Wed, 16 Nov 2005 11:00:00 UTC
Between the afternoon poll yesterday and the 1000 poll today, the chasing pack has been nibbling away at the heels of the leader Brasil 1. All the boats are sailing due south in north easterly trade winds of the classic 15 to 18 knot variety.
During yesterday evening Brasil 1 put in a couple of gybes, taking them further to the west, but despite all their efforts and despite Neal McDonald’s frustrations, Ericsson is steadily closing them down.
At 1000 the order was Brasil 1 then Ericsson 13 miles back, next comes ABN AMRO ONE a further 12 miles adrift, followed by their twin five miles on their stern. Sunergy and Friends has cleared Madeira, but is suffering through having to make westing. Their boat speed is a healthy 15 knots, but their VMG is only eight as they are sailing well off the optimum track to the next mark.
Neal McDonald sent in this report from second place Ericsson, “Despite the results from race HQ putting us second overall behind the Brazilians we are desperately aware that we have not had a good day. From early dawn to late evening we were dogged by massive clouds, wind shifts and areas of little to no wind. We have worked hard to read the wind, trim the boat and avoid the worst of the clouds that normally bring no wind, but our efforts bring little reward. Some times the wind gods just don't shine on you.
“Four times a day we get the position of the other boats from RHQ - it’s like a little test every six hours. So far we have been out of sight of the other boats so we rely on these. Today was one of those days where I just dreaded the arrival of the position report -worse still recounting the results to the lads. If you have a light, frustrating day, however well you know you dealt with the conditions you had, you also know that at least one of the other boats will have simply had more wind - more wind means more speed and boy, in these boats a very small amount of extra wind means a big speed difference.”
Out to the west the ABN AMRO twins are sailing in the same groove in the ocean, both having gybed during yesterday afternoon and both now heading dead south. The weather maps show a little more pressure to the west and doubtless looking for pressure is the strategy of both Mike Sanderson and Sebastien Josse.
Mike Sanderson looks at the situation this way, “Over the past 24 hrs there has been a pretty big split in the fleet, The two ABN AMRO boats have basically just booted it out to the west, which has appeared as a big loss on distance to go to our first gate of the race at Fernando, but if our plan comes to fruition it will take us a few days to get those miles back with interest. The reason I know this is Seb’s big picture plan over there on ABN AMRO 2 is because it was what we have been talking about for the last month as we have been slowly winding up for this first leg.
"Ericsson is generally picking her way down the middle, and then Brazil 1 seems to be generally on the gybe that is taking her closer to the gate, but historically this tactic leaves her a little too far east, however it is a gamble which seems to be paying off at the moment.
We won’t really know the whole picture for a few days yet as we make our way south into the warmer weather. On that note it has been amazing how much quicker it has warmed up during this race due to us starting further south, having faster boats and having a blisteringly fast race pace to start with. Tomorrow will be a full on shorts and T-shirt day.
Today has been a tricky day, dealing with massive clouds that can have anything from three to 30 knots of wind, as well as 50 degree wind shifts. We haven’t had the best day of the race today; mentally I think that we are all a bit too tired to have done a really nice job of it, but no excuses, the boat is pretty much back in one piece, we have stuck to our plan tactically, which I am happy with, and now it’s just a matter of sailing the boat hard and hopefully see a little more of some “Black Betty” speed.
WEATHER
The wind and weather will be the major factor in tactics, but selecting the right place to cross the doldrums will also be worrying the navigators. Chris Bedford gives this weather bulletin, “With their eyes now squarely on the doldrums, the leading pack of four boats are solidly in the tradewinds. Brasil 1, Ericsson, ABN AMRO ONE and ABN AMRO TWO are enjoying 15 knots northeast winds and will continue in these conditions for the next couple of days.
The main decision onboard is where to cross the doldrums - the light wind zone which lies between the current positions of the boats and the scoring gate. Currently, the northern edge of the doldrums is at about 7 deg north at the yachts current longitude (between 27W and 30W). The doldrums are wide at the moment, extending south to about 2 or 3 deg north latitude. In this zone between two and seven north latitude; winds are ten knots or less and there are some scattered showers.
The Doldrums are, however, forecast to narrow with a nice crossing zone around 30W at about 05N. The boats will need to be quick to get there as showers and thunderstorms will start to close in on this zone in about three days. Sunergy and Friends will have some time to watch how the lead boats fare through the doldrums, hoping to pick up some information on what path is most likely to provide benefit.
At the moment, it looks like the lead pack will make it through the doldrums before this lane closes up. But the crews will be very aware that one unluckily placed squall or thunderstorm could leave a calm zone in its wake and close the lane. They will be glued to the satellite pictures coming in every six hours from race headquarters and their onboard radars, hoping to wind their way between any landmines that may lie in their path.