Slingshot southeast on Sunday

Groupama set to sail many more miles than Orange in the south Atlantic

Thursday November 12th 2009, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom
Image above courtesy of Expedition and Predict Wind
 
 
Time Lat Long
Spd
Crs
Spd
Dist
DTF
DTL
Inst
24 hr
12/11/2009 22:00
15°05.70 S 033°41.08 W
26,8
197°
25,4
608,5
20511
721.5
12/11/2009 19:00
13°48.77 S 033°21.48 W
26,0
194°
24,6
590,4
20567
699.4
12/11/2009 16:00
12°29.29 S 033°00.08 W
20,9
194°
23,8
572,2
20627
682.0
12/11/2009 13:00
11°32.69 S 032°43.46 W
28,5
194°
24,1
578,7
20672
682.4
12/11/2009 10:00
10°11.64 S 032°23.47 W
28,0
195°
23,5
563,1
20739
670.1
12/11/2009 08:00
09°14.98 S 032°08.84 W
25,7
193°
22,8
547,6
20787
656.7
12/11/2009 05:00
07°58.50 S 031°49.18 W
24,4
203°
22,2
532,1
20853
658.6
12/11/2009 02:00
06°47.41 S 031°27.25 W
23,7
196°
21,6
517,7
20914
668.9
11/11/2009 23:00
05°36.34 S 031°20.05 W
21,2
175°
21,0
505,1
20981
673.6
 
Groupama 3 continue to 'go wide' in the South Atlantic, this evening passing Salvador de Bahia, albeit some 300 miles offshore. Their track down the south Atlantic remains around 300 miles further east than when Orange 2 set her record (and she was fast in this section). The last 24 hours has coincided with when Orange 2 was crossing the Doldrums and so this and speeds on Groupama 3 generally back into the high 20s has seen her regain some advantage over the record holder's virtual pace.

Weather-wise last night's forecast seems to have been reasonably inaccurate and while we were expecting to see a depression shoot east from Brazil tomorrow, in fact this appears to have occurred today, with another depression having been spawned (we like that word) from the Brazilian coast today.

For Groupama 3 the met situation ahead looks set to get interesting on Saturday morning by which time she should be around the latitude of the Brazilian hotspot of Florianopolis as here they are forecast to find themselves in easterlies at the top of a NW-SE orientated band of high pressure, but with the two depressions to the north, stirring things up. It is likely that they will use the west side of this high to slingshot themselves in the Roaring Forties. As luck would have it their arrival here will neatly coincide with a third depression being 'spawned' this time from the River Plate between Uruguary and Argentina and it will in fact be the eastern side of this system that they are likely to use as the device to get them on to the Southern Ocean 'conveyor belt'.

The only downside is that it will require several hundred more miles to be sailed than Bruno Peyron and his crew had to on their record lap of the planet.

Earlier Cammas reported: "It's fine weather with a few cumulus reminiscent of the good conditions, with slightly shifty tradewinds on the beam. We're having to manoeuvre fairly frequently, switching between the staysail and solent as the wind varies from 14 to 22 knots... We're being forced to sail right around the outside of the Saint Helena High: we're going to sail along the Brazilian coast for two days to gain southing in order to hook onto a depression, which is currently forming over the South American continent. This will then quickly push us eastwards... However, it's important we don't miss the ride as there aren't any more after that! The encounter is scheduled for lunchtime on Saturday: after that we're going to power away... For the time being, the weather sequence is pretty favourable with an anticyclone ahead of us, which the depression will push along. We're going to have flat seas with downwind conditions!"

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