Record slipping through his fingers

Sodebo must average over 19 knots directly at the mark to break IDEC's time

Image above courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems and PredictWind.

The rot continues to set in for Thomas Coville and Sodebo. Crossing the Doldrums on Saturday Sodebo's speed dropped to below 10 knots average late on Friday afternoon and didn't emerge above 10 knots again until just after midnight on Sunday morning as she was between 5°30S and 1°22S.

Sodebo crossed the Equator at 0920 GMT on Sunday after 49 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds at sea and or 1 day, 19 hours and 54 minutes behind Francis Joyon and IDEC. Since leaving on 29 January, Sodebo had at the time of her Equator crossing travelled 23,777 miles at an average speed of 19.84 knots, 1,151 mile more than IDEC, the same number as when she rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Despite being upwind to get round Recife Sodebo was faster than IDEC coming up the south Atlantic. Cape Horn to the Equator Sodebo covered in 11 days, 21 hours and 56 minutes or 16 hours and 4 minutes faster than IDEC in 2008.

Back in the North Atlantic and into the northeasterly trades, this morning Sodebo fully has her afterburners on, her four hourly average up to 22-23 knots. However her course is not good. Having shaved past Recife, Sodebo crossed the Equator at 35°24W some 315 miles west of where IDEC crossed. Since then for reasons that aren't clear, she has been heading on a decidedly northwest course (rather than northerly or northeasterly). As result her deficit on IDEC has been steadily increasing - up to 523 miles at the latest update.

Weather-wise the north Atlantic is in a state of flux with an area of high pressure centred to the west of the Canaries and a giant oblong-shaped depression southeast of Newfoundland. With the high so far east, there a zone of light winds which Sodebo would encounter tomorrow morning if she headed due north from where she is presently. The high sorts itself out by Thursday when it is centred to the south of the Azores but of use to Coville by then will be a powerful depression heading east from North America. This could provide Coville with favourable 20-25 knot winds to get her most of the way back to the Bay of Biscay. However at present the long term forecast has the weather going soft for Sodebo as she reaches the finish line.

To beat IDEC's record Sodebo much cross the line of Ushant before 00:40:34 GMT next Monday, 28 March. At present this is 3072 miles away so over the 6 days 15 hours and 40 minutes left to run on this record attempt, Sodebo must average 19.28 knots directly at the mark. This will be a tough challenge...