Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace leads on the water as the RORC Round Britain and Ireland fleet approaches the first major strategic decision at Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, 24 hours into the 50th anniversary edition of the 1,805-nautical-mile offshore marathon.
Pace is racing at around eight knots on a more inshore line towards the south-west tip of England. Behind, Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 56 Varuna 6 and Antoine Magre's Mach 50 Palanad 4 have taken offshore routes and appear to have made gains as the leading trio converge on the turning point.
The next tactical puzzle involves the Traffic Separation Scheme exclusion zones around the Isles of Scilly. Bishop Rock must be left to starboard, and Pace appears to be positioning for the route through the separation zones while Varuna 6 and Palanad 4 currently look more likely to head south of them. With Pace still around 20 miles from decision time, the tactical picture remains open.
On board Palanad 4, Joss Cresswell reported a dramatic change of fortunes after a difficult opening. "The first six hours of VMG upwind and short tacking in short choppy sea state was not ideal for the 'big spoon' we call home," he said. "As darkness fell the wind veered and we were able to ease sheets and put up a Code Zero. Suddenly we were doing 13 knots in 14 knots of windspeed."
Cresswell said all three leading boats are "grappling with how to best transit the incoming wind hole before getting to more consistent breeze in the Celtic Sea."
Behind the leaders, the Class40 fleet is tightly grouped with Penfret, Swift and Gambit making similar speeds and expected to round The Lizard in the coming hours. Graeme Lewis's Maxi Venomous and the Volvo 60 Challenge Ocean are also in the mix.
In IRC One, Sam and Andrew Hall's Lombard 46 Pata Negra leads both on the water and on estimated corrected time, around 90 miles from Bishop Rock. Stickleback and Espresso Martini Too are engaged in a closer contest behind.
IRC Two sees Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino leading on estimated corrected time, with RORC Commodore Deb Fish reporting from on board. Fish stressed there is "a very long way to go" and described increasingly light conditions. "I've lost my voice, so am having to resort to hand signals, writing notes on the computer at watch changes, and whispering at the top of my voice!"
In IRC Two-Handed, Benjamin Grosman and Klaus Rasmussen's JPK 1080 Ronin leads on both water and corrected time. Sam White and Nathan Steffenoni's JPK 1080 Mzungu! is second, with Ian Hoddle and Willow Bland's Sun Fast 3300 Sky Business – Game On close behind.
White, drawing on 2022 race experience, cautioned that early leads can evaporate. "I learned from the last race that at this stage you can have a massive lead and it can count for nothing," he said. "So right now it's all about staying in contention with the lead group."
Mark Brown's JPK 1010 Jetpack leads IRC Three after covering approximately 135 miles in the first 24 hours. Fujitsu British Soldier has recovered ground after a temporary tiller repair, with skipper Will Naylor reporting they reached Portland Bill in the early hours and have located the tea bags.
With more than 1,600 nautical miles still to race, the fleet faces a long road north to Muckle Flugga and back.
