Dalton and hits and kills a seal, while Stamm guesses right with its decision to descend to the South.

 
The door of security, established by the organization in those latitudes, is 240 miles more to the South than the one that they had to pass the participants of the last Volvo Ocean RACE

26 of January of 2007. All the boats of the VELUX 5 OCEANS have begun to receive winds of the west, but the more radical course change at night corresponds to the leader of the test, Bernard Stamm. The part of positions this morning sample that the Swiss landlord, in its south-east course, has put completely below the parallel 54ºS, to an average of speed of 14.5 knots. According to the last received data, Swiss continues going towards the Antarctic to a course of 120º. Soon, nevertheless, Stamm will have to restrain its reduction to the southern latitudes, since the safety limit imposed by the organization is to 240 miles to the northeast of the Cheminees Poujoulat and must happen to the north of that point.

This is first of the two doors of security in the sector of the Pacific of the Austral ocean, imposed to avoid that the participants naveguen too much towards the south and therefore are in danger serious to cross itself icebergs. Located in 52ºS and put between the Lengths 160ºW and 145ºW, the invisible barrier will force now to Stamm to a great change of course towards the northeast. “At the moment, the presence of an increasing system of high pressures forces to direct to me to me towards the south,” explained Stamm this morning while it sailed with 20 wind knots.  “I am myself forced to surround the system, to go very towards the south first and to return towards the north later to pass the door.”
 

Its decision to risk by a route so to has taken it to the south after evaluating the weather message and has demonstrated to be the right one. “The conditions are good, so it is well that it goes to me towards the south. It is not as if it was in a system of low pressures in which the boat goes very fast without no visibility.”

Although the rule of the security door has been imposed to protect the competitors when they sail by waters most desolate of the world, this door allows access to one of the most hostile and abandoned zones of the planet. In order to illustrate because this regata knows as “the Maximum Challenge alone”, it is necessary to mention that this door of security is 240 miles more to the south than seeming had to pass the participants of the last Volvo Ocean RACE.

Following Stamm to 540 miles is the Japanese Kojiro Shiraishi, that during the night has varied the course towards the northeast, reason why has lost 16 miles with respect to the leader. This dawn, to the 05:32 UTC, Kojiro was 35 miles to cross the Line the International of the Change of Date, and its priority right now is to hoist its candle of prow spare part “to reacher” before entering itself in the Pacific, to replace the one that was broken to him yesterday.

Thirdly, to 859 miles of Shiraishi, is the New Zealand Graham Dalton, that has varied the course towards the northeast and it is to 210 miles to the south-east of the Island of the South, in New Zealand. An average of speed of 9.10 knots with its Open 50, Dalton ends to report of a collision in the middle of the ocean. “I do not know what happens with my boat, but seems that we attract the marine mammals,” it explained this morning, “was sailing with the roar of the stere when a strange piece of marine alga appeared to me ahead.” Without time to alter the course and to avoid that the seaweed was coiled in the keel, Dalton did not have many options: “I put completely in the seaweed and was a blow in the helmet. I only had a little while to think `what so hard seaweed', when something strongly struck the rudder blade of starboard. Watching towards stern the seaweed they turned out to be a seal, or would have better to say, exfoca.”

The course change of Dalton towards the north has seen a reduction of its advantage of 70 miles with respect to the quarter, Unai Basurko, that goes towards the south-east with its Pakea, going towards underneath New Zealand.

Unai explained this morning that was put in highly unstable winds. “I am in a phase of interchange between a wind and another one and does not clarify to much the time, I am in a cold front, has rained very many. Although now it seems that the wind begins to establish a little, so to see if we arrived at New Zealand,” Unai explained. “But all good, this morning I have had solecito, I have put the things to dry, the boots… and now much rain tonight. The wind because it raises and low, equal is very uncomfortable enters a shower with 30 knots, that equal loss remains in 15, very uncomfortable, but it gives the sensation me of which every time he is more stable, so to see if step a good night and I hold good course.”

“Now I go with a curl and solent because the same comes a shower and now at night is difficult to see them, because they are possible to be seen in the radar but I prefer to go calm. During the day I have gone with more candle, with Genoa and the major all above, but now or it has entered enough wind and fodder that is or the entrance of a storm front, so fodder that the wind will go to the more hourly.”

“I consult the part when I can, when I have a little while of tranquility, because I do not like, nor and I I believe that to no of the other landlords, to sit down in front of the computer when there is much sea, and is uncomfortable to determine the view to the screen. In the end ground to consult a pair of times to the day.”

Separated by 240 miles of the Indian Ocean, Basurko and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston they will converge to the southwest of New Zealand, and whereas the Pakea is 343 miles behind a Southern Man AGD of Dalton, 51 miles only separate to Unai and Sir Robin.