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Saturday, 23 May 2009 06:00 GMT
After a cold and fast week at sea, the fleet is rapidly approaching the finish of leg 7.
Low pressure continues to dominate the conditions; however, the winds are expected to decrease slightly, backing left as a ridge of high pressure fills over Ireland for the final approach to Galway.
Over the last 48 hours the fleet has sailed over 900 miles, crossing more than 10 degrees of latitude. Nevertheless, they have remained to the south of the large area of low pressure, with westerly winds filling behind the cold front, driving the fleet towards Galway. As expected, the teams have seen the sea state build to over 5m, with winds averaging nearly 30 knots.
Starting Friday evening the winds began to ease slightly, as the primary low moved off to the northeast and a secondary low developed to the southwest of the fleet. This secondary low is expected to move quickly northeast, driving a surge of stronger south-souwesterly winds early Saturday. Through the day Saturday, the winds are expected to back left, peaking out of the south as the pressure gradient builds between the ridge of high pressure filling north over Ireland and the new centre of low pressure moving east towards the fleet.
For now it looks like the teams will be able to stay just ahead of the surge of southerly flow. This means they will see slowly decreasing (from the low 20s to the low teens), slowly backing (souwesterly) winds, with an expected arrival sometime early Sunday.
The competition has remained tight throughout this leg and it is expected to get even tighter before the finish.
Jennifer LillyRace Meteorologist