Leg 2 - Kapstadt - Wellington - Start 28.November 2011
Tagesberichte siehe Menu unten
23 December 2011
Tasman Sea park-up
The park-up south of Tasmania continues for the leading double-handed, Global Ocean Race (GOR) Class40s with Cessna Citation and BSL grinding to a halt and Campagne de France swooping down from the north as Financial Crisis and Phesheya-Racing exit the Australian Ice Limit.
Since midday on Thursday, the speeds have tumbled at the front of the fleet as the leading Class40s ran into a large, windless zone 300 miles below Tasmania. Conrad Colman and Sam Goodchild, leading the fleet on Cessna Citation, were first into the Roaring Forties breeze vacuum and watched Ross and Campbell Field closing in. “Sadly, our prize for being in the lead has been to have it halved,” confirms Conrad Colman. “We were the first into the light winds but there’s no guarantee that we’ll be the first out,” he adds. Colman’s co-skipper is disappointed, but pragmatic: “For the first time in two weeks we’ve seen our average speed drop below ten knots,” reports Sam Goodchild.
Polling sub-six knot speed averages for 24 hours, the high pressure system blocking the GOR fleet’s path has at least brought fine weather after the succession of low pressure systems and cold fronts that have hammered the five boats. “The sun has been great,” comments Goodchild. “We now have the privilege of wearing dry clothing all the time as well as having a dry boat. On the other hand, we are now unfortunately learning, the hard way, the disadvantage of being at the front of the fleet.”
Without a boat in front to hint at the severity of the windless conditions, Cessna Citation piled into the high pressure dropping 40 miles in 24 hours to the chasing boats. “The weather situation is pretty complicated and we pick up a new file at least every 12 hours,” continues Goodchild. “We are struggling to see much consistency with our arrival date changing by days with each GRIB.” The weather forecasts arriving on Cessna Citation are not helpful. “I‘m starting to think that the files are coming from an art class somewhere and not a weather centre,” he says. “Every 12 hours there is a drawing competition for the Tasman Sea, a few pretty lines for isobars, scattered arrows, a splash of colour and bingo…a weather file.”
|
