#roundireland14 – The Yellowbrick race trackers installed on the Round Ireland fleet afford the armchair viewers the luxury of slow motion replays. As the wind headed the boats on the approach to the Galway coast some made the decision to stay on starboard tack, seeking stronger breeze to the west of the rhumbline away from the coast, while competitors tacked on the header and moved inshore or short tacked along the rhumb line. Boats that were next to each other at Loop Head diverged and are now converging off the Mayo coast.
The tracker's replay facility allows us to rewind the race and analyse the distance gained or lost by the inshore/offshore decison. When the comparison is between sister ships it is more valid as the one-design qualities negate the differences in speed. Thus we can compare the tracks of Persistance and State of Chassis, two almost equally rated Sigma 38s. At 1144 Monday, the boats were 1.4 miles apart as they rounded the Blaskets with State of Chassis ahead.
Fast forward to 2000 and Persistance has gained somewhat by staying closer to the rhumbline slightly east of State of Chassis. At that time Persistance tacks towards the coast, while SoC continues on starboard out to sea. At 0200 Tuesday, SoC tacks back towards the coast, but at this stage is some 20 miles to the west of Persistence who has short tacked close to the rhumbline.
Imagine SoC's disgust when at 0430, Persistance crosses her bow at a distance of about 6 miles having gained 7.4miles over the previous 12 hours.
This tactical battle is being played out across the bulk of the fleet, although the inshore option has been chosen by the greater number of boats. This may change as the fleet crosses Donegal Bay. Cavatina still leads, but the minor places are fluctuating. Amazing Grace's catch up continues - now up to 13th overall on IRC.
