After a fast and furious opening to Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race,
the fleet is settling into a groove on Monday, with navigators and
skippers already facing the first of many critical decisions on this
race from Lisbon to Cape Town. Today will give us the first indication as to how far west the teams want to set up for their approach to the doldrums.
“We’re planning another gybe to the west to take advantage of the
shifts,” explained Juan Vila, the navigator on MAPFRE this morning with
his boat charging south. And soon enough, the Spanish team made the right turn and as of 13:00
was the second furthest to the west. Only Dongfeng had hit the west
more aggressively. “There’s a massive, multi-hundred mile long wind shadow behind
Madeira so we don’t want to end up downwind of it," explains Turn the
Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari.
"And if we go further south, towards the Canary Islands, there’s a
potential low pressure system that could be trouble. All routing has us
headed west of Madeira.” Earlier today, Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag skipper David Witt and
navigator Steve Hayles appeared to have a contrary view, charging to the
south and positioned as the eastern most boat in the fleet. But shortly
after the 13:00 UTC position report, they too gybed, and are still set
up to pass - just - north of Madeira.
The boats are sailing into familiar territory as Porto Santo, one of
the Madeira Islands, was a mark of the course on Leg 1. But on this leg,
the teams can leave the island group to either side. They should pass
the islands this evening UTC.
“We’re keeping our options open,” said Simon Fisher, navigator for
Vestas 11th Hour Racing. “We saw MAPFRE a little earlier and Dongfeng as
well and we know they appear to be going west… Big picture, the idea is
to get west being mindful that it is a 20-day leg, and we want to keep
tabs on the fleet so some of this is fleet management as well as
weather, so we’ll be watching the next few skeds closely.”
Today's tactical game follows a relentless opening day of racing,
with winds over 30-knots on the first night at sea, and a heavy ocean
swell of 4-metres. Sam Greenfield, reporting from Turn the Tide on Plastic filed this report early in night one: "Saw some crazy things today. A wave threw Bianca off the stack and
into the cockpit while she was clipped in. So much water that her PFD
inflated. There she was trapped on her back in the cockpit, stuck by her
tether taking hundreds of gallons of water to the face. It was scary to
watch." Liz got to her quickly and sorted her out.
"I don't know how they do it on deck in these conditions. When I got
down after shooting my mouth was full of salt and my hands were shaking
too much to type. I don't have words to describe the caliber of (people)
I'm surrounded by on this boat."
At this point in Leg 2, it is important to understand the tracker
rankings do not account for tactical positioning. Instead, the tracker
rewards southerly progress towards Cape Town. Boats positioned further
south (and east), will be ranked higher, even if the tactical situation
favours the west.
Leg 2 – Position Report – Monday 6 November (Day 2) – 13:00 UTC
1. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag -- distance to finish – 4,723.5 nautical miles
2. team AkzoNobel +5.4
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +14.1
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic +14.9
5. Team Brunel +27.7nm
6. MAPFRE + 35.2nm
7. Dongfeng Race Team +51.2
2. team AkzoNobel +5.4
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing +14.1
4. Turn the Tide on Plastic +14.9
5. Team Brunel +27.7nm
6. MAPFRE + 35.2nm
7. Dongfeng Race Team +51.2
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