Short, choppy seas and strong winds are challenging the Volvo Ocean Race fleet as it presses northwards towards New York. Early this morning, ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) tacked offshore followed by movistar (Bouwe Bekking) at 0725 and then Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) at 0825, although at present there is no indication that speeds are higher than those inshore. Set up closest to the shore is Ericsson, with Neal McDonald back charge, and his old friend, Mark Rudiger in the navigator’s spot. The boats that tacked earlier, have all changed course again within the last 30 minutes and are heading north.

Overnight, the breeze quickly increased to 20 – 25 knots with gusts near to 30 knots being reported, making it a wet and wild ride northwards. Race meteorologist, Chris Bedford says, “While the increased wind is good news for the fleet, the angle of this breeze is definitely bad news for those looking for a fast reach up the coast. The coastal low, south of the fleet, is developing much faster and more dramatically than the earlier forecasts and, as a result, the winds are backed more towards the northeast and forecast to remain 25 – 30 knots for much of today. This puts the fleet hard on the wind with some gear-testing conditions.

“Not much sleep yet (none) and only a little food… that’s the trouble with these sprint legs as you push hard to stay in the game,” wrote Will Oxley, the new navigator on Brunel (Grant Wharington), adding, “still, even in these unpleasant conditions, it is good to be at sea.”

Share or bookmark this story: