The Strategy Debate

The seven strong Volvo Ocean Race fleet is now split in its decision as to how to cross the Atlantic the quickest. Set up to the south is ABN AMRO ONE with the rest of the fleet spread out to the north of them, in a distance spanning 24 miles. Brasil 1 is the most northerly of this group, while movistar has split from the fleet and is pressing hard north alone.

‘We haven’t managed to escape the high pressure system. We have done everything to get as far as possible east, but the high has swallowed us up. The boats in the south and further east have more pressure and a better wind angle than us, and there is nothing we can do about that,’ movistar skipper Bouwe BEKKING (NED) explains.

Volvo Ocean Race meteorologist, Jennifer LILLY, says that the boats to the north are likely hoping to sail the shortest distance possible, while the boats to the south are hoping to hold on to the strongest breeze. With light winds expected, and continued upwind conditions, the strategy debate between the northerly route and a more easterly course is as lively as ever.

‘Looking ahead, lighter winds are expected for the next 24 hours, before the fleet gets into stronger north westerly winds, and downwind sailing conditions, associated with a slow moving low in the mid Atlantic. While all the teams are looking forward to the downwind sailing, the light air between may play a big role in the outcome of this leg,’ explains LILLY.

In the last six hours, the fleet has reshuffled again and ABN AMRO ONE is back in the lead with Neal MCDONALD’s (GBR) Ericsson gaining on her in the last six hours and moving up to second place, while the rest of the fleet have all lost miles.

Whale Of A Time

Things often happen in threes, and skipper Mike SANDERSON (NZL) and his team onboard ABN AMRO ONE experienced exactly that phenomena out in the Atlantic yesterday, which they are not keen to repeat in a hurry.

‘There are three things out here that we fear the most,’ said SANDERSON in a radio interview yesterday. ‘One is having a tactical decision not pan out and we found ourselves in the north with a weather system changing, so we decided that we had to get out of there, and we rocketed from one end of the leaderboard to the other.

As for the whale? The crew are sure it was a whale that they collided with as they saw its tail slide down the side of the boat. It was dark and there was no way that the whale could see the boat coming or the crew to see the whale in the path of Black Betty. SANDERSON says that it appeared to swim away after the accident so hopefully, a few aspirin later, it will be fine!

The Beat Goes On

Adventures at sea aside, the fleet has continued its relentless beat up the north east coast and it has been very cold, foggy and generally miserable. Positions have reshuffled as the fleet tack back and forth and set up for a lane to take them around a high pressure system that is building over Newfoundland.

Paul CAYARD (USA), skipper of Pirates of the Caribbean, says the choice of which lane to take is not easy. ‘The closer you go to the high [inside lane], the shorter course you sail but you have less wind. The further away from the centre [outside lane], the longer the course, but you sail with more wind.’

Brasil 1 is set up more to the inside (north in this case), while ABN AMRO ONE and Ericsson are set up on the outside (south), with the rest of the fleet sandwiched in the middle. ‘For us it is so far so good,’ says Simon FISHER (GBR) from ABN AMRO TWO. ‘We are positioned close to our competitors on the side we want. Hopefully, as the breeze starts to free off over the next 24 hours, we can start to reap the rewards of the last few day’s efforts,’ he said.

Movistar is the furthest to the inside, and is, perhaps, about to play a very dangerous game. It may be possible for Bouwe BEKKING (NED) and his team to punch through the high pressure, lose miles but then gain them back later with a strong northerly position. ‘A dangerous game, taking on a high and low percentage option I would have thought,’ says Brunel‘s navigator, Will OXLEY (AUS). ‘But, with the potential to smoke us all if it works,’ he adds.

Position Report At 1000 Hours UTC, 15 May 2006

Overall Leaderboard
(Up to and including Leg Six)

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