It’s been a fast day for the Ocean Race fleet, with 24 hour runs approaching the 500 nautical mile barrier.
“We have flat water, we’re reaching at about 110 degrees to the wind, in about 20-23 knots of windspeed and averaging about 23 to 25 knots of boatspeed. It’s fun,” said Alan Roberts on third-placed Biotherm.
That will change tonight (Monday), but when the fleet emerges into the north Atlantic trades, the high speed reaching will resume.
The next transition will be to cross what appears on the forecast to be a fairly benigh doldrums – the teams are far enough to the west that the impact shouldn’t be too strong or long lasting.
As of 13:00 UTC on Monday, the leading teams are starting to approach the unsettled weather that is characteristic of the doldrums.
Team Malizia and 11th Hour Racing Team have been swapping the lead back and forth on the tracker for the past 24 hours, with the German team slightly further north, and the Americans just to the west.
In reality, there is little to choose between the two positions. The pair will cross the equator later on Monday evening UTC and the effects of the doldrums will then become more pronounced.
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