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Please consult The Around Alone Report Users Guide for an explanation of this report. Please click on the Leg 3 updates to for information on Giovanni Soldini's rescue of Isabelle Autissier.
The current weather outlook deteriates from Friday on. The latest forecast says, "A very rough stretch will be developing later Friday and continuing through at least Sunday and possibly Monday as well. A very large area of gales and big seas will affect most of the fleet." It looks as though only Fila and Somewhere will be spared this rough weather.
Most at risk from this storm are Class II's top 4 boats. The 4 boats are within 300 miles of each other. The storm is expected to move in the area of 54 degrees south. Nearest to this point is Mike Garside and Magellan. Race official hope he comes north. After this storm there is a possibility of another storm with pressure as low as 960 millibars (a hurricane is 970 millibars).
Fleet Round Up:
Somewhere leads the race. Currently at 55 degrees 59 minutes south. Marc Thiercelin is steering a much more southerly course than anyone else. His last reported course was 150 degrees. Appears as though Thiercelin thinks that the south is the best.
Fila is now 2nd and back in the race with skipper Giovanni Soldini and Isabelle Autissier on board. Fila trails Somewhere by 436 miles. Fila is not going south with Somewhere. From a current position of 55 degrees 15 minutes, and Soldini is steering 053 degrees North East by East.
Cray Valley is 1st in Class II by 61 miles. After reading reports on Isabelle Autissier's capsize and rescue, J.P. Mouligne reflected: "I have crashed jibe several time in the 30,000 miles I have done on Cray Valley so far. With water ballast, main sail and jib on the wrong side, the boat gets pinned down at such an angle that you literally have to crawl outside and walk on the cockpit side to get to the sheets. At that point the winches are under water and I sometimes had to close the cabin door to keep water from flooding the inside." J.P.'s experiences add to the idea that what happened to PRB was an abboration.
Magellan Alpha is 2nd in Class by 61 miles. Mike Garside filed this report, helping explain his 2nd place position: "Then the wind died and I have been flopping about all day while the rest of the guys round me have been averaging 10 knots."
Balance Bar is 3rd in Class II by 176 miles. Brad Van Liew checks in: "Everybody's prayers were answered when Giovanni aboard FILA was able to pull a healthy Isabelle aboard from her crippled yacht."
Next is the first of the 40 foot Class II entries, Wind of Change. Wind of Change is 335 miles back. At last report Wind of Change was doing 11.3 knots fastest in Class II. From Wind of Change Viktor Yazykov reports: "525 MILES FOR LAST TWO DAYS AND 280 MILES BEST DAY RUN."
Next is Shuten Dojhi II. Shuten lies 1266 miles from 1st place.
Next is www.no-barriers.com. Neal Petersen is 1360 miles back. Neal is very aware of the forecast and so, "I am tracking very much to the east if I can to stay as far north as possible from the storm center." At last report he was sailing a course of 086 degrees moving at 7.4 knots.
Paladin 2 comes next 1534 miles back. Up where Neil Hunter sails on: "All’s well here. Had another batten car break yesterday just from the continual flogging of the main in these very light conditions. But I am getting much quicker at fixing and replacing them."
What does it all mean ?
This weekend may see 7 of the 9 boats in gale force winds. The 4 top Class I boats are likely to be hit the worst. Boats ahead or behind may miss the worst. Hopefully with the advanced knowledge of this the sailors will be well prepared and prudent enough to make it through in good order.