Southern Ocean ice limit confirmed for Global Ocean Race Leg 2

On Sunday 27 November, the six double-handed Class40s in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR) will cross the start line of Leg 2 off the main harbour’s breakwater in Cape Town at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT). Ahead of the teams are 7,500 miles and approximately one month of racing through the high latitudes of the Indian Ocean before the fleet reaches the finish line off Wellington, New Zealand. Class40 racing yachts have proved to be tough, reliable and highly-competitive and the GOR’s Leg 1 from Palma, Mallorca, to the southern tip of Africa illustrated that skilled and experience crews with strong boats can judge how hard to push themselves and their boat without suffering catastrophic damage, serious injury or compromising performance.

The GOR fleet didn’t breeze through Leg 1 unscathed and severe sail damage was sustained by the majority of boats while buckled pulpits and pushpits and exploding blocks were common. However, close and exciting racing has to be balanced with the safety of the teams and the next leg of the 30,000-mile circumnavigation takes the fleet through some of the most remote and brutal sea areas on the planet, far from commercial shipping lanes and beyond the range of rapid-response rescue services.

Despite Class40’s impressive track record of safety and durability, the GOR Race Committee cannot be complacent, especially with the added risk of icebergs, ‘growlers’ and ‘bergy-bits’ drifting increasingly further north into the Indian Ocean from Antarctica and presenting a major threat to the GOR fleet on their classic circumnavigation route through the Southern Ocean. Consequently, the GOR’s Race Director, Josh Hall, and the GOR Race Committee have consulted with the teams and imposed a mandatory southern limit for Leg 2.

During the inaugural GOR in 2008-09, the Indian Ocean southern limit was at 50 degrees South and included non-scoring safety gates south of Australia, effectively pulling the fleet north from the desolate and demanding seas to the south. Despite rapid advances in satellite radar analysis, the sophisticated system cannot guarantee an early warning or a safe passage through the enormous expanse of the Southern Ocean. Earlier this year, during the double-handed, round-the-world Barcelona World Race, satellite radar located a massive field of ice south-west of Cape Town as the fleet of IMOCA Open 60s dropped down through the Atlantic.