Volvo Ocean Race - bouncing along the barbed wire fence
by Volvo Ocean Race on 27 Mar 2015
March 22, 2015. Leg 5 to Itajai onboard Team SCA. Carolijn Brouwer, Elodie Mettraux and Sophie Ciszek. Team SCA has been followed by an albatross couple the whole day. Anna-Lena Elled/Team SCA
Another sleepless night for most of the fleet. As the girls on Team SCA had no choice but to take a less-is-more approach to navigate the ice limit, the rest of the fleet has been caught up in a gybing battle the whole way between the ice limits #7 and #8, bouncing along the virtual barbed wire fence.
With less gybes, less stacking and more time to focus on sailing fast, the magenta boat has made some good gains around the outside of the fleet’s path.
They now sit only 40 nautical miles behind the Spanish boat Mapfre, where as this morning they were over 90nm behind the next boat.
With 125nm until ice limit #8, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing was the first boat to leave the line and head east-north-east, making a break in the longest stint with no manoeuvre in 12 hours.
The current routing with the American model shows an option to sail due east from this ice limit #8. But the European models are showing the fleet should sail a course VMG downwind following the virtual line south. This is also the shortest orthodromic route taking them to Cape Horn – at least for the next three days.
The wind has decreased slightly over the last 24 hours and this looks set to hold at the 12-14 knot range for the next few days. Another strong westerly wind should follow, which could help Team SCA catch up again…
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