Volvo Ocean Race - Strong winds, high waves, freezing cold and albatrosses – Part II of our round the world tour

Race meteorologist Gonzalo Infante is taking us on a virtual tour through the route for the 2014-15 edition. In part II, we tackle the South China Sea and the Southern Ocean before making it round Cape Horn and heading up towards the United States.

Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Vol

Gonzalo Infante:This north-south leg can take you much further north than expected to start with! It will also have the flavour of a homecoming for all the Kiwi sailors involved in the race.

Let’s pray for the South China Sea conditions to be better than last time. This time around the One Design boats will be able to take on tougher conditions, but the crew will get seasick anyway. Anyone willing to try the new class should not pick that leg!

The Luzon Strait can be very windy. The course to take will depend on the strength of the trade winds. If they are well established in Luzon, you can head directly to the Solomon Islands in the south east. If they are not, you will have to go to the east, even sometimes to the north. Last time PUMA and Groupama went pretty close to Japan – that was one extreme option! It’s the proof that in offshore racing, the quickest way isn’t always the most logical or the shortest one.
Another doldrums crossing around the Solomon Islands and an interesting passage through the archipelago before to find the trade winds once again. Only this time they are affected by the Tasman Sea. There is some tropical activity in this area: any small doldrums storm can develop into a tropical storm when drifting south. One of these could very well get between the fleet and the leg finish in Auckland.

West or east, two different approaches of the New Zealand northern tip are possible depending on how steady the systems are. Finally it’s some coastal sailing to the City of Sails.

Auckland – Itajaí: 6,776 nm
Gonzalo Infante:Strong winds, deep waves, freezing temperatures and albatrosses – this leg is made of all the Southern Ocean clichés! To make it across the Roaring Forties in one piece before rounding Cape Horn and sailing along the South American coast is an achievement in itself.

The start from Auckland can be dangerous if a tropical system drifts south and gets into a powerful low pressure with strong north winds.

One of the leg's most dangerous situations is the presence of ice and you have got to stay north of the 40° S. But by staying north of that latitude, a tropical system is very likely to be on your route and you’ll have to sail in strong easterlies – that would be the worst scenario.

The low pressures travel so fast in the South Pacific that they have a big impact on the sea state. The swell has no fixed direction and it’s difficult to direct your boat to preserve it. Temperatures are freezing down there and relative humidity is close to 100%. Everything is full of water!

Another big thing is obviously the approach to Cape Horn. There are around 500 miles between the Cape and the northern tip of Antarctica – it’s going to be full of action. Worst case is the northwesterly wind because the Andes physical situation increases its strength by more than 100%.

After the Horn comes the return to civilisation, which means returning to an aggressive strategy at short and medium range. Most frequently you want to stay as much time as possible into the westerlies by staying close to the Argentinean coast, before getting into the variable weather related to the South Atlantic High.

Getting closer to Brazil and Florianopolis, thunderstorms appear and threaten the fleet until the arrival in Itajaí.

Itajaí – Newport: 5,010 nm
Gonzalo Infante:This is a coastal leg with some good offshore options to consider. Whatever happens, looking good as the Race arrives in the great sailing city of Newport for the first time ever will be very important to most of the sailors.

After leaving Itajaí the weather is very stormy and variable. There are warm currents close to the coast. Offshore or inshore? Sea breeze or land breeze? Land breeze is a good night feature in Brazil but it’s not constant.

Then you should catch the south easterly trade. Once in them there is all about performance before another Doldrums passage with trade winds again to follow.

Don’t travel too far east in the northern hemisphere or you’ll end up doing a lot of upwind sailing.

From Miami's latitude to Newport, you have to choose between playing the Gulf Stream and staying offshore to play the weather systems until Rhode Island.