Team Malingri, Dakar-Guadalupe Record Attempt: Day 9

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Atlantic, April 18th 2017 “Vittorio and Nico Malingri, after a weekend of tough sailing, are 440 miles to arrival and continue to be in advantage on the record-time of Pierre-Yves Moreau e Benoit Lequin. 

This adventure is one of the most important Citroën Unconventional Team challenges of 2017, of which Vittorio and Nico are part of. During the weekend Nico and Vittorio Malingri had to deal with difficult days: 

Saturday they had a close encounter with two whales, then capsized and were forced to swim in order to retrieve all their belongings that fell in the water. Unfortunately, this left them with the electrical system damaged. 

Due to this, we did not manage to speak with them on Sunday but yesterday yes: “It’s an exciting finale; we can’t predict anything till the very end. With the average of today we will not make it for sure, we will see tomorrow. Now it is the worst moment, we were waiting for it. The wind blows at 5 knots, we are doing well because Feel Good is amazing, we have a huge sail. In this part of the Caribbean Sea, it is full of seaweed that keeps being stuck in the helm; and we keep needing to take them off every 5 minutes. 

Yesterday we cut the route by hauling off north, even though the forecasts suggested keeping south
but we have something they do not have: our eyes. We saw the sky and the clouds; the wind was blowing so we decided to go. 

We want to make it, so hard. Just a few days are left now. We look forward to arrive but we are enjoying the last days of sailing. It is a particular trip, this is the second time I do it and we never felt uncomfortable thinking that we were in the middle of the ocean with this little thing. Feel Good is our home, we like it even in the middle of nowhere.” 

Weather Conditions, curated by Navimeteo: Feel Good crosses the extended bubble of air with a slight flow from ENE under 10 knots. Inevitably, Team Malingri must luff in order to create apparent wind to maintain an enough average and ensure that the advantage gained will erode in this phase as slowly as possible. They must be patient at least for 12/14h before being able to attach a more regular flow, which is expected to start from 00/04 hours UTC on April 18th. The wind NE should always lie on average 12/14 knots with a burst associated with the passage of some squalls incursion due to cooler air. From then on the approach to Guadaloupe is faster and there is a convergence of this indication by all the major weather models. The concentration must be high today in what can be considered the most difficult step.

Feel Good has long been on the margins of the bubble to weak gradient and has accumulated a good advantage precisely in view of this transit. 

We are positive because despite this complicated phase Vittorio and Nico are able to keep sufficient pace that enables them to limit the loss of the advantage gained. Vittorio and Nico Malingri are part of the Citroën Unconventional Team (CUT), an extreme sports team that share a passion for high-adrenalin sports. 

Vittorio Malingri, a pioneer of ocean racing, and his son Nico, in double, intend to exceed the current primacy of the Dakar-Guadeloupe (now 11 days, 11 hours and 25 minutes held by the French navigators Pierre-Yves Moreau e Benoit Lequin), the most classic oceanic records of the class of F20 boats (formula 20’). 

The challenge is supported by Citroën, their main partner, and by OneSails, their technical partner. For more information on Team Malingri’s: team and boat, record, partners, and to follow the route in real time of Feel Good. 

To follow the adventures of CUT (Citroën Unconventional Team) adventures visit their website

https://www.vittoriomalingri.com/EN/index.html

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