Guest Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 This looks like it could be brutal and the boats might not have anywhere to hide unless they stay inport. Hers the weather forecast so far The race’s chief meteorologist Gonzalo Infante said the six Volvo Ocean Race crews would have no choice to but to enter “survival mode” if man and boat are to escape the early days of the 5,200 nautical mile race to Auckland unharmed. “The weather conditions forming in the South China Sea at the moment will definitely provide the teams with the most challenging start to a leg so far,” Infante said. “Conditions will be very dangerous, pushing man and boat close to the extreme.” As is typical at this time of year, a monsoon is currently building to the north of Taiwan and by Saturday will have filled the whole of the South China Sea with north easterly winds of between 35 and 40 knots. Although certainly testing, wind speed is not the issue, Infante explained. The real problem will be the sea state. “Now only a very small area in the centre of the South China Sea is affected by big waves – from six to eight metres,” he added. “However, as we get closer to the start date, the affected area will grow until by Saturday the whole South China Sea will be affected by this sea state. “The wave models also underestimate the size of waves on the continental shelf i.e. close to the land. On the continental shelf the depth goes from around 3,000 metres to 100 metres and often the waves can be more deadly there than offshore. “This means the teams have no option to escape the big waves by heading north.” With no escape route the crews will have no choice but to batten down the hatches and face whatever the weather gods throw at them as they punch east towards the Luzon Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon. A low pressure system forming to the east of the Philippines is unlikely to develop into a tropical cyclone – but could help increase wind speed and wave height. “The high wind speeds will mean the boats go quicker and in turn ‘jump’ off the huge waves, creating very dangerous conditions,” Infante said. “Ultimately the teams will have to go into survival mode to make it through the South China Sea unscathed.” Thanks to the mountain range protecting Sanya Bay from the north easterly monsoon winds, conditions for Saturday’s Sanya Haitang Bay In-Port Race should be perfect with decent breeze and flat seas. “Offshore it will be a very different story,” Infante said. “Race Control is monitoring the situation very closely with weather updates every 30 minutes. “Models predict the monsoon surge will be fully developed by Friday and will last until at least Tuesday. It is clear the conditions for the start of Leg 4 will be very rough, but it’s not clear how long the conditions will remain.” Leg 4 from Sanya to Auckland is due to start at 1400 local time (0600 UTC) on Sunday, February 19. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/news/5 ... split.html Link to post Share on other sites
RushMan 31 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 The fleet is to be held back after the start today. Is it knot the skippers responsibility to decide if the conditions are too dangerous? Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini Babe 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hmm. So apparently the conditions are too dangerous for these ocean-going machines. In that case, I think the event probably needs to be re-branded the Volvo Ocean-Only-When-It's-Safe-Enough Race. Link to post Share on other sites
203 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Thats plain stupid, it should be the skippers decision weather to sail or not, surely if they reef the main down enough and put a smaller headsail on instead of the code 0 or something, the boats would be manageable down the big waves? or am I thinking of the opposite way.. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I agree. This is a ocean race and it should be up to the crews if they want to race in that weather. Heres the press release from volvo explaining it as well as an audio interview. Volvo Ocean Race organisers will split Leg 4 into two stages and hold the six boats in Sanya after Sunday's leg start to allow enough time for dangerous conditions to clear, with fears that waves of up to eight metres could wreak havoc with the fleet. Race director Jack Lloyd informed the teams on Saturday that Leg 4 to Auckland would be split for reasons of safety after forecasts of unsailable conditions in the South China Sea. The first stage will start as scheduled at 1400 local time (0600 GMT/UTC) and will see the boats complete an inshore course in Sanya Bay before sailing past the famous Guanyin Buddha of South China Sea statue and finishing at Sanya Bay lighthouse which marks the entrance to Sanya Marina. The fleet will then wait until conditions are deemed safe enough for them to sail. The delay will not be for more than 24 hours. The re-start will be staggered, with the boats leaving in the order they finish Stage 1. "It could be that we re-start the in the hours of darkness on Monday morning," Lloyd told the teams. Forecasts of winds gusting above 40 knots and waves of eight metres prompted the decision, according to Race CEO Knut Frostad. "We will re-start the race some time on Monday and it could be in darkness," Frostad said. "Our delay will not be more than 24 hours. "We are doing this because of the weather advice issued by experts both from our own Race HQ in Alicante and the teams' experts. "They all believe we have conditions which will be dangerous up to 12-18 hours after the Leg start, with waves that can break boats if you sail into them." He added: "This has been a very, very difficult decision for us which we've waited as long as possible to make so that we make the right one." Iker Martínez, skipper of overall race leaders Team Telefónica, said he supported the decision. "We have to trust those forecasts," the Spaniard said. "It was very difficult to make this decision but it is clearly a case of safety first and we don't want to go up against a wall." Fresh in the minds of organisers were the problems suffered by the fleet in the Strait of Luzon in the last race, when most of the boats suffered serious damage in conditions described at the time as carnage. The current edition has seen the fleet take plenty of knocks already, with Team Sanya, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG all forced to retire from Leg 1 because of damage. Team Sanya were also forced to make major repairs again in Madagascar in Leg 2, missing the shipping of the fleet through piracy-affected waters in the Indian Ocean. Leg 4 is due to take the fleet 5,220 nautical miles to Auckland in New Zealand. No points will be awarded for the first stage of the leg. Team Telefónica won Saturday's Sanya Haitang Bay In-Port Race and lead the overall standings with 101 points, followed by CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand on 83, Groupama sailing team on 73, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG on 53, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on 43 and Team Sanya on 17. http://www.volvooceanrace.com/media/aud ... _lloyd.mp3 Link to post Share on other sites
203 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I can understand the reason behind it because their multi-million dollar boats, but How many of the ex-ocean race boats still get used? Shows how hard they get pushed.. Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini Babe 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Winds of 40 knots and 8m waves would be par for the course for ocean sailing I would have thought. Not pleasant, but you could be exposed to far worse on a circumnavigation. Especially one that includes the Southern Ocean. Link to post Share on other sites
SloopJohnB 322 Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Are these boats designed for Cat 0 let them go. Talk about dumming down.... so some we have ocean racers designed to 20 knts. or have they arrived???? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Make sme wonder what happens when they get caught out in 60 kn 100 miles from Cape Horn. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Make sme wonder what happens when they get caught out in 60 kn 100 miles from Cape Horn. I hope that they have to face what the GOR fleet went through in the southern ocean. This is a joke and it means that telefonicas chances of winning because they cant break their boat have sky rocketed. Their ocean sailors and boats and they should have the option. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Category 0 Major trans‑ocean races, where yachts must be completely self‑sufficient for very extended periods of time, capable of withstanding heavy storms and prepared to meet serious emergencies without the expectation of outside assistance. Will pass through areas in which air or sea temperatures are likely to be less than 5 degrees Celsius other than temporarily. Link to post Share on other sites
benny14 6 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Just confirms the farcical nature of the race... Another leg knot worth watching... Link to post Share on other sites
SloopJohnB 322 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Another arse kicking for camper, poor puma. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Team Telefónica will enjoy a head start on their rivals in the race to Auckland after taking victory in the first stage of Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Iker Martínez’s team continued their winning streak in Sanya with victory in a race full of surprises which saw both Groupama and Abu Dhabi claw their way back from last place to the podium, while long-term leg leaders PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG were relegated to the back of the pack after getting stuck in a wind hole. "We saw that PUMA got stuck in light winds and tried to steer clear of that, and luckily we made the transition well," said Spanish skipper Martínez, who led his team to victory in Saturday’s Sanya Haitang Bay In-Port Race. "I feel sorry for PUMA because they sailed a great race and just got unlucky." Mike Sanderson’s Team Sanya celebrated a fourth-place finish, their first position off the bottom of the rankings since the Iberdrola In-Port Race in Alicante in November. Despite their strong inshore performance, CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand failed to recover from a setback early in the offshore section of the 43.2-nautical mile race and were forced to settle for fifth. The biggest upset was on board Ken Read’s PUMA when their lead of more than a mile disappeared completely after sailing into a windless area shortly after starting the home run back to Sanya. Read’s men on Mar Mostro could only watch as all five rival teams passed them in better breeze while they floundered with windless sails flapping. CAMPER’s run of bad luck also continued as they fell foul of technical problems not long after beginning the 18 nautical mile stretch from Sanya Bay to the Guanyin Buddha of South China Sea statue. Their fifth place finish means Chris Nicholson’s men will start the 5,220nm race to Auckland, New Zealand, more than nine minutes after Telefónica. "We had a couple of bits of trouble at the start but if you look at what happened to PUMA it could have been a lot worse," said Nicholson. "We would have preferred to start tomorrow with a nine-minute jump on everyone else. We actually fought back well after the first transition but we got cleaned up by the second one." Race management took the decision to split the leg into two sections yesterday in light of dangerous weather conditions raging in the South China Sea. The teams will restart racing from Sanya at the following times: Team Telefónica: 2300 UTC, Sunday February 19 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing: 23:02:32 Groupama sailing team: 23:03:34 Team Sanya: 23:07:28 CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand: 23:09:12 Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 heres more audio after yesterdays dissapointing start to leg four. Neal McDonald - CAMPER with Emriates Team New Zealand http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... donald.mp3 Richard Mason - Team Sanya http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... _mason.mp3 Chris Nicholson - CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... lson_2.mp3 Ian Walker - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... lker_2.mp3 Ken Read - PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... read_2.mp3 Mike Sanderson - Team Sanya http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... derson.mp3 Ken Read - PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... m_read.mp3 Ian Walker - Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing http://www.volvooceanrace.com/static/as ... walker.mp3 Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Yes the convergence of sponsorship and sport creates another train wreck. Cannot take this farce seriously (not the yachties fault - it is the organisers...) Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Racing starts again in just over a hour at midday and I would love them to still run into boat breaking material. Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 If they all break I guess they will ship them to Auckland to get them repaired in time for the start of the next leg Link to post Share on other sites
Bimini Babe 0 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 This last decision to postpone the start due to bad weather really just confirms to me that it's hardly worth bothering with the VOR any more. Since when did the 'world's premier ocean race' become more about inshore windward/leewards than battling the elements of the seven seas? To me, ocean racing should be about how the competitors deal with the worst of what nature can throw at them. That's what should really sort the wheat from the chaff in an ocean race. Not the fact that someone got unlucky and sailed into an area with no wind during an inshore windward/leeward. Link to post Share on other sites
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