The depression in the South Atlantic has aligned itself perfectly to fire the fleet to Cape Town at record pace. But although the 24-hour record of 562.96 nautical miles currently held by ABN AMRO TWO could be broken, it is a question of which teams can push the hardest, but still keep their boat in one piece. Damage now will be extremely costly as the fleet prepares for big waves and big action. The countdown to the ‘launch’ began over the weekend as the teams readied their boats and steered into the best position to rocket across the South Atlantic. Navigators hoped this south west-south-west course positioned their boats on the launch pad with the best fuel to reach Cape Town. The fuel is, of course, strong, steady winds generated by the pressure gradient between lows moving along the South Atlantic storm track, and the semi-permanent South Atlantic High. Green Dragon, in third place, (Ericsson 4, PUMA Racing Team) is the most southerly yacht in the fleet and skipper Ian Walker says that all the effort his team put into getting south is now wasted.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Volvo Fleet Ready to Boost
The depression in the South Atlantic has aligned itself perfectly to fire the fleet to Cape Town at record pace. But although the 24-hour record of 562.96 nautical miles currently held by ABN AMRO TWO could be broken, it is a question of which teams can push the hardest, but still keep their boat in one piece. Damage now will be extremely costly as the fleet prepares for big waves and big action. The countdown to the ‘launch’ began over the weekend as the teams readied their boats and steered into the best position to rocket across the South Atlantic. Navigators hoped this south west-south-west course positioned their boats on the launch pad with the best fuel to reach Cape Town. The fuel is, of course, strong, steady winds generated by the pressure gradient between lows moving along the South Atlantic storm track, and the semi-permanent South Atlantic High. Green Dragon, in third place, (Ericsson 4, PUMA Racing Team) is the most southerly yacht in the fleet and skipper Ian Walker says that all the effort his team put into getting south is now wasted.
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