Strait on

Today Albert Bargues admitted that the last couple of days in extremely calm conditions had been frustrating:


"It is a bit disheartening to be in that situation. We were also forced to sail on a bad heading without much choice in the matter and that is quite demoralising. Although we are used to being at the hands of the elements it never gets easier and you do start to think 'what is this all about? At this rate we will never get to Gibraltar!'"


The forecast for the Gibraltar Strait is for lighter easterlies than the rest of the fleet has faced - between 25-30 knots, however both skippers are more than aware of the wear and tear of nearly 25,000 miles non-stop (Educacion sin Fronteras is one of only two boats on the fleet that will have completed the Barcelona World Race without stopping.)


Catalan skipper Bargues today admitted that the rigging has been a great concern; more days on the water mean added strain on material.

However once past Gibraltar the forecast for the Alboran Sea is more optimistic, the wind should shift to south-easterly and mean a nice run back to Barcelona - ETA currently the evening of Tuesday 26th February or early Wednesday 27th.