A large section of the SAP Cape to Rio 2003 fleet reported virtually windless conditions as they battle to circumvent the huge South Atlantic high-pressure system, which is currently lying directly en-route to Isla de Trinidade.

Swedish trimaran Nicator’s tactic of keeping further south than Morning Glory did not pay off. Her run for the past 24 hours consisted of 82 miles of clawing her way further north, while Morning Glory headed west for 234 miles. Adrenalina Pura is sailing the classic course towards the north-west, further north of both her rivals, but managed to log 264 miles.

Morning Glory retains her handicap lead with Suidoos 2 moving up into second place. The Fast 42 Investec are now in third place followed by fellow Fast Baleka in fourth place.

Dee Smith on board Morning Glory is also keeping an eye on the weather. “We woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning, but not too much wind. It was a big, but potentially risky decision yesterday to head west and try to break through the ridge and with it has come mixed results. We gained the lead on the water from Nicator, but now we are worried that we will fall into the same trap.”

Skipper Klabbe Nylöf on board the super-fast trimaran is understandably frustrated. “We’re not even sitting ducks, we’re dead ducks. This is a racing machine, but we’re definitely not in the fast lane at the moment,” says Nylöf. According to Nylöf, they went north in search of pockets of wind, but are now heading on a more westerly course. “Morning Glory has gone slightly ahead of us and Adrenalina Pura is close also close by, although we have not sighted any of them.”

According to Nandi Scorer on board the yacht inspia!2041, they were becalmed for over ten hours. “We only doing managed to cover about 10 miles versus the 200 miles the previous day. We had hoped to work our way around the high pressure along the isobar, but unfortunately found ourselves in the middle of it,” she e-mailed. To fight off the monotony of the windless conditions, the crew set about catching dinner and swimming off the stern.

Inyoni has assumed the lead of Rally fleet leader from Nauty 40s – possibly by virtue of having motored 74 of the 99 miles she did in the 24 hours!

Positions

CLASS A

1. MORNING GLORY,Hasso Plattner,IRC,24.34.0S,1.34.0E,1043,234.3,9.76

2. SUIDOOS 2,Gawie Fagan,IRC,22.48.0S,8.35.0WN,1567,119.8,4.99

3. INVESTEC,J McGraw/S Cumming,IRC,26.20.0S,7.48.0E,713,174.1,7.25

4. BALEKA,Alex Schon,IRC,27.52.0S,7.59.0E,647,154.6,6.44

5. HELSAL II,Bill Rawson,IRC,26.22.0S,6.27.0E,767,162.9,6.79

6. KONICA/MALLINICKS INDABA,John Levin,IRC,22.39.0S,6.12.0W,1460,104.4,4.35

7. MADAME PAZZAZZ,M Skeen/G Hewitt,IRC,28.29.0S,8.59.0E,583,146.9,6.12

8. FASCINATION OF POWER,John Martin,IRC,28.52.0S,8.3.0E,611,155.6,6.48

9. DALYS INSURANCE,Mike Daly,IRC,25.26.0S,7.5.0E,778,197.8,8.24

10. AUTO ATLANTIC T/Child,R&G Goldswain,IRC,25.16.0S,7.9.0E,783,207.3,8.64

11. BARRACUDA,Nicola Amundsen,IRC,28.16.0S,9.31.0E,568,148.8,6.20

12. VCR 90.6 FM,G Boshoff/H Karolus,IRC,28.51.0S,9.20.0E,555,139.2,5.80

13. 34 SOUTH @ KNYSNA,Theo Beens,IRC,28.38.0S,9.32.0E,554,139.3,5.80

14. DIEL,Bernhard Diebold,IRC,28.33.0S,7.58.0E,625,165.3,6.89

15. INSPIA,Derek Shuttleworth,IRC,28.18.0S,8.33.0E,608,146.8,6.12

16. MADIBA RACING TEAM,IRC,26.56.0S,8.42.0E,653,148.7,6.20

17. SCORPIO,H Oliphant/J Dickson,IRC,28.47.0S,9.18.0E,559,139.8,5.83

18. JULIE III,Robin Green,IRC,23.39.0S,1.57.0W,1232

19. BIG REEF,Brian Sutherland,IRC,28.6.0S,10.27.0E,537,134.4,5.60

20. FTI FLYER,Keith Mattison,IRC,26.25.0S,1.49.0W,1139,72.1,3.00

21. SAFARI – CTW,David Tideswell,IRC,27.40.0S,2.28.0W,1138,107.4,4.48

22. LOVE LIFE,Marion Cole,IRC,29.33.0S,11.15.0E,449,266.7,11.11

23. MAIDEN,Terry Nielsen,IRC,28.23.0S,11.15.0E,495,105.9,4.41

CLASS B

1. ADRENALINA PURA,G hrensperger,CRRS,22.20.0S,1.54.0E,1114,264.7,11.03

2. NICATOR,Klas Nylof,CRRS,25.18.0S,2.28.0E,978,81.8,3.41

CLASS C

1. INYONI,HI Ferreira,CRRS,24.53.0S,2.12.0 W,1203,98.7,4.11

2. NAUTY 40S,Falk Graser,CRRS,24.45.0S,2.30.0W,1221,98.6,4.11

3. AQUILA,Jon Thurlow,CRRS,22.46.0S,2.50.0W,1302,82.0,3.42

4. CUMIN THRU,Alexander Smith,CRRS,28.17.0S,1.25.0E,935

5. ALBACORE,Grant Saunders,CRRS,27.1.0S,1.16.0E,977,103.2,4.30

6. ACALANTIS,M Tattavitto,CRRS,27.46.0S,1.38.0E,939