Volvo Ocean Race - Mark Chisnell - A Tale of Two Race Tracks

by Mark Chisnell on 7 Jun 2015 Top Volvo Ocean Race correspondent, navigator and sailing analyst, Mark Chisnell writes a regular report for B&G on the current race and trends he sees developing. This week he previews Leg 8.

Mark Chisnell – Leg 8 Preview – A Tale of Two Race Tracks

The first of the two European legs that will conclude this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is 647 nautical miles long. Apart from the corner on the north-western tip of Spain, it’s a straight-line drag race north from Lisbon, Portugal to Lorient, France – in fact, the course splits quite neatly into two sections pivoting around that corner.
The first section will be a coastal race northwards from Lisbon to Cape Finisterre and the north-west corner of Spain. After rounding this famous headland, the fleet will head off on the second section; across the Bay of Biscay, aiming for Lorient, which sits just short of the north-west tip of Brittany and France. The Bay of Biscay can be as rough a piece of water as you will get anywhere in the world, and this second half of the leg will be much more like an open ocean race than the coastal-orientated first section.
So, given that the 24-hour record for these boats is 550.82 nautical miles, no one will be expecting Leg 8 to last more than a couple of days. Of course, that record was set by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on the approach to Cape Horn, and we aren’t expecting conditions quite like that…

It’s All About the Weather
There’s not much point talking about climate zones when we’re looking at a 647nm drag race. This one will be all about the weather on the day and – although I’m writing this five days out – I think we already have some sense of how this is going to shape up.
Anyone residing in Northern Europe is probably aware that we’re currently experiencing a rather brisk phase of June weather – that’s polite talk for… we’re getting the living daylights beaten out of us by low pressure systems. The good news is that the one going through today and tomorrow is the last for a while.

The Azores High will soon reassert itself and start to push north. The next couple of lows that come spinning across the Atlantic will be much weaker, and they won’t be able to push the high pressure aside to reach the Atlantic coast of mainland Europe. Cue the much heralded but rarely seen British heatwave. Or not.

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