TTTOP pass Point Nemo and reset for more big breeze to come in Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7
by Turn The Tide On Plastic 25 Mar 2018 06:50 PDT
25 March 2018
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 from Auckland to Itajai, day 7 on board Turn the Tide on Plastic. Gybing in the Southern Ocean © Sam Greenfield / Volvo Ocean Race
One week into Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race and Turn the Tide on Plastic are deep into the Southern Ocean with the rest of the fleet.
After seven days at sea they've sailed so far into remote waters that they've passed south of Point Nemo: defined as the place furthest from land in the world.
Point Nemo is far from anywhere else: 2,688km away in every direction, to be precise. Either in the Pitcairn Islands, Moto Nui in the Easter Islands, and Maher Island in Antarctica.
At this point, the sailors are closer to the astronauts 400km above on the International Space Station than they are to any earthly inhabitation. Want to know more about the worlds hardest-to-reach place? Find out with these eight facts about Point Nemo.
Conditions over the weekend intensified with the wind consistently above 30 knots, with gusts approaching 40 knots and the sea state rising above five metres. The fleet has been making fast progress towards Cape Horn, pushed onwards by the gale force westerly winds behind them. It's been an exhausting few days of gybing along the southern boundary of the race course of the Ice Exclusion Zone, resulting in little sleep for the crew.
Skipper Dee Caffari explained it, "The further south you are the shorter the distance you sail so the more gains to be made. The further south you are the bigger the sea state, the further south you are the more gybes you have to do. So we are balancing all these concerns with our strategy in the current stronger winds we are seeing now and will be increasing throughout the day."
Despite the conditions, Turn the Tide on Plastic blazed through the weekend. The crew have a tenacious spirit and positive attitude, and it is this with the navigation of Brian Thompson and the leadership of Skipper, Dee Caffari and Boat Captain, Liz Wardley that has seen them keep in the mix and work their way to the head of the leaderboard at 1300 UTC 24 March, racing along at nearly 22 knots – the fastest in the fleet. Although positions have changed, they are continuing to battle along with the rest of the fleet.
The wind has now eased off giving the crew a chance to catch their breath before the next front and low pressure system catches up with them form the West.
The latest blog from Dee and the team:
Today has been all about the other boat, the ice exclusion zone and gybing.
It is wet, wild and windy, although conditions have abated somewhat compared to last night. We are playing the area just above the ice exclusion zone. If we go too far north we get into lighter winds and sail the wrong direction, if we go to far south we risk running into the ice exclusion zone. As a result we have been doing multiple gybes. The crew are tired and soggy, their eyes are stinging from the constant battering of salt water they get on deck and lack of sleep they get below deck. If they do manage to get in their bunks then the rest they get is fitful at best. The motion of the boat is enough to keep you awake. For get lying there if you need to pee, there is no chance!
So, now to the other boat, we have been slowly making our way back into the fleet. We have been fast and enjoyed the sailing. We have now been crossing gybes with Mapfre - yes, a bloody red boat! - and each time they have got closer and closer. We seem to be the only two playing down here as the rest have seemed to remain to the north. Let's hope our hard work pays off.