Volvo Ocean Race- Dongfeng holds lead along Iranian Coast
by Sail-World on 7 Jan 2015
January 5, 2015. Leg 3 onboard Team SCA. Sally Barkow and Sara Hasrieter grind on the aft pedestal in one of Team SCA's gybes during the day. Volvo Ocean Race
http://www.volvooceanrace.com
Volvo Ocean Race update as of 0700 UTC on January 6, 2015:
Now past the Iranian exclusion zone and the light air of the Gulf, the Pakistani coast is delivering more consistent breezes. And consistent is not a word that has been used much on this leg so far.
Dongfeng has opened up more of a lead with a refreshing 15 knots under their wings. The fleet is slowly loosening up on the tight grip on each other with the widest spread so far of over 21 nautical miles between first and last.
But because of a high-pressure system just to the south of the fleet, they will stay north following the coast of Pakistan for now.
Teams are rejoicing in sailing in one direction for more than an hour. Up until now they have been making countless manoeuvres, gybe after gybe.
The higher winds mark a change from the light Gulf thermal conditions to the more established monsoon winds of India.
They will still need to gybe, as they will keep running up into land. But with more wind and less drifting, the sailors will be sleeping a little easier tonight as they get into a more predictable routine.
Weather forecast for January 6, 2015
1) High pressure cell (1020mb) over Oman with lower pressures in Pakistan today
2) This will favor a moderate westerly gradient wind offshore Pakistan today
a) This may turn a little onshore with thermal influence this afternoon
b) Strongest winds likely near shore with lighter winds 10+ miles offshore
3) Tonight as the fleet gets further E winds will clock more into the WNW and wind gradient may be somewhat stronger especially first half of the night
4) Wednesday the high cell shifts just offshore of Oman and weakens
a) Expect less breeze with direction more NW especially offshore
b) Some thermal influence turns winds into WNW pm near shore
5) Thursday with high pressure northern India and lower pressure southern India look for a freshening N-NNE monsoonal breeze heading down the W side of India
6) Satellite pictures do not show much in the way of cloudiness across the northern Arabian Sea
Leader: DFRT
Wind speed: knots 15 - 17
Boat speed SOG (15 mins): 14-16 knots
Wind direction: 284º - 294º
Lowest boat speed: SCA, (14knots)
Highest boat speed: DFRT, TBRU, ADOR (16 knots)
Lowest wind speed: MAPF, ALVI (15 knots)
Highest wind speed: TBRU, MAPF (17 knots)
Earlier at 1900 UTC on January 5, 2015, Volvo Ocean Race Control reported:
The fleet is tightly packed as they painstakingly head on a reach east, along the coast of Iran towards Pakistan. The southwesterly breeze varies from 6 to 10 knots.
Dongfeng are still out in front by 4.5 nautical miles, but have not managed to pull away as the back of the fleet pushes hard and catches up in the game of snakes and ladders with 'magic carpets' carrying boats back and forth.
A high-pressure system is just to the south of the fleet and hovers around the middle of the Arabian Sea. It forces the fleet to stay north following the coast. That’s until they get closer to Pakistan – or until the low moves east.
That said, the wind is forecast to build to around 10-15kts, which will be a welcome thing after the glassy flat seas they have been in for most of the day.
The big decisions coming up will be the gybe south. When to do this is something the three models on our routing have very different answers on.
The early gybe is an investment in getting south into the middle of the sea, where the wind is hopefully more predictable and eventually stronger.
Hug the shore, and you risk encountering fishing nets that have already caused a Dongfeng and a few other boats problems, but you could enjoy the potential of a thermal effect from the land.
Team SCA and MAPFRE battle it out at the back, neck and neck. Team Brunel and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are doing the same 3nm in front with Team Alvimedica sandwiched between and trying to gain distance forward in the group.
'Having boats around you keeps the focus high,' said Alvimedica’s OBR Amory Ross earlier today… this is true of all the teams seeing photos with all hands on deck and the intensity of being in a tight fleet with fickle wind.
Leader: DFRT
Wind speed: 7.5 knots
Boat speed SOG (15 mins): 11 knots
Wind direction: 218º
Lowest boat speed: SCA (7knots)
Highest boat speed: TBRU, DFRT (11 knots)
Lowest wind speed: ADOR, MAPF, SCA, ALVI (7 knots)
Highest wind speed: BRUN, DFRT (8 knots)
Fastest boat: 11 DFRT, TBRU
Earlier at 0900 UTC on January 5, 2015, Volvo Ocean Race Control reported:
We bet the Dongfeng crew is smiling right now… the Chinese boat turned a slight lead into a massive gain overnight, and they’re now more than 10 nautical miles ahead of the second boat, MAPFRE.
Why is that? Their 1nm lead yesterday night gave them an advantage when turning the southwest corner of the Iranian exclusion zone, and Charles Caudrelier’s men were the first ones to catch the new breeze when turning east.
With Dongfeng ahead, a fleet of five is fighting behind.
'We’re mixed up in a dogfight with everyone else where positions seem to change every several minutes depending on the tack and wind conditions,' blogged Matt Knighton this morning from Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, currently last.
'Early in the morning, we decided to take a quick, 20-minute tack away from the fleet and that turned out to be a big mistake as two boats passed us on the next crossing.'
Winds are now in the 7-knot range, which is significantly stronger than yesterday. But there are still lots of unpredictable wind shifts under the Gulf sunny, clear skies.
Looking ahead, a high-pressure system sits south of the Iranian and Pakistani coastline, and the boats will have to round it north. There is a new sea breeze to catch along these shores, followed by northeasterly winds.
We should therefore see more coastal action in the next days. And with some 300,000 fishing boats placed along the Indian coast, that should make for some interesting tactics.
Leader: DFRT
Wind speed: 4-7 knots
Boat speed SOG (15 mins): 8 knots DFRT
Wind direction: 73º to 91º
Lowest boat speed: SCA (2,7 knots)
Highest boat speed: DFRT (4,9 knots)
Lowest wind speed: MAPF and SCA (4 knots)
Highest wind speed: DFRT (8 knots)
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