While the Mediterranean
is often thought of as being a place of balmy nights and warm
evenings, that isn't necessarily the case in the autumn and
the fleet could well face gales as they leave Alicante on Saturday,
due to the autumn equinox. There is low pressure sitting to
the south and north-west of Alicante, and high pressure to
the north-east and south-west. That leaves the race course
vulnerable to whichever system develops more strongly over
the next three days.
At the moment, it is possible that the north-east to easterly wind currently
battering the race village will ease going into Saturday, giving 20 knots
for the start with spinnakers flying on a downwind leg, and there is
a good chance the wind will ease as the fleet approaches Gibraltar.
In a perfect world, once out into the Atlantic the fleet would find the
trade winds - the north-easterly breeze that runs from Portugal down
the west coast of Africa - blowing strongly to take them down to the
Doldrums, but much will depend on the position of the Azores High - a
large high pressure area named after the island chain it typically squats
on.
It determines the position of the trade winds and there is the danger
that the fleet will find itself struggling in the Horse Latitudes of
the Azores High. Desperate square rigger skippers, trapped in the light
wind and heaving, oily seas that characterize this part of the Atlantic,
would throw their horses overboard to save food and water for their crew,
hence the name Horse Latitudes.
Once heading south, the fleet will have to make a decision on where and
how to pass the Canary and Cape Verde Islands. If they get too close,
particularly at night, they could find themselves trapped in the lee
of one of these high islands with no wind. But, equally, during the day
the islands can create useful sea breezes.
When the fleet reaches the Doldrums, (also known as the inter-tropical
convergence zone or ITCZ), the priority will be to choose the thinnest
point to cross them, which is usually to the west. The crews will need
to anticipate the cloud's behaviour, and change the trim of the boat
and her sails fast to keep moving south to escape.
According to the navigator on Ericsson 4, Jules Salter (GBR), the Doldrums
should be narrower by the time the fleet arrives there in two weeks time. "We
are in a transition in the weather in the northern hemisphere, changing
from summer to winter. I think that in turn is reflected in the Doldrums
and it should be an easier zone to cross," he explains.
But, once into the south-east trade winds, it will be champagne sailing
until the fleet meets the next hurdle - the South Atlantic High. It blocks
the route to the south, but, with the first of seven scoring gates on
this 37,000 nm course at Fernando de Noronha, off the Brazilian coast,
the fleet will already find itself to the west and will try to look for
weather systems forming off the coast of Brazil to help them on their
way.
Then the fleet will head south in search of the low pressure systems
that roll unremittingly from west to east around Antarctica. They may
well find themselves in Southern Ocean conditions with big waves, big
westerly breezes and cold air. Cape Town lies at 34S, and the Southern
Ocean is usually thought to start at 40S - the Roaring Forties of legend.
The final barrier to Cape Town is the Cape itself. It is a renowned sticky
spot of calms and light wind which historically dominate the final approach.
There are a lot of miles to go before the fleet arrives in Cape Town,
but one point worth noting is that traditionally in this race, the winner
of the first leg, almost always wins the race.
The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 is the 10th running of this ocean marathon.
It started from Alicante in Spain, on 4 October 2008 with an in-port
race. Leg One from Alicante to Cape Town will start on 11 October and
the course will, for the first time, take in Cochin, India, Singapore
and Qingdao, China before finishing in St Petersburg, Russia for the
first time in the history of the race. Spanning some 37,000 nautical
miles, stopping at 11 ports and taking nine months to complete, the Volvo
Ocean Race is the world's premier yacht race for professional racing
crews.
Volvo Ocean Race Leaderboard
1. Telefónica Blue (Bouwe Bekking/Iker Martinez) 4 points
2. Telefónica Black (Fernando Echávarri) 3.5 points
3. Puma Il Mostro (Ken Read) 3 points
4. Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) 2.5 points
5. Green Dragon (Ian Walker) 2 points
6. Delta Lloyd (Ger O'Rourke) 1 point
7. Ericsson 3 (Anders Lewander) 0.5 points*
8. Team Russia (Andreas Hanakamp) 0.5 points
*One point has been deducted from the Ericsson 3 score as per the jury
decision number JN04 2 October.
Visit
www.volvooceanrace.org for
all the latest news!
