The small port of Wellington (New Zealand’s bucolic capital) is a hive of activity that will only get more fevered over the next few days when several teams from the Barcelona World race make a brief stop-over. The rules allow one stopover (Wellington is the most practical) for a minimum of 48 hours. During the stop-over, the competitors can take the opportunity to use their technical team but also to sleep in a comfy bed or treat themselves to a rare steak and a good bottle of red. The only thing they can’t do is bring on new sails.
The race leaders Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron were the first to stop, soon to be followed by Groupe Bel and others. During yesterday’s radio link up with Mirabaud, Dominique wasn’t ruling out a stop-over but for the moment it wasn’t in the planning.
