Volvo Ocean Race- Day 3 - The fast chase to Luzon + Video

by Sail-World.com NZL and Volvo OR Media on 10 Feb 2015 Day 3, 0700hrs - Although the Volvo Ocean Race isn't well known for its drag racing heritage, the fleet is yet again in a pedal to the metal, flat out chase/race to the next landmass, being Luzon at the northern end of the Philippines.

Dongfeng continues to lead the tightly grouped fleet which is sailing in winds averaging 21-23kts (forecast from Predictwind) is for stronger breezes average 26-27kts for a time - up to a third stronger in gusts - before moderating slightly to the high teens.

Once past the Philippines the fleet will then bear away running south east making the most of the exhaust from the category 1 cyclone ‘Higos’ which is located 1000nm in the East Philippine sea.

With a sea state of 4-5m and 25Kts+ it’s a fairly uncomfortable ride! Heeling at 25 to 30 degrees with no sign that it will relent in the next 24 hours, at least not much.

Currently the wind is slightly stronger than expected which could be a sign of the weather moving through slightly faster than the forecast initially showed.

Matt Knighton, onboard Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing said in todays blog: 'At this point it doesn’t matter if it gets windier in our opinion – there’s no big difference between 25 and 30.

'The best part of the weather is that compared to the routing, the wind direction has consistently been lifted by 20 degrees or more. That is shaving off time from our original route and making it easier to get around the top of the Philippines. Hopefully, we’ll be there in the next day or so.’

The change to the forecast has made it easier for the fleet to get east with winds being on average 20 degrees further left they look like they will make it around the top with no tacks as yet which should show in the total time it takes them to sail the leg.

The fleet is just under 100Nm from the north west tip of the Philippines and should pass through the Luzon Strait with in the next 36 hours.

As they pass the obstacle course awaits them, sailing over the convergent join between the Eurasian and the Philippine tectonic plates, the scenery becomes more active in the form of volcanoes and for some of the sailors who have sailed this part of the world before there are volcanoes which have grown in size over so it might look a little different to last time.



All within line of sight or AIS range the constant tuning which we have seen in all the legs so far will continue to be pushing them to push the boats harder and harder.

Although too rough to get the binoculars out there are plenty of other ways of measuring performance onboard such as load cells on the rigging and the level of information they are able to get from the AIS mean its never too rough to keep pushing to the maximum!

Today's weather from Volvo Ocean Race

1) Right now we have weakening high pressure E and S of Shanghai

- the NE winds will gradually ease for the fleet and sailing into the Luzon Straits, the winds will veer into the E and even ESE

2) Typhoon Higos is near 14n/154-155e and moving N and poses no threat to the Volvo fleet

- at this time, there are no other tropical cyclone threats N of the equator

3) Cold front will reach Qingdao Wed afternoon and Taiwan Thu morning

- winds will be lighter E and ESE exiting the Straits of Luzon

- stronger winds and large seas return to the Straits Thu night and Fri

4) Trade winds look quite nice SE of the Philippines Fri and Sat