Update from Green Dragon, Monday, January 19th. Over 24 hours into Leg 4 and the fleet are lined up like ducks as they head north into the South China Sea. The first day has been tough on Green Dragon as they try to stay with the pack in the upwind conditions, but by the 1300 GMT position report they were making progress having gained two miles on the fleet. The race office has also added a new dimension to the leg, an additional way point. When the boats set sail on Sunday the leg featured no way points, no scoring gates and no stealth play. Due to an intense weather system the race office have introduced a waypoint which is intended to keep the fleet to the east of the South China Sea. It will certainly impact the tactical options available, a point noted by Green Dragon’s skipper Ian Walker, “Many tactical options have been eliminated by the race officers decision to put in a new waypoint to keep the boats closer to shore when some expected strong winds come in later this week. This may turn out to be an inspired decision but right now it is an irritation”.
Elsewhere PUMA are leading the pack and are marching the fleet to China, but their lead is small as Ericsson 4 and Telefonica Blue are chomping at the bit just a mile to their stern. The whole fleet remain on port tack in 15 knot north easterly conditions. By this morning the race office has issued the news regarding the new waypoint, it is called South Rock Light. It is positioned 15 07 degrees N, 117 49 degrees E, and the fleet must sail to the east of it, taking them close to the coast of Manilla, this can be seen on the race viewer here
In terms of the forecast ahead, the upwind sailing continues, but a low pressure system moving west off the coast of Brunei is on its way. The fleet will need to negotiate their way through this, which will happen overnight, the issue will come for any boats who find themselves caught in the centre where the wind will drop and cost the boats valuable miles on the rest of the fleet.
Update from Skipper Ian Walker
Well we’re off again and it seems like ages since we have been at sea. Everyone is settling back into the rhythm including new crew member Ian Budgen as well as Tom and Ian Moore back from a leg off. It is already very clear this will be a tough leg for us. To date we have relied on strong downwind sailing and strategic and tactical decisions to keep us in the frame and this leg looks like a bit of a soldiers course right now with everyone having to follow each other in their tracks. Tacking off would be suicidal with the impending right hand shift. Many tactical options have been eliminated by the race officers decision to put in a new waypoint to keep the boats closer to shore when some expected strong winds come in later this week. This may turn out to be an inspired decision but right now it is an irritation. Maybe we do need saving from ourselves in this way! Despite currently bringing up the rear of the pack spirits onboard are good. The great thing with sailing is you never know what will happen next so we plan to keep as close as we can, stay alert and wait for any opportunities to open up. About 3 hours ago we passed a wooded, tropical island surrounded by a beautiful sandy beach -it did cross my mind to drop anchor and explore and the locals in canoes seemed pretty friendly. It wouldn’t have been too professional so maybe I’ll have to come back here cruising one day! It was called Pulau Midai for any geography buffs out there. That’s about it from the Green Dragon - I’m off to have seconds of freeze dried chicken teriyaki - its not bad at all and after losing a lot of weight following an illness I picked up in India I need feeding up a bit.
