Un buen análisis meteo de
VV...
Y lo que comenta la organización...
RECORDS-BREAKERS?
The speedos are going crazy! An average speed of 23 knots over the past few hours for the leader Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), who has been sailing since Friday evening ahead of a cold front coming out of the Bay of Rio and who clocked up 525 miles in the past 24 hours in the last rankings. This front is associated with a deepening area of low pressure going from 1001 hPa to 971 hPa and which is moving east-south-eastwards at 25-30 knots. This movement towards the Fifties is very favorable for the frontrunners, who are speeding along at more than twenty knots. They will be able to stay on the southern edge of this low for three days. After that they will be propelled by another low coming out of Argentina this weekend, which will take over at 45°S.
A real boost
The northerly air stream will continue to flow off the island of Tristan da Cunha, strengthening to 25-30 knots in the squalls. It is this second low, which will propel the leaders to the longitude of Cape Agulhas, which marks the entry point into the Indian Ocean. This strong downwind flow should enable thm to pass under an area of high pressure with light winds, which is establishing itself mid-week under the horn of Africa. The St Helena high is very volatile over the coming days with the establishment of a second centre off Cape Frio while the first one is shrinking and moving eastwards early in the week.
It is this new situation in the South Atlantic, which will create a chasm between the frontrunners and their closest rivals, who will also have to watch the boats behind them narrow the gap. We can expect only the Magnificent Seven at the front to benefit from this kick up the rear, with an extra bonus for those right out in front: Alex Thomson is likely to increase his lead over Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire VIII) 130 miles back and Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild) 148 miles behind. Thanks to his downwind position to the south, the British sailor is benefiting from steadier and stronger winds allowing him several tenths of a knot of extra speed…
The speed differential is essentially down to this difference in positioning, as in 24 hours, Armel Le Cléac’h has lost 20 miles from the leader, just like Sébastien Josse and Morgan Lagravière (Safran), while Jérémie Beyou gave up 70 miles in one day. The skipper of Maître CoQ is just on the edge of hanging on to the high-speed Atlantic train and is expected to see two knots of speed less in the coming days. The difference between foilers and boats with straight daggerboards is clear: Vincent Riou (PRB) and Paul Meilhat (SMA) are getting the most out of their monohulls, but they cannot keep up the same pace as the new foilers, seeing 60 to 80 miles less per day over the past three days, so the toll has been high as they approach Tristan da Cunha.
