Volvo Ocean Race - Significant gains back in past 12 hours
by Volvo Ocean Race on 28 Apr 2015
Onboard Team SCA – Libby Greenhalgh and Sam Davies watch AIS and the weather files to determine the best plan of action - Leg six to Newport – Volvo Ocean Race 2015 Corinna Halloran / Team SCA
2014 - 15 Volvo Ocean Race - Time to start talking up the big split again! The past 12 hours have seen Team SCA make significant gains back on the fleet. The question is, will it be a short-term gain or will it play out sticking to the west side of the pack all the way through the North American Basin?
The high pressure currently spanning from Spain halfway across the Atlantic Ocean to the south Caribbean has limited the routing options to ether the direct path from their current location to Newport or hugging the coast and even sailing through the Windward Islands inside the Caribbean Sea.
This could open up all sorts of options weaving in and out of the Islands, with plenty of opportunity for big gains and losses.
For now it looks like they have opted to go offshore, missing the Guiana current acceleration and heading directly towards the finish in Newport at 20 knots.
Dongfeng Race Team has been hemorrhaging miles all day and is currently only 1.5 nautical miles ahead of Mapfre.
Interesting times ahead as a lot more options are available than previously in this leg.
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