Monster flier!

Teams Brunel and SCA head north in hope of making long term gains in the Volvo Ocean Race

Close racing/formation flying is all well and good, but perpetually having to measure relative progress with a ruler - as we often find with this Volvo Ocean Race in one designs - gets a little monotonous. So it was with great delight that yesterday lunchtime, Team SCA was the first to tack north...ie sailing away from Auckland... followed moments later by the heavyweights, including Bouwe Bekking and navigator Andrew Cape on Team Brunel. Since then the two boats have made it most of the way to Taiwan, on a course better for Japan than the southern hemisphere.

In the meantime, as forecast, the wind headed the remaining four boats as they entered the Luzon Strait, closing on the northern tip of the Philippines at around 1800 UTC. With debate no doubt raging in the nav stations as they watched Brunel and SCA make their break, the race leaders ended up short tacking along the north coast of Luzon. But rather than shaving Palaui Island (northeast tip of Luzon) and bearing away to the southeast on the shortest course, this group has instead tacked north too, presumably with the aim of minimising any potential threat from the wayward Brunel and SCA. We are now into a phase where the leaderboard, ie who is closest to the finish, is meaningless with the whole fleet now heading away from Auckland...

Images below (click to enlarge) courtesy of Expedition and Predictwind

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So 'why did SCA and Brunel head north?' you will be asking. Quite simply the routing shows that there is an ultimate 'buffalo girls' route to get south down to the Solomon Islands some 2800 miles down the course.

On the direct route, the boats would round Palaui Island and crack off southeast initially with the wind going light and then veering into east. This would put them once again upwind on port (as they have been crossing the South China Sea) with a reprieve from this only occurring at the beginning of next week when the wind is forecast to back more into the northeast. Not only is this slow, but also relatively painful and ultimately potentially boat breaking.

The 'Buffalo girls' route shows Brunel and SCA continuing north until tomorrow morning UTC when the wind is forecast to veer into the northeast. They then look set to carry this faster northeasterly breeze for the first half of their circuitous course that could take them as far northeast as the remote North Mariana islands, some 750 miles away from the direct route.

Anyway - a big hand for Team Brunel and SCA for having the courage of their convictions rather than sticking with the consensus on the slower route.

Prior to making their move Dee Caffari reported yesterday from Team SCA

Decisions decisions…So shall we or shan't we? Do we or don't we?

The brains trust on Team SCA is debating these questions constantly as the ever evolving picture of the weather develops.

To have the fleet so close means that to branch out on your own is a big call, but to sail to a plan to make the most of the bigger, long term picture requires some nerves of steel.

Will they come with us if we go? That is the million dollar question and only time will tell. Will the fleet go to the Philippines or will we hitch north to Taiwan? This is exciting to be part of and no doubt exciting and slightly more comfortable to watch on the tracker from your armchair.

Conditions out here do not seem to be getting better but there is a promise of better days to come, This is giving hope to our poorly crew who are stoically continuing with their jobs onboard.

We are struggling to find a rhythm in these conditions. Sleep is tricky in our bunks as we wedge ourselves in and brace ourselves for each monster wave we crash over. On deck it is relentlessly wet but the good news it is fast and fun sailing, honest!

I am sure we will be complaining all too quickly that we do not have enough wind and we will have forgotten how we felt on these first few days departing Sanya. After all this is Team SCA living life at the extreme!