Grant Dalton
If it were up to the New Zealander, the crew of the Leverkusen yacht could look forward to the start on Sunday in a relaxed manner. “It's just a race for second, third and fourth place,” said Dalton. So much can happen …
"Illbruck" leads the overall ranking with 41 points ahead of "AssAbloy" (34), "Amer Sports One" (32) and "News Corp" (31). The connection still holds "Tyco" with 27 points. What Grant Dalton describes as a straightforward matter that would only remain exciting if the fight for the places made it, however, can very quickly become a thriller. Should the “illbruck” fail in the next stage due to damage or, contrary to expectations, sail badly and come in last place, “AssAbloy” could draw level. "Illbruck" (+1) and the Swedes (+8) would then each have 42 points. How fast it can crack on board was shown by the various damage in the past stages, teams even had to give up three times ("Tyco" 1x, "SEB" 2x). The seventh stage in particular, over 3,400 nautical miles across the North Atlantic, offers many opportunities for Bruch. In addition to strong winds, the crews are confronted with icebergs for the second time in this race. The reports from the various ice observation stations have seen the so-called growlers more south than 40 degrees north on the east coast of Newfoundland. So you would be in the middle of the course of the fleet. Because of the dangers during the fourth stage, when the fleet sailed through ice fields and "News Corp" touched a growler at full speed, the race management is now considering changing the course. "Between 51 and 45 degrees west, the boats will have to stay below 40 degrees north," said Race Director Michael Woods. The race management wants to set GPS waypoints for this. The decision is still provisional and will be confirmed or revoked by Saturday at the latest.
