With strong winds finally arriving, the frustrations of the first half of the 2011 Transatlantic Race can now be forgotten onboard Concise 2 as weather conditions improve to the level that their Class 40 boat needs to sail at her best. Despite light winds of little more than14 knots, including 12 hours of virtually no wind and two days of solid fog, the mood remains very positive on Concise.

Navigator Luke McCarthy says “as the first boat in the fleet to head north, it was always a concern if we’d made the right decision. Thankfully it was and resulted in substantial gains for us including more consistent winds and a better angle for our desired course.”

Concise have caught up with those boats from the first race start and are currently in the middle of the fleet. Most importantly they have a lead of more than 100 miles over their main competitor Class 40 boat Dragon.

Skipper Ned Collier-Wakefield says “we are in a cluster of boats, some which should be faster and some a little slower than us. This is all good though as it helps us to continue to push the boat hard and gauge our progress.”

Ned continues “of course in this race, the hunter becomes the hunted with the big boats having started! It has been frustrating to see them start in decent breeze and go on a blast reach straight down the course, which we’d so recently spent time running downwind in light winds or completely becalmed! The speeds of Rambler in particular however have been phenomenal.

With just over 1,300 miles to go until they reach the finish at the Lizard, Cornwall, the crew hope that the strong winds remain consistent so they can put Concise 2 through her paces and show just what a Class 40 boat can do!