dropped back down to 9th place in the 0900hrs rankings this morning.
Speaking about the weekend ahead Caffari said:
“Any celebrations onboard will be short and sweet as we have some really tricky conditions to get through and our focus will be making sure we are pushing GAES Centros Auditivos as hard as possible. I think I might have a few presents onboard to open and, who knows, maybe I will even find a birthday cake stashed away somewhere.”
Commenting on the next few days, GAES Project Manager Harry Spedding added:
“A high pressure off the east coast of Brazil is going to become more stable and move east into the South Atlantic. This will squeeze next to the St Helena high that is already formed in the centre of the ocean. For the majority of the fleet this will mean a few days of complex weather, with squally conditions and potentially light winds. Those that get south fast enough will have a good run to get towards the light area situated near Gough Island. The followers, a group to which the girls will probably belong, are going to have a tough weekend and lose a few more miles on the leaders. They will hope that these miles might be made up as there may be a compression as the fleet approach Gough Island”
Foncia and Virbac Paprec 3 have returned to their number one and two spots respectively and are currently speeding along at 20 knots plus. Estrella Damn has been relegated to third place as the pack to the north east experience lighter conditions than the front runners. At the 0900hrs ranking today, Caffari and Corbella onboard GAES Centros Auditivos were in 9th place, thirty miles behind closest rivals Boris Herrmann & Ryan Breymaier on Neutrogena.