17 February 2012
The battle for the lead heats up at 59S
Exceptional weather continues for the Global Ocean Race (GOR) leaders Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis below 56S, while Phesheya-Racing rapidly reduces the distance deficit as the South Africans drop deeper into the high latitudes following severe conditions.
At the front of the fleet, Conrad Colman and Adrian Kuttel on Cessna Citation and the Italian-Spanish duo of Marco Nannini and Hugo Ramon with Financial Crisis are confronted with very unusual weather as they close into 1,000 miles of Drake Passage and the Felipe Cubillos Cape Horn Gate. Centred approximately 370 miles south of the two Class40 at 63S, a high pressure system has formed and will gradually drift towards the boats, while 270 miles to the north, a low pressure system has formed. Sailing between the two systems, the net result for Cessna Citation and Financial Crisis is continued headwinds
At 02:00 GMT on Friday, Colman and Kuttel made a break for the north, tacking onto starboard with Cessna Citation, heading towards the low and tacking back to the south after six hours as stronger easterlies and south-easterly winds began at the bottom of the system. Meanwhile, Nannini and Ramon were dropping below 58S – below the latitude of Cape Horn. At 15:00 GMT on Friday, Financial Crisis had crossed 59S and was continuing deeper into the Southern Ocean with Antarctica 850 miles off the bow. “Although we are out of dense iceberg territory, a few bergs survive long into the summer and drift north towards our current position,” says Nannini of the iceberg sighting made by Colman and Kuttel late on Wednesday. “We are keeping a constant radar lookout and visually inspect the horizon regularly,” he explains. “So far, luckily I can only report an amazing setting of the moon during the night which lit beneath the layer of clouds with an incredible amber glow followed by a remarkable sunrise with spectacular colours in a very crisp morning.”
Averaging just over seven knots on Friday afternoon and trailing Cessna Citation by just seven miles, Nannini reported on the recent conditions: “We’re still facing very unusual and calm conditions, we haven't seen winds above ten knots for a few days now,” he says. “We’ve been flying our light winds sails typically reserved for the Doldrums rather than the high latitudes.” During the Wellington stopover, Nannini and Ramon had debated on sending their upwind Code 0 ahead to Punta del Este in the GOR’s shipping container and carrying an extra off wind sail instead. “Luckily we didn't as it would have been a disaster,” says the Italian skipper.
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