Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 the question still is, when will groupama run out of wind. In the mean time they are holding and building a nice lead. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 last updates for me today. see you all at the unfriendly time of 6:30am From Groupama Along the south Moroccan coast, Groupama 4 is continuing her descent downwind in a calm but steady north-easterly tradewind of 12 knots. At the mercy of some small wind shifts, Franck Cammas and Jean-Luc Nélias, his navigator, have opted to gybe so as to remain in the corridor of air which now separates Morocco from the Canaries. With Lanzarote in her wake, Groupama 4 is currently sailing abeam of Fuerteventura, which is an area Groupama sailing team is very familiar with, having trained there back in the winter. Meanwhile, out to the West of Madeira, Telefonica and Puma are involved in some incredible close-contact racing, bordering on match racing, as they're constantly within sight of each other. Positioned 62 miles stray of the leader, the two protagonists have set a course due West as a zone of light winds is preventing them from dipping southwards. Slightly set back, the New Zealanders on Camper have broken away and are now sailing a course of 290°, 148 miles astern of Groupama 4. During this time, Abu Dhabi has headed back out to sea, equipped with her spare mast. Positioned between Cartagena and Almeria, Ian Walker and his crew are just 802 miles shy of Groupama 4, which just goes to show how unfavourable the weather conditions have been for speed since the start, which is almost five days ago now. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 A nice little write up from a media guy. I'm beginning to learn the sounds of the boat pretty well now. The unique groans, bangs, hums, creaks, whooshes all add up to painting a pretty clear picture of what is happening up on deck. Things generally sound a lot worse than they are... although they sounded pretty good to me waking up. It was the sound of speed, humming and whistling of miles ticking away quickly, minus the big intermittent bangs of crashing off waves, which is a good thing. But then the sound stopped and then you hear the sails flap a little bit. The wind had died a sudden death again. That's when another kind of sound begins...'The frenzy'. Shifting the stack to light wind mode, close to four tonnes of sails, spares, food, and people are shifted from one place to another. With that effort we were quickly sailed out of the windless hole and back into breeze... the frenzy continues, shifting it all half way back again. The noise's change again with increased speed but then dreaded banging starts, the motion increases and before I know it I'm feeling queasy, just like that. I do my best not to let it take hold. Time on deck with Chuny always helps. He offers me some contraband sausage, which is no longer contraband as he has shared it with the whole crew. I refuse the offer but he puts a bit aside for me for when I feel better. I feel a little better. I eat the sausage. Blow me backwards- it was the most amazing sausage I have ever eaten! I tried to save some for later -- later ended up being two minutes. Beside noises and sausage the race continues -- PUMA and Telefónica have broken away south, we are hanging in there heading westward, in the hope it will pay dividends in the end. The guys on board have nerves of steel, just holding until the time is right to turn the boat 90 degrees to the left and blast towards Fernando. But tonight we are anything but blasting along, just bobbing, listening to the water lap and the sails flap. "It sounds like we've stopped," Stu suggests. Hamish Hooper Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 from Puma We’ve spent all this time talking about routines and how important it is to get into them, but the truth is they’re only good until they’re changed. After a beautiful night of sailing due west—directly at the sunset—and under a full moon, we’ve had that bit of interruption in our routines early this morning (0200-0400) with a few sail changes, some weather cells, and a tough night of moving weight. Some people are sick, and the rest are tired (myself included). Just being on these boats with a round-the-clock schedule can be exhausting, and it’s only amplified by instability in that schedule. The good news is, once we’re through these next 24-hours it should be straight-line running in plenty of breeze, and allll the way to the equator. That is something a lot of us are very much looking forward to! We’re well locked up with the Telefónica guys and it’s been a fun drag race over the past couple of days, both of us within sight of each other for the majority of them. One “sched” it’s a gain to us, the next is to them. And a belated congratulations to Iker and Xabier on their 2011 ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year award. Everyone’s really excited to see Abu Dhabi back on the race track so quickly too, and we’re all looking forward to catching up with they and Team Sanya in Cape Town. If all goes well between now and tomorrow’s report we’ll be smokin’ for the Doldrum’s, but there’s a lot of work to do before then and that includes some serious tacking and stacking. My personal plan for the immediate future is to catch up on rest like everyone else. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Leg 1 Report: 10/11/2011 10:01:25 UTC DTL DTLC BS DTF 1 GPMA 0.00 0.0 13.4 5533.9 2 TELE 111.40 24.0 12.1 5645.2 3 PUMA 119.90 33.0 11.4 5653.8 4 CMPR 197.30 24.0 11.3 5731.2 5 ADOR 837.80 19.0 7.5 6371.7 - SNYA Retired from Leg 1 It’s day six for the fleet racing in the Volvo Ocean Race and the conditions are taking their toll with seasickness and tiredness setting in for the crews sailing out to the west. Inshore, Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) continues to luck in, leading the fleet by 111.40 nautical miles (nm), while the rest of the fleet loses out. The three boats to the west, led by Telefónica (Iker Martinez/ESP) with PUMA’s Mar Mostro (Ken Read/USA) just eight nm astern are currently sailing upwind and away from Fernando de Noronha, the mark of the course on the Brazilian coast that the fleet must leave to port, in order to reach a new low-pressure system. Once there, they will hook into the new breeze on the western side, avoiding the centre where there will be little or no wind, and speeds will start to clock up. The on-going battle between PUMA’s Mar Mostro and Telefónica continues as they engage in their own private drag race, causing a frenzy of activity for each tack as gear and crew are stacked in the optimum position. The two boats are in sight of each other, which adds to the onboard competition. It is hard for CAMPER (Chris Nicholson/AUS), who are on their own, 78 nm to the north. Nerves of steel are needed on board as the crew cling to their strategy to sail closer to the low-pressure system and meet the promised new wind. Meanwhile, the crew of Groupama 4 (Franck Cammas/FRA) are relishing their lonely course 24 nm inshore. They spent a magical night racing downwind under a full moon, no clouds and a balmy 20 degrees Celsius. The dream trip will be over if the weather gods kill what little is left of the trade winds, but for now the crew are enjoying themselves and last night they saw very clearly the lights of their former base camp in Lanzarote. Earlier this morning they gybed away from the Canary Island of Fuerteventura and they are now running parallel with the coast. Discussions on board include how best to bridge across to the west and re-join the fleet. Earlier this morning, bowman Brad Marsh described this move as “similar to crossing a battlefield full of mines and bombs -- with surrounding trenches and gunfire from all angles”. But he added that Groupama sailing team are a band of smart and experienced Frenchmen who are confident in their battle plan. Every position report tells a story. Will Groupama 4’s bold move pay off or is west still best? The crews wait in anticipation for the only source of information that gives the answer – at least temporarily. Meanwhile, a long way behind, Abu Dhabi resumed racing this morning as they stepped tentatively back into Leg 1 with a replacement mast. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 not to much changed over night, except for groupama stretching their lead. Will Groupama's coastal gamble pay off? The next 24 hours will tell, as the French team and the huge lead they have accumulated close to the west African shore come under threat from a new weather system and three rivals sick of taking losses in the windless west. A bold move from skipper Franck Cammas? The Frenchman says not, he was expecting the other boats to go the same way when he made his call inside the first two days of Leg 1. But whatever the motivation – and a team choosing Highway to Hell as their anthem might be expected to take a few risks – the only significant question now is whether it was a wise one. As of 1300 UTC on Thursday, the decision had brought them a lead of 140 nautical miles over Team Telefónica, who are ahead of PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand. Those three teams followed conventional wisdom by deciding that west is best when it comes to reaching the way point at Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil. While it's a case of so far so good for Cammas, leading the first French entry in the race for 18 years, weather forecasts point to a new low pressure system that could come in to destroy the trade winds to their south. The nightmare scenario for Groupama is to see their three main rivals starting to exploit the new system from Friday afternoon. By the following day, the trio could be hitting boat speeds of 18 knots in the pure trade winds, eating into the lead of a French team whose speed at 1300 was around 14 knots. "It was not our choice to go alone," Cammas said via the Inmarsat-powered phone bridge in a conference call from Groupama 4. "Of course the Anglo-Saxons would say that the French boat went for the lonely path, but really that wasn't our choice. "I have nervous moments for sure, but I don't share them. I just share my hopes. We've done everything we wanted to do up to now. "We have never been surprised by the light wind areas – they were all announced by the routing -- but we are now entering another area and have a doubt about tomorrow, with light winds expected. We will have to deal with it to find a passage and make it work. On the other hand we have more wind than expected so we are a bit in advance, which is always good." The other great unanswered question on Thursday was how Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing would progress with their replacement mast. Ian Walker's team resumed Leg 1 officially at 0216 UTC on Thursday after returning to the point where they were forced to suspend racing when their mast snapped in horrific conditions on Saturday, just six hours into the race. Sailing with a new mast, and with no more replacements in the locker, means the team will take a cautious approach. "It is not normal practice to step a new mast and set off in the dark and straight offshore – new masts can sometimes take days to tune up but we don't have that time," Walker said. "We also don't have the safety of a spare mast waiting for us if anything goes wrong. The stakes are now very high and we must sail accordingly. "Right now we are taking it one step at a time. We will not sail fully loaded tonight until we can check everything in daylight. "Just like falling off a horse it takes time to regain your confidence but you simply have to get back on it as soon as you can. For the three boats in the west, the continued sailing in light winds was proving frustrating but the tight battle between Telefónica and PUMA's Mar Mostro was at least a welcome distraction. "Now I get up on deck for four hours to struggle with the little wind there is, and to see if we can manage to put some distance between us and PUMA, who have been snapping at our heels since we left Alicante," wrote Telefónica helmsman Pablo Arrarte. "At night, we can see their navigation lights and by day we see them pretty well, given that we haven't been further than 10 miles apart." CAMPER were 90 nm further away from the way point than PUMA after choosing to head further north in a bid to catch stronger winds earlier. Team Sanya, the sixth entry in the race, were forced to pull out of Leg 1 because of damage to the hull. They have finalised plans to ship the boat to South Africa in the hope of completing repairs before the second in-port race in Cape Town on December 10 and the start of Leg 2 to Abu Dhabi the following day. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 a little bit of trouble upon camper with a sail. http://www.youtube.com/user/Camper#p/c/FB5F27E24BAB32DE/0/H6SuCC34H0I Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 and some more. A monkey up groupamas mast. http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanr ... ocl3YbVS4Y race overview for the last 24 hours http://www.youtube.com/user/volvooceanr ... WqfM9v9M_s Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 gains to camper as they are now heading south, but groupama still extend nicely. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 prom pumas media guy. Leg 1 Day 6 Blog from Amory We’ve spent all this time talking about routines and how important it is to get into them, but the truth is they’re only good until they’re changed. After a beautiful night of sailing due west – directly at the sunset – and under a full moon, we’ve had that bit of interruption in our routines early this morning (2-4 AM) with a few sail changes, some weather cells, and a tough night of moving weight. Some people are sick, and the rest are tired (myself included). Just being on these boats with a round-the-clock schedule can be exhausting, and it’s only amplified by instability in that schedule. The good news is, once we’re through these next 24-hours it should be straight-line running in plenty of breeze, and allll the way to the equator. That is something a lot of us are very much looking forward to! We’re well locked up with the Telefónica guys and it’s been a fun drag race over the past couple of days, both of us within sight of each other for the majority of them. One “sched” it’s a gain to us, the next is to them. And a belated congratulations to Iker and Xabier on their 2011 ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year award. Everyone’s really excited to see Abu Dhabi back on the race track so quickly too, and we’re all looking forward to catching up with them and Team Sanya in Cape Town. If all goes well between now and tomorrow’s report we’ll be smokin’ for the Doldrums, but there’s a lot of work to do before then and that includes some serious tacking and stacking. My personal plan for the immediate future is to catch up on rest like everyone else. Amory Ross MCM PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG Link to post Share on other sites
Absolution 7 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Hey dude - why would you not believe them?? Do you 'fudge' the truth when you recount happenings?? Not a question of fudging the truth. Listening to their interviews early on they were not convinced that they hit something either. Just my opinion SR but based on the following -They didn't realise they had it hit anything, they only noticed once the bow filled with water. -No damage to the keel or rudders. How did they hit something with the bow and then miss it with the rest of the boat. -The way that the core has failed right across the mid section looks more like a structural failure in my humble opinion. Take a drinking straw and fold it half and see what happens where it fails. Now imagine that drinking straw was made from carbon and foam. The damage would like something like what you see on the bottom of sanya. My statement was more out of concern for the boat and the team. I'm really keen to see Sanya do well... hell there are probably more kiwis on there than Camper! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Hey dude - why would you not believe them?? Do you 'fudge' the truth when you recount happenings?? My statement was more out of concern for the boat and the team. I'm really keen to see Sanya do well... hell there are probably more kiwis on there than Camper! there are more kiwis on board and theres a lot of people wishing them well. it will be a shame if they cant get the boat ready for cape town. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 one last post before i head to uni. Press release of the 10/11/2011 2011/11/10 - 18h00 Tradewind snub Groupama in the Volvo Ocean Race Though Groupama 4 has taken the lead in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race after an option taking her down the Moroccan coast, the situation is more complicated this coming weekend, with the tradewinds having been snuffed out around the Cape Verde archipelago. After the return of Abu Dhabi to the racetrack, the fleet is now split into three groups, in three different weather systems... The next 72 hours are going to be extremely important for deciding which, of the group out West made up of the Spaniards on Telefonica, the Americans on Puma and the New Zealanders on Camper, or the solitary Groupama 4 slipping beneath the Canaries, will come off best from the complicated configuration reigning over the North Atlantic. During this time, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team restarted the race from Alicante last night having had her spare mast stepped and is 850 miles astern of the French leader, offshore of Almeria, making laboured headway in the light Mediterranean airs... Three separate groups then, all in completely different weather conditions and yet they're all set to converge on the equator, which is still more than 1,700 miles ahead! Asthmatic tradewinds At noon this Thursday, those favouring the West were making headway in a W'ly wind of around fifteen knots, beneath a vast depression which will reach Ireland on Friday, hoping to hook onto a N'ly breeze from Friday evening so they can drop due South at speed. If all goes to plan, they should make up the lost ground this weekend as the weather situation out West will be the first to change. For their part, Franck Cammas and his men were continuing their descent down the African coast in a not very pronounced tradewind system dishing out about a dozen knots. Already beneath the Canaries archipelago, the first mission for the crew of Groupama 4 is to get as far away from the area as possible as quickly as they can, before choosing their trajectory for the weekend. "We are still sailing downwind in some rather weak tradewinds of 12-13 knots, hugging the Moroccan coast some ten miles or so away. We're going to have to gybe early this afternoon to remain in a small band of N'ly breeze between Lanzarote and Morocco. This band will widen this evening as the wind builds. Conditions are good and Groupama 4 appears to be handling very well in this configuration. We saw the Canaries archipelago at daybreak with some very good visibility", explained Franck Cammas at the noon radio session. A doubt about the weekend Indeed the tradewinds are likely to gradually die away over the next 72hrs, spanning a massive zone stretching from the Canaries to Brazil! With NE to N'ly winds of less than ten knots, Franck Cammas only has two choices: to continue to make southing by sailing along the coast of Mauritania and then Senegal, leaving the Cape Verde archipelago to starboard, or to attempt to make gains out to the West, so as to reposition himself along the route being taken by his rivals, so he too can hook onto the steadier breeze when it kicks in... "In relation to our option taken after Gibraltar, we reckon Camper thought twice about following us. However, they fell into a hole with no wind, which forced them offshore, and they're now set back from Telefonica and Puma. This isn't doing them any favours, but there doesn't appear to be a difference in speed with the rest of the fleet. Ours is a classic course in terms of trajectory, because hunting down the tradewinds isn't usually a risky move, unless they disappear or fade, which seems to be the case at the moment. For the time being, we've had a good crack at what we wanted to do because we're ahead of our routing, though we do have a doubt about tomorrow, Friday, and the arrival of a front which could snuff out the tradewinds. We're going to have to try to make headway to the West by finding a vein of air to slip along on!" Minor odd jobs The next course decisions aren't necessarily linked solely to mid-term tactical issues though. Indeed the navigators are having to cast their data nets at least five days ahead to anticipate how things will pan out after Cape Verde. As such they're looking into how the Doldrums are shaping up, whether it will be active or not very pronounced, whether it will extend or retract its claws, whether it should be tackled between 20° and 25° West or, instead, a lot closer to Brazil at around 30° West... All these things will have to be taken into consideration as the crew of Groupama 4 make their decision tonight. In the meantime, the crew is racking up some rest hours in these calm conditions and doing a few little odd jobs left over from their passage through the Mediterranean... "We didn't suffer any damage in the Mediterranean, just a few attachments coming loose down below, which we've stuck back up today. There's also been a mechanical issue with the hook to keep the second reef in place on the mainsail, which we've partly resolved. With our virtual lead this lunchtime on Thursday, the crew is in good spirits, even though we're here on our own, but we're likely to link up with the rest of the fleet at Cape Verde... We are well aware that our lead isn't a done deal!" Link to post Share on other sites
Marshy 30 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Fresh from Groupama - Just two years ago New Zealand sailor Brad Marsh was working as a shore crewmember for Ericsson, dreaming about one day competing in the Volvo Ocean Race. Now, the 28-year-old Groupama sailing team bowman reflects on his achievement, as his team considers crossing a "minefield" to join the rest of the fleet in the west. oday is an interesting day for the thoughtful person. This morning we could see the lights of Lanzarote Island in the distance and just now we have gybed away from the Canary Island of Fuerteventura. I have been waving to our team doctor (Antonio) all morning, but I am not sure if he has seen us. But as we pass the islands this morning it provides a good chance for reflection. The Canary Islands were the base for the Ericsson racing team, of which I was a shore crewmember. We lived there for one year and during this time I did a fair bit of the training with the two boats and always carried the dream of eventually doing this race. Two years later I was fortunate enough to be back at Lanzarote with the Groupama sailing team trialling for a spot on the sailing squad. Now, I finally sail past my favourite Northern Hemisphere island on a Volvo 70 in the first leg of the race. A complete circle? I don't think so yet, but a good chance to reflect and be grateful for the opportunity and the events that have got me here today. The race so far has been fascinating. It has been brutal, demanding and relentless. I am sure it has been a fantastic leg to follow so far, as we hang on every minute of the day waiting for the next position report to come through. It is the only sort of information we have to tell us how our bold easterly move compares to the more traditional westerly course. The start was a blur of action, excitement and energy; the first few hours were wet and wild as we reached away from Alicante at high speeds in pursuit of each other. Then we hit the weather system we were all dreading. The sea state built up, the wind increased and darkness enveloped over us. As we reduced sail I found myself remembering the 2004 Sydney to Hobart race as we crashed into a wave state similar to that of Bass Strait on a bad day. We were all disappointed and concerned to hear about the failures of Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya and hope they can recover and continue, and this especially applies to Andy Mieklejohn. As one of the senior and experienced bowman in this race, I hope he recovers well and can rejoin soon. After a couple of days of sailing down the African coast we are now discussing how we can bridge across to the west and join the other teams. It will be similar to crossing a battlefield full of mines and bombs, with surrounding trenches and gunfire from all angles. However, we have some smart and experienced Frenchmen on board, who are confident in their battle plan as long, as we continue to follow their directions. That's all for now, I am off to sleep. After a morning of reflection maybe now it is time to look forward to the next time I will come near the island of Lanzarote. It will be May next year and after crossing the equator, sailing round both capes and having sailed into and out of Auckland on a Volvo 70. Maybe then I can consider it a complete circle? Is a complete circle even possible? Brad Marsh Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Great news for us Camper fans. They have gained on the leader for the first time in a while. Update from Telefonica as well. OFFSHORE MATCH RACE BETWEEN “TELEFÓNICA” AND “PUMA” 11-10-2011 French entry “Groupama”, cut off from the rest of the entries having chosen a southern routing, continues its own race and leads the fleet for now With the provisional leader of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race sailing solo on what from the outside could look like a different race, and reaping the rewards for it while they can, the paths of Team Telefónica and Puma Ocean Racing have been almost identical over the past 48 hours, with a head to head offshore match-race between the Spaniards and the Americans. Just a glance at the race tracker reveals just that. Joca Signorini, “Telefónica”'s Watch Captain underlined this in an audio piece sent from on board the Spanish entry this morning: “Almost since the start we have had a tough hand to hand battle with “Puma” and we've been able to see them the whole time...” A good cold front is approaching from above and it's likely it will bring with it some stronger breeze which could play out well for the boats to the West and we'll have to wait and see how it will affect “Groupama”'s lead. For “Telefónica” it won't be the first cold front they have had to study. The tacks on the race tracker over the past few hours are a reflection of that, as Signorini explains: “We had to cross a cold front and there was a very big wind shift which meant we had to perform a very fast tack. “Puma” was just a couple of miles behind and they did exactly the same at the same time. The breeze picked up a lot and it's the first time we've been more downwind since the leg began, having sailed at some very high speeds.” The crew headed up by Iker Martínez has now put the archipelago of Madeira at about 300 miles astern and is sailing with “Puma” behind at 15.9 miles away. Spirits on board “Telefónica” are high and confidence in the Juan K boat design seems on the up every day, as Joca Signorini highlighted in today's report and Iker Martínez “Telefónica”'s Skipper himself also backed up: “Everything is going well here. The most important thing is that we are getting some good feedback from the boat, which is a good sign for the future. Now we just have to keep improving and we'll be better all round further ahead...”. It'll be a case of watching out for the weather developments over the next few hours to see if Team Telefónica will get back in the lead on these first 6,500 miles of the eleventh edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 From Ian Walker on board Azzam The last few days have been tough on everyone in and associated with our team. I must thank our supporters for all the messages of goodwill the team and I have received. I also can’t thank the shore team and the team from Future Masts enough for their efforts to get us back out here racing. It has been a huge effort and we are only back out here so quickly because of this work and the logistical planning behind it. I wish I could say we were now racing with clear minds but we are not – it is not normal practice to step a new mast and set off in the dark and straight offshore – new masts can sometimes take days to tune up but we don’t have that time. We also don’t have the safety of a spare mast waiting for us if anything goes wrong. The stakes are now very high and we must sail accordingly. Right now we are taking it one step at a time – we will not sail fully loaded tonight until we can check everything in daylight. Just like falling off a horse it takes time to regain your confidence but you simply have to get back on it as soon as you can. We are also still awaiting the final analysis of what may have caused the mast failure. If we have any concerns we could still be forced to stop again. For now, however, I am going to enjoy sailing with a full moon and clear skies and we will start to find Azzam’s rhythm again. As somebody wrote on facebook – Azzam may have lost a feather but she will soon grow it back and soar again. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I hope I am wrong but I wonder if Camper is carrying an injury? They just seem to be consistantly 1/10 off the pace, and slowly falling back. Or is she a dog uphill and going to cream them on the running stuff, fingers crossed. Link to post Share on other sites
Marshy 30 Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 They did have a broken Code Zero but i imagine that would be fixed by now... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Re. Camper... she has been 60 - 70 miles away from Puma and Telefonica, so she's in different breeze (direction and strength) so it's not surprising to see her at a different speed and heading... sometimes that will be to her disadvantage, sometimes to her advantage. You certainly can't read into relative performance when the boats are so far apart and in different conditions. Groupama have gybed back towards the coast in the last update. Interesting. They may be just staying in the strongest pressure for as long as possible... but it does seem to indicate that they are have not (yet, at least) decided to push west... and it may indicate they are planning on staying on the coast down the Cape Verdes... Link to post Share on other sites
BelowPAR 0 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Forecast looks epic!! They are going to absolutely send it, starting in about 18-20 hours. Hopefully Camper catch the frontal edge earlier and start making some gains. Chances of a four boat pile up on 20degrees N?? If they dont, I hope the system buggers off prior to the doldrums and the front 3 park it. Link to post Share on other sites
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