Wednesday 21 February 2018

VolvoOceanRace brings surprises in un-expected winds



Leg 6 brings all except what could be expected and just this makes up for an interesting race classification day-by-day.

I have seen every Boat, except Dongfeng, in the lead at one day or more in Leg 6. Skippers must feel the joy one day and the frustration the other day, especially if their detailed prepared navigation plan does not brings the expected gain, because the wind has shifted and thrown all sailing theories overboard.

Whereas at one time the 2nd Doldrums looked to be an easy passage, once sailing into it, suddenly it was tremendous large and brought un-expected transfer of the lead in this Leg.





tracks 21 Feb

at this moment, 21 February 600 GMT, Turn the Tide on  Plastic is in the lead, followed by Brunel. The long time front runners, HunSungKai and AkzoNobel, demoted to 3rd and 4th at some 30Nm; While Dongfeng and Mapfre seems forgotten for this leg at the back end at 100 Nm. They looks to sailing against each other rather than participating in 6 Boat Leg 6 sailing race to Auckland.

The recent cycolone Gita, has shaken the windsystems and nothing is like expected. The navigators will have a hard job to find the fastest route to Auckland.

Fair winds to All.