Sharp, on his boat philsharpracing.com, now lies 120 miles ahead of Morvan and admitted he is very confident of a win.
‘Morvan will need to go twice my speed to beat me now,’ said the solo yachtsman.
Yesterday the light winds meant progress was slow, and Sharp admitted: ‘It was a frustrating day yesterday and at some points I was literally going nowhere, I had completely stopped, but Morvan is facing the same conditions so I’m happy with the progress I made.’ ‘It’s still very difficult in light winds because you have to really concentrate on picking up any bit of wind you can to give you some extra speed.’ With only 239 miles to the finish, the 25-year-old is looking forward to: ‘partying furiously, having my first beer, and a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese! ‘I’m also really looking forward to seeing Antigua later on today, I’ve only seen a couple of ships passing by and I can’t wait to see dry land again,’ he added.
With the prospect of winning now very real, Sharp confessed: ‘I still can’t quite believe I’m leading and going to win it; this win will put me in really good stead for the future sailing ambitions I have.’ Sharp is now estimating crossing the line tomorrow evening and is all set to become the first Brit since Ellen MacArthur to win in the Route du Rhum; although Sharp, tongue firmly in cheek, might have you believe that this is an easy title to gain: ‘Ellen MacArthur was sailing in a similar class but she only had around five competitors, there’s about twenty-five in mine!’
