Volvo Ocean Race- Team SCA expected to cop 50kts approaching Cape Horn
by Volvo Ocean Race on 29 Mar 2015
Onboard Team SCA - Liz Wardley at the helm - Leg five to Itajai - Volvo Ocean Race 2015 Anna-Lena Elled/Team SCA
The fleet has its foot to the floor, ears pinned back and heads down racing as fast as they can to Cape Horn after separating from the ice limit.
The boats have now gybed their last gybe and stacked their last stack and, hopefully, had their last broken watch break to help out with manoeuvres.
Mapfre, who were middle of the pack, have worked north to the top of the three-boat pack made up of Dongfeng Race Team, Team Alvimedica and themselves, while Team Brunel have stayed with them but just behind.
Since gybing where there was only a 3nm separation from the fleet, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have worked south.
There is now 15nm of separation from the next boat above them, Team Brunel, and 22nm north to south from Mapfre.
Team SCA with no fractional gennaker after damaging it earlier this week, are suffering for speed and angle and, with reduced routing options, will continue to fall behind the pack now.
They are now 253.5 nm adrift, losing 14nm in the last three hours. They are using the smaller J1 jib, not the right sail for these conditions nor with the ideal angle.
The pack can sail deeper and faster at 25 knots to the Horn, with Team SCA only managing an average of 16 knots. More concerning for Team SCA is the incoming cold front that they need to outrun. Winds of up to 50 knots and waves of 20-30 feet are likely.
It is unclear at the moment how close the fleet will sail to the land as they round Cape Horn.
The good news is that the leaders are looking good to pass the Cape in daylight. Team SCA will pass at least 12 hours after that. Full on conditions will continue through Wednesday and probably beyond.
It will be a very rough rounding of Cape Horn.
Synopsis
1) Full on conditions will continue through Wednesday and probably beyond - it will be a very rough rounding of Cape Horn
2) Cold front will be moving quickly west to east thru the fleet today - strongest winds will be NW and WNW preceding the cold front - winds will be a bit lighter and more W after the front passes, but any diminishing winds will last only 6-9 hours
3) Cold fronts and weather systems will be moving very fast from west to east the next four to five days - strong W and NW winds will return to SCA tonight and the whole fleet tomorrow - wind gusts to 50 kts are likely and we could see 60 during Monday - don’t think the cold front moving thru the fleet Monday afternoon and night will bring any significant relief
4) More strong W and NW winds Tuesday
5) A gale will develop near 52-53/102-104w Monday night and will be 976mbs by 1200utc Tuesday. At 1200utc Tuesday, the gale will be located near 52-53s/91-93w - this gale could pass N of Cape Horn late Tue night/Wednesday, which means we could see very strong N winds from the Straits of Lemaire northward Tuesday night and Wednesday
Today's weather
1) Full on wind and sea conditions
2) Strong cold front near 60s/90w to 55s/97w to 51s/100w at 1200 UTC on Sunday
3) W/NW winds 30-40+ kts for the fleet and gusts/squalls 50 kts preceding the cold front - winds become more W or even WSW at 25-35 for a few hours after the front passes by
4) Large seas, up to 20-30 feet are likely
5) Strong W and WNW winds will return for Team SCA tonight
Leader: ALVI
Wind speed: 25-28 knots
Boat speed SOG (15 mins): 16.1-21.5 knots
Wind direction: 309º - 318º
Lowest boat speed: SCA1 (16.1 knots)
Highest boat speed: ADOR (21.5 knots)
Lowest wind speed: ALVI, DFRT (25 knots)
Highest wind speed: MAPF (28 knots)
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