After 54 days at sea, Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret are currently passing through the Cook Strait. They have now made it half way round the world and are readying themselves for the second half of the race.
22nd February 2011 – Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret are on their way through the Cook Strait that separates the North and South islands of New Zealand. Currently lying in fifth place in the Barcelona World Race, onboard their yacht Mirabaud, this will be the first time they have spotted land since leaving the Straits of Gibraltar on the 4th of January. “It’s so good to see some green again,” enthuses Dominique. “More importantly, the Cook Strait marks the halfway point of our tour of the world and we are making the most of the calm conditions to verify a few things onboard. Michèle will be going up the mast to give it a thorough check. We also have a few bits and pieces to fix, but nothing major fortunately, the boat is in really good shape.”
Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron, onboard Virbac Paprec, are still leading the pack and are making the most of very favourable conditions. Hot on their heels are the Spanish duo Iker Martínez and Xabi Fernández onboard Mapfre who opted not to make a pit stop in Wellington. Behind the two leaders, a group of five boats, including Mirabaud, are in a close battle for third position.
Given the close racing, Mirabaud’s co-skippers will need to get out of the Strait as quickly as possible; the stretch of water can throw up violent gusts just as easily as flat calm and the pair will breathe a sigh of relief when they are back in open waters and heading for the Southern Ocean once again.
Having crossed the Atlantic from north to south, followed by the Indian Ocean from west to east, the Barcelona World Race competitors are now preparing to cross the Pacific. Once around the notorious Cape Horn they will head north for the Straits of Gibraltar and then home.
The coming weeks of racing should prove to be thrilling as the pit stops taken by certain teams in New Zealand have compressed the pack. “I’m sure there will be several opportunities between the Cook Straight and Barcelona,” explains Dominique. “And we will obviously be doing our best to capitalise on any break that comes our way.”
