Gonzalo Infante:
It will be a familiar start for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet as they head out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic. The difference this time is that the leg finishes in Recife in the north east of Brazil.
It all begins with some unpredictable coastal sailing in the Mediterranean Sea. The autumn weather in the Levante area, from Valencia to Murcia, is an extreme season. Why? Because the air is cold and the Mediterranean Sea is still warm, which enhances the chances of low formations. These are very favourable conditions for storm development. They create a lot of short and choppy waves too, which are very hard on the boats and the sailors.
The Alboran Sea, from Palos to Gibraltar, is the perfect wind channel with high mountains on the Spanish and the Moroccan sides. On top of this is a permanent oceanographic feature with a lot of current due to the exchanges between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. From Alicante to Palos, the big gains or losses are about playing the coastal effects. A lot of strategy will be involved and will depend on the direction of the wind too – in autumn, it usually blows from the east but in case of westerly winds it will be an upwind Mediterranean exit.
Crossing Gibraltar is always very tricky. The weather at this transition point is either very rough or very light. If rough, it’s difficult because of the traffic and the sea state. If light, you can go backwards!
Before crossing, you also have to decide on your strategy after Gibraltar – going west at the beginning or going south-southwest to follow the traditional trade winds. That decision depends of how well established the trade winds are. Last time there were just a bit late and west was best: Groupama missed them when following the African coast.
Then comes the doldrums crossing. This time, as the race starts sooner, Doldrums can be a little bit more painful to cross, since the area of squalls is at the same latitude as the equatorial calms, with little wind to escape from these big cells. As usual, the doldrums are narrower on the west and the area gets wider as you get closer to Africa.
Once the doldrums crossed, you enter the southeasterly trades. The more eastern you cross though, the more you will be able to open the sheets afterwards in these trades. It will be close to the beginning of the Austral summer, as the fleet will sail at reaching angles to Recife.
Recife – Abu Dhabi: 9,707 nm
Gonzalo Infante:
The longest and most diverse leg of this 12th edition, it will go from the hot Tropics to the freezing Southern Ocean and back to the heat again in Abu Dhabi.
You have two options to start with: rounding the St. Helena High to catch the Southern Ocean westerlies or cutting its corner. When you round it, the South America lows push you very quickly towards the Roaring Forties. In any case, the goal is to catch these westerlies as soon as possible before heading east fast. Obviously that course will depend a lot from the ice limits.
The next challenge is to pick the right moment to head north again. The transition from the Westerlies in the Southern Indian Ocean to the northern trades of the South Pacific High is a tricky one. It’s difficult to go from westerly to easterly winds! If you get too close from the high, you may get stuck. But if you stay too far, you will end up doing a lot of upwind sailing.
Then comes another Doldrums crossing. These ones are bigger and more unknown than the Atlantic doldrums. The Indian Ocean is very different from the Atlantic one… This crossing can change whatever has been done until this point. Like Groupama last time, you can lose it all by being at the wrong place at the wrong time – the story of life!
After the Doldrums you have to sail upwind from Cape Comorin up to 500 miles off Hormuz in the monsoon winds. Once closer to the Gulf of Oman, you enter in some kind of no man's land between the Arabian Sea and the Gulf, where the wind is very unstable. With the Shamal wind’s help, you can finally blast towards Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi – Sanya: 4,670 nm
Gonzalo Infante:
The highlights of this leg are evocative of some very exotic eastern travel - leaving the Emirates for India, Malacca and Singapore, choosing between Borneo or Vietnam and finally the Hainan island in China.
The start is the inverse of the previous leg: reaching towards Hormuz before entering a transition area and sailing downwind in the monsoon. Once you cut the corner of Cape Comorin, the northeasterly trades are still there but they are weaker. The monsoon winds shift at the Equator. You have to decide if you prefer to go a little bit more south and get a better angle. But all in all it usually is a bit light for such gains to make the difference.
Usually, as you get closer to Malacca, the wind shifts to north northeasterly and you have to decide where to tack. You don’t want to dive too far south on the Sumatra lee side neither. It’s a very tactical approach.
Malacca is a very random place with a generally light wind. The Equator is not far and there are a lot of navigation hazards. The seabed is not fixed and the navigation charts are not very good in the area. Lots of traffic, lots of land breeze too: every day in Malacca is different! The fact that you sailed there before can actually play against you. The key question is whether to use your experience or be open-minded. I would go for the second option.
Then it’s the Singapore Channel, a very narrow one. There isn’t much room out of the traffic lanes and it’s not good to upset merchant vessels. The first miles in the South China Sea are normally upwind but might also be sailed downwind. Stick to the Malaysia coast instead of the Vietnamese to enjoy the Borneo Vortex breeze if there is any and you might be rewarded. The final beat towards Sanya will most probably be a rough upwind one.
Check www.volvooceanrace.com for the rest of the route analysis in the next days!
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