Latest updates for Boston finish in Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 26 Apr 2009
Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking checking the weather models, the same as used by Sail-World to generate the images used in this story, onboard Telefonica Blue, on Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, from Rio de Janeiro to Boston
Gabriele Olivo/Telefonica Blue/Volvo Ocean Race
http://www.volvooceanrace.org
Sail-World in conjunction with www.predictwind.com!PredictWind will post regular updates in this story as the fleet sail the last 100 nm or so as the Volvo Ocean race fleet head for the finish of Leg 6 at Boston.
Update 26 April at 1700hrs:
Leaders are on final stage of Leg 6, with conditions reported by the Volvo OR website as being light. At the last report, 1600hsr Boston time, Ericsson was 4nm from the finish, with Ericsson 3, 3nm behind with Telefonica Blue 2nm behind her.
A major wind change is predicted as described in the following extract from the Volvo Ocean Race blog:
LEG 6 FINISH BLOG
Ericsson 4 has nearly finished it off. Just four miles from the Fan Pier finish line at the top of the hour, the team will finish shortly, to take their first leg win since Cochin.
Telefonica Blue is closing in fast on Ericsson 3. The latest positions have her just two miles behind, with both boats within 10 miles of the finish line. This final hour or so could get very, very close.
19:00 GMT update
Light winds continue to haunt the leaders as they close in on Fan Pier and the finish line in Boston Harbor. Ericsson 4 is 10 miles out and making a shade over 5 knots in boat speed. Wind is varying between nearly dead calm and six or seven knots.
The situation is the same for the first four boats, while those chasing from behind are benefiting from more favourable wind strengths.
18:00 GMT update
Ericsson 4 is strongly positioned to pick up their first leg win since they held off Telefonica Blue to arrive first into Cochin. It's been a long time between drinks for the overall race leader.
At 18:00 GMT, Torben Grael and his men were 15 miles from the finish line, but the wind had dropped considerably. The team is making just over 5 knots through the water. Sistership Ericsson 3 is five miles behind but, worryingly for Torben and company, they are making better speed.
Telefonica Blue appears to have shaken free of PUMA for the time being, easing into a postion nearly 18 miles clear of the hometown favourite.
17:00 GMT update
Ericsson 4 continues to set the pace on the final sprint in towards the finish line off Fan Pier in Boston. It's sunny and unseasonably warm; one of the first breaks in the weather after a long winter, so all of Boston is outside today. There's a great buzz in the Race Village.
But race forecasters Matthew Sanders and Jennifer Lilly have a word of warning. A cold front is forecast to pass over the Boston Harbor area mid-afternoon, right near the finish time: 'When the front crosses Boston this afternoon you can expect an ABRUPT shift to the Northeast and a brief period of 15-25 knots of wind with gusts of 25+ knots. Winds will then settle down to 10-15 knots with a trend to the East. The wind shift may be accompanied by a brief shower and a rumble of thunder is also possible.'
Update 26 April at 1000hrs:
Above are the latest projected finishing positions as at 1100hrs local tim in Boston on 26 April
Update 26 April at 0700hrs:
The leaders have rounded the northern cornern of the Exclusion Zone and are headed down the final 100nm leg to the finish at Boston. The winds are ahead at present but are expected to swing as the day progresses. Current wind speed and direction is from 286 degrees at 15kts. In three hours the leaders are expected to be halfway down the leg and the wind will have backed to 317 degrees at 18.7kts. At the finish three hours later the wind is expected to have rotated to 358 degrees at 15kts. So we are looking at a shift of around 70degrees in a six hour period.
At this stage Ericsson 4 is safely in front, followed by Ericsson 3, Puma racing and Telefonica Blue.
Update 26 April at 0400hrs:
Ericsson 4 was 16nm from the turning point of the Exclusion Zone. Four yachts were sailing up the northern edge of the Exclusion Zone, with Ericsson 3 in second place about 10nm behind Ericsson 4. The fleet have made faster than expected progress to the next turning point and were now expected to sail the final 100nm initially in 20kt headwinds, which are still expected the veer to the north later in the day.
The order at this point is Ericsson 4, followed by Ericsson 3 11nm astern, with Puma Racing a further 11nm back and Telefonica Blue just 1nm astern of Puma.
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The images used in this story have been generated by www.iexpedition.org!Expedition which is a tactical and navigation software application which has been developed by veteran Volvo Ocean Race navigator and Whitbread winner, physicist Nick White, initially for his use in the 2001-2 Volvo Ocean Race with Team News Corp and the Stars & Stripes Americas Cup team.
Since then, www.iexpedition.org!Expedition has been continually refined by a core group of world-renowned navigators and two-time America’s Cup winning navigator Peter Isler has consulted closely in the development of the system. Expedition supports more instrument systems, is easier to use and has the most powerful and useful functions for the racing navigator.
Expedition is now has PredictWind integrated into the application as an option for PredictWind subscribers.
The wind data and prognosis used to produce these images also uses software developed by www.predictwind.com!PredictWind, an application developed by Jon Bilger a top NZ youth and Olympic sailor who turned his hand to wind and weather prediction, and helped Alinghi to their outstanding victories in the last two America's Cups.
Now that same technology is available to the weekend sailing and club racers, the cruising fraternity or professional sailors around the world. Select any region in the world of interest to you and www.predictwind.com!PredictWind will monitor the area for you and provide updated predictions on demand.
PredictWind is a subscription system, with a number of options. While some may feel the wind is free, the ability to get a five day detailed wind forecast for an area of interest creates great peace of mind, allowing forward planning and decision making to be made with some certainty. The time and money saved through being able to work with a high degree of confidence, is more than offset by the relatively small cost of the subscription.
But don't take our word for it, get www.predictwind.com!PredictWind now and have a 30 day trial for free, and see for yourself.
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