Volvo battle to the Ice Gate - Slowly

by Volvo Media on 24 Feb 2006 The teams in the Volvo Ocean Race are playing the waiting game today as they negotiate their way through the complicated weather system that lies between them and the ice gate to the north. Frustration has definitely set in and the positive attitudes of yesterday’s reports have turned into sarcasm with a tinge of despair.

In previous races the second Southern Ocean instalment was historically a fast action packed few weeks. In recent years, icebergs have been sighted much further north and the ice gates are a precaution to help the fleet avoid unnecessary danger.

But they have had the unfortunate side effect of forcing the fleet into the fickle breeze caused by three important weather features; a high pressure ridge, an extra tropical cyclone and a polar low. The ridge is sat over the eastern end of the first ice gate, meanwhile the extra-tropical cyclone will merge with the polar low coming from the south west causing more light and fickle breeze. Not good news for the fleet.

The fleet very clearly made two decisions. ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) and Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) opted to sail north around the top of the ridge, while the rest of the fleet headed south to race around the bottom of it.

Currently the most southerly yachts have more breeze but the outlook for them is not very positive. Movistar (Bouwe Bekking) the present leader tacked north at 09:40 GMT passing in front of Ericsson (Neal McDonald) but tacked back east at 12:40 GMT, at practically the same time ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson) decided to tack north. Mike Sanderson’s team crossed Pirates of the Caribbean’s (Paul Cayard) track at 14:55 GMT making the black and red boat the current furthest south, 232 nautical miles from the ice gate travelling east at 12 knots.

The southerly pack will have a balancing act to play to get to the ice gate, sailing up a narrow band of northeasterly breeze. They have to be careful not to fall either side of this as they could get caught in the light winds which would allow Brasil 1 and ABN AMRO TWO to run away with the potential winds to the north of them.

Which decision will pay off?

The decreasing temperatures have done nothing to cheer up the crew but Mike Sanderson and his crew on ABN AMRO ONE are thanking their lucky stars today for fleece. Mike insisted on giving his crew fleecy pillowcases and sleeping bags, which he prototyped in his solo sailing experiences. The crew were initially unconvinced but have eaten their words now the fleece has come into its own in the freezing Southern Ocean conditions. Mike jokes, 'The ‘97-98 race was famous for re-lighting the Code 0 sail; I think the fleecy pillow could be seen as one of the great break throughs of 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race.'

Brasil 1 is currently 280 nautical miles from the ice gate but only has three knots of breeze and making only five knots of boat speed. Eighty nautical miles to the south east are the young guns on ABN AMRO TWO with the same conditions. Jennifer Lily, assistant race Meteorologist, has been keenly studying the weather patterns and predicts these two yachts are the most likely to make the long term gains, reaching the new south westerly breeze first but there is still a potential for them to be swallowed up in the low as the others race away.

The Brazilians have been complaining about the cold for the past few days but as Joca Signorini pointed out today everyone was feeling the drop in temperature. 'Yesterday night we entered a light wind zone and sailing became really quiet. Inside the boat, temperature and silence are a gift for the off-duty crewmembers, who can sleep without the usual hard conditions. We know that this won’t last long and everyone is making the best of these quiet times. Crewmembers on deck are already suffering with the cold weather and even some gringos (who are not Brazilian) are starting to complain about it.'

'We’re now sailing towards the ice way point that we have to cross on the way to Cape Horn. In the next 24 hours low pressure system will bring stronger winds and life aboard will change dramatically. The deck will be all wet again and really, really cold. Water temperature is already at a freezing 8 degrees.'

Will Brasil 1 get a jump on the whole fleet on their homecoming leg, as this previously dubious looking tactic of heading north pays off? The outcome will be known in the next 36 hours.

Positions at 16:00 hrs:

ABN1 ABN AMRO ONE
ABN2 ABN AMRO TWO
BRA1 Brasil 1
ERIC Ericsson Racing Team
MOVI movistar
POTC Pirates of the Caribbean

DTF: distance to finish, SMG: Speed made good, DTL: distance to leader,
DTLC: distance to leader change; the difference between the distance from the boat to the leader taken at the time of the last six hour poll, and the distance from the boat to the leader at the previous poll
PLPTS: projected leg points
PTP: projected overall points