Team SCA and Vestas Wind cross the fleet on Leg 8 - Volvo Ocean race
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com NZL on 10 Jun 2015
June 09, 2015. Team SCA passing by Costa da Morte - Coast of Death - in Spanish waters during Leg 8 to Lisbon. Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race
Team SCA has crossed ahead of the chasing fleet at the latest sked at 0030hrs UTC on June 10.
According to the Predictwind routing, showing the optimum route to finish, the womens crew have about 20 hours to sail to the finish in Lorient, assuming race organizers do not extend the course.
Team SCA holds a lead of almost an hour over Team Vestas Wind which retains second place on the water,
Team Vestas wind in turn is expected to finish 30 minutes ahead of the overall leader, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing which is in third place on the water.
Winds in the area are still averaging 27kts gusting to 35kts, according to a customised weather forecast source set up in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, using another feature of Predictwind. A second wind location off the finish line in Lorient, shows that winds are expected to stay moderate to strong to the race finish.
Withe race being all upwind to the finish, and with Team SCA having a dominant position on the race course, there are few passing lanes. The biggest threat to an historic victory by Team SCA is gear failure, which can happen to any of the seven boat fleet.
The course routing shows the boats taking long tacks to Lorient, and to date the seven yachts in the race have been following routes similar to that produced by Predictwind.
About Predictwind:
Developed by former Olympian, Jon Bilger (470, 1992), PredictWind application was used by the Swiss team Alinghi to win the 2003 and 2007 America's Cups, and has become the leading wind system used by racing and recreational sailors around the world. It is available on a subscription basis and also with a free forecast option.
A mobile app for Android and iPhone is available and www.predictwind.com!PredictWind is available for download
Real time local wind observations have been added as further functionality.
You can check the weather anywhere in the world, and get a five-day forecast, plus a variety of other features and functions of www.predictwind.com!PredictWind. The app is synchronised with your PC so that your latest set of locations are always available without resetting each time you change a device
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