Neutrogena will have to refrain from chasing Cheminées Poujoulat, an engine failure forced them to stop. It is the starter of the engine which does not work anymore and which forces the team to join an island of the South of New Zealand. The technical team is waiting for them there to repair. With no direct competitors, Jean Le Cam and Bernard Stamm began their return to Barcelona as lonely leaders and potential winners.
A mandatory technical stop for Neutrogena
This technical stop was directly imposed on the Neutrogena skippers, Guillermo Altadill and José Munoz, since New Zealand is the last land to welcome them before the 5500 miles crossing of the "liquid desert". However, since they have hydro-generators, it was unthinkable to start the Pacific crossing without being able to recharge the batteries of the electronic equipment and the desalinizer.
In their misfortune, it was at the moment when the Spanish crew encountered problems that the Franco-Swiss crew passed the 11,720 mile mark, on February 10, the theoretical middle of the round the world route. The skippers of Cheminées Poujoulat were keen to salute the wisdom of their toughest competitor " The conditions we have right now are very hard and it is difficult to continue with serious problems like those encountered by Guillermo and José. The Pacific Ocean is huge. It is necessary to have a vital minimum to navigate safely. Without energy, it is not the case. We are really sorry for them, but the road is long and when we know the fighting spirit of the Neutrogena crew, there is no doubt that they will come back to race hard, once their problem is solved. "
The outcome already known?
With the temporary withdrawal of their main competitor from the race, Cheminées Poujoulat is now the sole leader of the fleet. Positioned at the front of a front where the conditions are favorable for gliding, they are moving forward quickly. They broke their own speed record yesterday, with 482.5 miles covered at an average of more than 20 knots. In second place, GAES Centros Auditivos is 1,549 miles from the leader, a distance that will be difficult to catch up with� Unless they break down, the destiny of Jean Le Cam and Bernard Stamm will be decided�
