VOR to resume with new Leg Four - Melbourne to Hong Kong
by John Curnow and VOR 31 Dec 2017 15:03 PST
Leg Four - Melbourne to Hong Kong © Volvo Ocean Race
Leg Four of the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race begins tomorrow, January 2, 2018 at 1400hrs AEDT (UTC +11). The start will be in the vicinity of Station Pier, where so many migrants arrived in the 50's and today serves as the jumping off point for the Spirit of Tasmania passenger and car ferry service. The fleet will do a loop in Hobsons Bay at the top of Port Phillip, before making for the turning mark just in front of Mornington Pier, and then continue down the Southern Channel and out into Bass Strait proper.
Latest forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology indicates, "South to southwesterly about 10 knots increasing to 15 to 25 knots in the afternoon and evening." It means they will on the breeze to Mornington, and indeed out the channel, but are in for a screamer through the Bass Strait oil fields as they head for Gabo Island, and then head North for the remainder of the 6000nm run up to Hong Kong.
Based on all of that, you would think it will be something like two hours to Mornington, and then a further one hour to Shortland Bluff (Queenscliff), before they adjust to Port and go out the Heads. Apart from Station Pier and Battery Road Williamstown, you would think the beach at Shortland Bluff, the carpark at Point Lonsdale Lighthouse, and then any of National Park vantage points from Portsea to Cape Schanck will offer landlubbers the opportunity to see the VO65s for the last time. Of course, if you have your own boat, then anywhere along the route will be great viewing, with the kite hoist out of the Heads being really cool.
Alas, before any of that begins, you first have to 'duck' under the Bolte Bridge over the Yarra River, which this video explains. It has been ages since the VO70s had a stopover in Melbourne (2006), and the pitstop this time has been popular with crews and spectators alike, with them arriving on Christmas Day after 6500nm in the Southern Ocean and heading back out for another 6000nm including a trip over the Doldrums.
So all of that means today, January 1, 2018 is your last chance to spend the day at the Docklands village, and you can see all about that below:
On the day of the race the sailors' parade will start at 0930hrs, before the begin the trip down the river, so you would think it will be well and truly barren by 1200hrs. So make it today, or get in early on January Second, so you can be a part of the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race.
Official Volvo Ocean Race explanation of Leg Four
This sounds like a new one?
It’s 6,000 miles of racing; north from Melbourne to Hong Kong starting on 2 January 2018. A quick glance at a map will tell you that there’s plenty of land between those two spots. At this point, we don’t know if the race officials will limit the course options, so we’ll deal with it in general terms – and this is another north to south leg passing through multiple...
Climate zones, right? We’re back to racing through Climate Zones?
We are indeed, remember, the earth’s oceanic climate features distinct bands, lying horizontally and looping the globe, running out from the Equator to the Poles in a mirror image.
So which ones are we going to hit this time?
Melbourne has a temperate climate, lying as it does on a latitude that puts it on the border between the Westerly Storm Track (low pressure systems circulating west-to east around Antarctica and the Arctic) and the Subtropical High Pressure Zone (a stable, semi-static area of High Pressure lying between 30 and 38 degrees) for the Pacific. Let’s assume that the boats will head east from the start line, in which case the first section will be hugging the coast around Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland until they set out across the Coral Sea.
The key feature of this section will be variability, and early on it’s quite possible that low pressure systems nudging north from the Southern Ocean will boost the fleet for a wild ride round the corner of Australia. Or it could be dominated by high pressure, in which case the daily cycle of heating and cooling of the land will create local thermal winds that the teams will need to focus on.
Once they get a bit further north, they will steadily come into the influence of the Trade Winds (moderate to strong winds that blow consistently towards the equator from the south-east in the southern hemisphere), and these will likely dominate the racing across the Coral Sea.
Umm... aren’t there some islands in the way?
Lots, going north from the Coral Sea the fleet will have to thread their way past Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
And I’m guessing we aren’t done with climate zones either?
Nope, somewhere towards the top of the Coral Sea they are likely to hit the Doldrums (a region of low pressure that envelopes the earth’s oceans roughly at the equator, famous for thunderstorms, light winds, rain and sudden unexpected gusts). This could be a more difficult transition than the one in the Atlantic on Leg 2, because in this part of the world the Doldrums occur in a double belt, separated by a band of easterly Trade Winds. The nearby islands will likely further mix up the weather, so the exit from the Coral Sea could prove to be a critical section of this leg. Not least because, once they are through it, they will be into the north-east Trade Winds (they blow consistently towards the equator from the north-east in the northern hemisphere) and a straight-line drag race to the finish.
Any other hazards?
Tropical Cyclones: The January start date for this leg puts them well into the cyclone (hurricane-sized storms) season for this part of the Pacific, and there is a good chance that the leg will be influenced one way or another by a cyclone somewhere in the Pacific.
North-east Monsoon: Once the fleet break clear of the Doldrums, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands they will be headed north-west in the north-easterly Trade Winds. So this should be a pretty fast section, more or less a straight-line drag race all the way to the finish line in Hong Kong.
However... the Trade Winds develop into the North-East Monsoon, a wind created by the clockwise flow around the huge high pressure that builds up over central Asia at this time of year. It can blow really strongly down the South China Sea. In past races when the fleet have been forced to sail east, upwind into the North-East Monsoon, it has broken boats and people. This year they are going north-west and it should just mean a spectacularly quick finish to the leg.
Not much history on this one?
None – this is the first time that the race has gone this way, so it’s a good time to make some!