Oceanracing 2002 - Around Alone

Betreff: OCEAN'S ELEVEN SPLIT AS THE LADY DIVES SOUTH
Absender: "Aroundalone"
Empfänger: redaktion@segel.de
Datum: 26. Dec 2002 18:49

OCEAN'S ELEVEN SPLIT AS THE LADY DIVES SOUTH
Southampton, England Â– 26th December: Christmas has come and gone for the Around Alone fleet and itÂ’s back to the business of racing. There is a complex weather pattern approaching and it has split the boats in their tactics. A low pressure system has developed North of 40 degrees, quite far to the west. The low is tracking to the east, forecast to pass over the Kerguelens, bringing with it the usual gale force winds and squalls. Keep North of the lows and South of the highs is the golden rule if you want favourable winds, but this is not easy at the moment. All the yachts must pass north of Latitude 46S between Longitudes 105 and 120E to bring them in range of Australian SAR services, which gives them another tactical consideration. The weather files are also sending mixed messages on the development of the low, all of which has divided the skippers in their choice of options.

Die Positionen zu Weihnachten
vergrößern

In Class 1, 9 degrees in Latitude separates the m ost Northerly boat, Ocean Planet, from the most Southerly, Pindar. Front runners Bernard Stamm on Bobst Group-Armor Lux and Thierry Dubois on Solidaires find themselves in a peculiar position sailing in very light flukey airs in the Southern Ocean. Dubois echoes StammÂ’s thoughts in his log: Â“We had to opt for a progressive climb to the North as the virtual waypoint constrains us from dipping too far South and itÂ’s not easy to take a hard left at the lights! WeÂ’re caught in a transition zone, so the boats behind will get the Westerlies before us and the fleet will bunch up again soon.Â”
Emma Richards enjoyed some warm Christmas cheer but has chosen the coldest route to pull herself up the rankings. She is clocking the fastest average boat speed of 12 knots in 15 Â– 20 knots of consistent westerly breeze, which is only to be found right down around 52 degrees South: Â“Dived way south over th e last day to try avoid this no wind zone that is just north of me, this was the decision made just over 24 hours ago and at the moment still looks in my favour, the next few days will tell!Â”
Bruce Schwab made a bold move to the north, however no sooner than he had taken the decision, the weather files changed and the lower edges of the high pressure he was heading towards simply vanished from the pattern. "Just call me a fool for believing bogus grib (weather) files," he wrote. "I expect to lose heaps of miles in the next few days." Schwab and RichardsÂ’ four rivals ahead have slowed to 4 Â– 9 knots for now as they retain the higher boat speeds, but which option will pay dividends in the long run?
In Class 2, leader Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America and the rest of his competitors, have all opted for the Northerly route like Schwab, and will touch Northerly winds in the next 24hrs as they pass above the Kerguelens. Back marker Alan Paris on BTC Velocity expressed the general concern in his Christmas Day report: " I was going to go South but the low pressure system which was passing to the North of us is now headed right for us. Time for evasive action! So I am headed directly north to try to get north of the low in time. This is critical, otherwise it 35 - 40 knots on the nose, bad at the best of times, really bad down here!Â”
And finally Â– thought for the day from Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi, who has had to resort to pumping priming water into his engine to make it work Â– an unenviable task in 30/40 knots of constant blow and when you can see your breath inside the cabin: Â“I see albatross and other small birds flying at ease. Why is it that when I am working so hard, the birds are happily jumping in the waves and gliding along the wind? I hope I can feel like them soon!Â”

POSITIONS AT 14:00GMT 26th DECEMBER 2002
Track the Around Alone fleet with Raytech Navigator 4.1 Â– go to www.aroundalone.com positions page and follow the link at the top of the chart.
Class 1
Boat Time Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF
1. Bobst Group-Armor Lux 46 46.048 S 99 49.552 E 92.49 nm 11.56 kt 51 Â°T 3589.17 nm
2. Solidaires 47 03.600 S 93 37.200 E 56.81 nm 7.11 kt 88 Â°T 3843.18 nm
3. Hexagon 48 17.059 S 84 35.007 E 38.53 nm 4.81 kt 83 Â°T 4204.26 nm
4. Tiscali 50 04.432 S 80 46.288 E 62.11 nm 7.75 kt 121 Â°T 4349.15 nm
5. Pindar 52 45.036 S 79 15.408 E 87.22 nm 10.91 kt 140 Â°T 4409.75 nm
6. Ocean Planet 43 49.000 S 78 08.072 E 86.71 nm 10.85 kt 81 Â°T 4517.96 nm

Class 2
Boat Time Lat Lon AvgBsp Avgheading DTF
1. Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America 43 07.288 S 74 32.576 E 81.46 nm 10.18 kt 81 Â°T 4679.52 nm
2. Everest Horizontal 45 33.460 S 64 10.010 E 45.78 nm 5.73 kt 112 Â°T 5054.11 nm
3. Spirit of Canada 44 18.456 S 64 08.144 E 73.25 nm 9.17 kt 58 Â°T 5080.32 nm
4. Spirit of yukoh 44 42.096 S 60 59.100 E 56.34 nm 7.05 kt 21 Â°T 5198.22 nm
5. BTC Velocity 42 51.048 S 56 04.036 E 46.53 nm 5.82 kt 28 Â°T 5437.60 nm

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