Emirates Team New Zealand: CAMPER taught some hard lessons

Emirates Team New Zealand: CAMPER taught some hard lessons

10 November 2011

On day five of leg one CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand has been taught some hard lessons about how much one wrong call can cost you in this race.

CAMPER remains in fourth place but is now trailing by 173 miles as some short-term pain is absorbed in an effort to get west and in the best position to benefit from an expected north west front and the steady breeze accompanying it.

Groupama have maintained their strong split from the rest of the fleet and close in by the African coastline has a 87-mile lead over Telefonica.

Skipper Chris Nicholson says that CAMPER is suffering from a wrong call as they entered the Atlantic.

"As we left the Med it was a borderline call whether we went west or stayed in closer to the shoreline. These aren't traditional conditions for this part of the leg and it has been a pretty brutal reminder for us of the importance of getting on the right side of major weather shifts and backing our calls.

"I'm not happy with our performance over the last 48 hours and we've got a lot of catching up to do. Having said that we're getting into a much better position and should be in good shape to take full advantage of this expected frontal change.

"There's 5500 miles to go in this leg and plenty of passing lanes to claw back the advantage and that's exactly what we intend to do. We've made some difficult decisions but the boat is now going well and we're focused on chipping away at the lead."

From Auckland, Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said: "CAMPER got into the Atlantic later than we expected from data available at pre-start planning sessions. The result was that conditions prevailing then tended to favour going west.

"Ultimately, it is still to be proven whether we and the other westerly boats have made the right call or whether Groupama has. What's clear though is that our indecisiveness in making a call is what's costing us now."

CAMPER at 1900h 10 November NZT is just past Madeira Island averaging 12 knots in a 15 knot south/south westerly.

In other race developments, Abu Dhabi having replaced the broken mast has left Alicante and re-joined the competition.

Further information and race updates will be available on www.etnzblog.com.

ENDS

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