VolvoOceanRace starts a route through Cyclone Alley.

VolvoOceanRace Teams enjoy a welcome Christmas Holiday in Melbourne. However soon the rest is over and a New Leg 4, from Melbourne to Hong Kong, will start on Tuesday 2nd January in the NewYear at 03:00 UTC or 1400 local. 

VOR Leg 4 Melbourne - Hong Kong

 This is a new route in the VOR, so there is no previous history as to which route is the fastest. The navigators will have a major role in establishing that fastest route for themselves. 

Different from Leg 3 with steady Lows pushing the Boats from West to East in cold conditions, this Leg 4 will have a lot and I mean a lot of surprises but for sure will bring higher Temperatures!

Starting from Melbourne they will most likely sail along the SE coast of Australia towards the Coral sea. This region can bring wind calms, but also depressions and on top of that the Coral sea has some shallows from the coral islands.

Cyclones might be the biggest surprises and this season those Cyclones are very active as the Philippines is suffering a lot . Escaping this and sailing pass and alongside many land masses on the Solomon islands the Trade winds will be welcomed . Than the Doldrum will be waiting for them, around the Equator. These Doldrums could be a lot nastier than the easy ones, the fleet encountered in the Atlantic.
Once through the Doldrums the Easterly Trade winds will bring a welcome nice fast sailing towards the NE monsoon. That monsoon is feared by the fleet, as some versions have seen many boat damages in heavy wind and sea conditions. But, these NE winds are predicted to have a fast approach to HongKong in NW direction.

As  normal, I expect a life broadcasting of the starters circuit. I have not seen the map for the circuit yet, but that will be shown here asap it is available.

Here is a map for the start parcours in Melbourne

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Mapfre is Winner in VolvoOceanRace Leg 3.

Mapfre is the big Winner in the VolvoOceanRace (VOR) Leg 3 starting in Cape Town and finishing on 24 December in Melbourne.

Mapfre wins VOR Leg 3

Leg 3 was an intense route with overall good winds, but mostly governed by a rather far Northerly Ice exclusion zone, that during the race even got extended further North, around the Kerguelen islands. 

As expected, sailing far South paid off and some nice low pressure systems with sometimes heavy winds, allowed boats to hook on and ride the storm to bring them to the West. The first storm was too fast and overtook the fleet, that had to jump on the next weather systme. 
Mapfre, managed to stay close to the leader Dongfeng for 80% of the distance, only to pass them later on, using a less optimale route choice of Dongfeng. Once in front Mapfre had only one target , Victory in Melbourne. Congrats.

Dongfeng as said, sailed in the lead for most of the Leg, but got passed in the latter phase. Ultimately, Dongfeng got some scary moment, looking over their shoulders to the chasers Vestas and Brunel, as the Keel ram on Dongfeng brought problems. However, they managed to secure the keel and take the 2nd Place in Melbourne.

Vestas and Brunel fought side by side for most of the Leg, missing out on the finesses of sailing to Mapfre and Dongfeng. They had a kind of battle, but Vestas was mostly in the lead. Vestas indeed is the first Boat that has benefitted from their period in stealth mode, to continue a decent lead on Brunel to finish 3rd with Brunel in 4th place.

The other 3 Boats are still battle for the 5th place in Melbourne.

 Melbourne will be a short stop over, with only limited options for repairs on the Boats and no In-Port Race. 

Leg 4 from Melbourne to HongKong will start on 2nd January 2018 at 3:00 UTC. 


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A stormy start of VolvoOceanRace Leg 3

A strong SE wind is expected for the Start of the VolvoOceanRace (VOR) Leg 3 from Cape Town to Melbourne. This is called The Cape Doctor, a wind that strikes over the Table Mountain and is strong as it accelerate between the different mountains particularly for this wind direction. [it is called the doctor, as it cleans the city of the bad air pollution]

Cape Town Start circuit Leg 3

The Start circuit looks rather short, so the Boats will in no time have left Cape Town to look for the best routes through the Southern Ocean. The Boats will be eager to win this one, as the winner will most likely be the first to turn East around Cape of Good Hope towards the Finish, where for this Leg the Winner gets double points.

The Start will be broadcasted live on the VOR Website, from about 11:50 UTC onwards. 

Dongfeng wins Cape Town In-Port Race with confidence

The wind for the In-Port Race in Cape Town was good for delivering an outstanding race. The winds were strong, and  not too shifty as feared, just a little that brought the icing on the cake.

close battles in Cape Town In-Port race.

 The Boats started well , except for Mapfre that made a terrible bad start with even a tack ahead of the start line before crossing it as last Boat.
Vestas was leading after the start, shortly followed by Dongfeng, Akzo and Brunel. 
However Vestas did not get a proper furl halfway the race ,which bite them later as their A3 sail did not open properly on the last leg. This caused them to loose 2 positions in the End.

Dongfeng made a steady gain by clean strategic optimal sailing and took the lead halfway, not to let it slip till Victory was theirs.

Mapfre gained also  steady and in the end could climb to the 2nd place , closely followed by AkzoNobel. 

Clean Seas sailed a solid race, starting well but falling back a little, but could just stay ahead of Brunel, that had a strong last leg. 
Brunel started well, but got in a battle situation with HunSungKai,  which led to a penalty for the last Boat, but maybe also disadvantaged Brunel.

Now the Boats have a day to prepare for the long Leg 3 to Melbourne, through the Southern Oceans, with traditional strong, stormy winds and huge waves. 

Start for Leg 3 in Cape Town on Sunday 10 December , 1200 UTC.

VOR continues with Cape Town In-Port Race

Friday 8th December at 1200 UTC, the VolvoOceanRace (VOR) will continue with a short In-Port race in Cape Town. 
The wind forecast indicates a South--South-East wind of about 10Kts, which would allow for a nice challenging race. However it might be a little flaky as the wind will approach from over the city and the Table mountain. Strategy might thus be important for taking advantages , where it can be done.

Cape Town In-Port race parcours

As normal, the race is expected to be shown live on the internet , just keep an eye on the VOR website.

The Boats, that had arrived without major damage in Cape Town, have all been out of the water for a thorough inspection before starting the adventure of Leg 3 through the Southern Ocean towards Melbourne. Expect the Boats in top condition, whereas the sailors have had a nice rest to be as fit as possible, to battle it out again.


Prepare yourselves for the Leg 3 start on Sunday  10 December at 1200 UTC.