Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Battle For Point Nemo

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  

  • The Battle For Point Nemo

    Close together, far from home



    The Ocean Race is still racing close together as they approach the most isolated place on the planet

    The four IMOCAs charging towards Cape Horn are approaching Point Nemo on Tuesday.



    Defined as the most isolated, remote place on earth, Point Nemo is a spot in south Pacific Ocean, 2,688 kilometres from the nearest land. In fact, the closest sign of civilisation is the International Space Station, orbiting just over 400 kilometres above the sailors.




    But it is unlikely the crews on The Ocean Race are feeling lonely. To the contrary, the race is as close as one could imagine. After more than three weeks of racing, the spread from first to fourth is still just 10 miles on the race tracker leaderboard, but on Tuesday there is a new leader - Team Malizia.



    "It's an historic day today," said skipper Boris Herrmann. "The battle of Point Nemo!! We can see all the boats here through our windows. They are just a few boatlengths away and we're all racing towards Point Nemo. It's amazing to be sailing so close to our friends!"

    The crew on long time leader Team Holcim-PRB has come to terms with how the vagaries of the weather has meant a lead of nearly 600 miles has disappeared. But sailor Abby Ehler says they've been prepared to see the rest of the fleet catch them for some time now.



    Biotherm


    Holcim PRB


    Malizia


    11th Hour Racing


    "The writing was on the wall a week ago that the fleet would catch us up so it was only a matter of time, that’s just how the weather systems roll," she wrote. "It’s actually nice to be back in the fleet, it intensifies things and we’re definitely more on guard. Not to say we got lazy, more that it’s harder to benchmark speed and angles when you are flying solo.

    "We have another couple of days of moderate downwind conditions and then we’re in for some heavy air downwind sailing... We’ve tried to plot a route around Cape Horn that keeps us in less than 35kts but that has proved impossible so here goes!"





    The forecast does get quite aggressive for the rest of the week. Westerly winds build to 35 knots and the sea state - especially further south - is predicted to be over 6 metres.

    "The wind will increase - we're expecting 30-40 knots of wind and a big sea state - maybe up to 8 metres," said Paul Meilhat on board Biotherm. "We'll have to manage the routing to avoid the worst and still arrive as fast as we can."

    The ETA at Cape Horn remains Sunday night UTC and at the finish in Itaja?, Brazil on April 1/2.




      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • New Horizons Lay Before MOD 70 Orion
      by Photoboy
      The MOD 70 Orion has been getting a new life thanks to Justin Shaffer and a crew of mostly NorCal sailors familiar with the trimaran's quirks and whims, and a boatload of blue water miles between them. Donated to USMMA by her 2nd owner, Tom Seibel which had brought her to the West Coast in 2013 after her initial stint with Roland Jourdain as Veolia Environment. She is currently prepping to compete in this years Transpac with two additional Mod 70's, Giovani Soldini's Maserati and Jason Carroll's...
      Yesterday, 03:03 PM
    • Winds Return To Finn Master Worlds
      by Photoboy
      Filipe Silva extends after two more races at Finn World Masters




      Filipe Silva, from Portugal, has extended his lead at the 2023 Finn World Masters at Nea Iraklitsa, Kavala, Greece, after two races were sailed on Thursday. Laurent Hay, from France is back up to second with Peter Mosny from Slovakia in third. Race wins went to Hay and Peter Peet from The Netherlands.







      It’s taken long enough but finally the
      ...
      06-01-2023, 04:14 PM
    • A Dutch Treat For Olympic Classes At Allianz Regatta
      by Photoboy
      ]


      The opening day of action of the Allianz Regatta was dominated by the Dutch on home waters as they led the way in four of the six classes in action.

      In fact it was only in the two Formula Kite classes that the home competitors were denied, with a strong French showing.





      Perhaps the standout performance for Dutch fans in the Allianz Regatta came in the iQFOiL Men, where Luuc van Opzeeland led a Dutch 1-2-3 through four heats.
      ...
      06-01-2023, 11:49 AM
    • A Relatively Quick Spinnaker Cup And Cal 500 Kick Of CORW 2023
      by Photoboy
      37 boats participated in the 2023 California Offshore Race Week in the initial phase.

      2 of which were the Mod 70's, Orion under the command of Justin Shaffer and Jason Carrol's Argo which engaged in the 2nd edition of the California 500, the San Francisco San Diego with the Farallones and Cortez Bank as turning marks. There were 3 boats registered , but Frank Slootman's Snowflake pulled out before the 10:00 start off the St Francis, reason for which remains a mystery.

      Also...
      05-31-2023, 04:15 PM
    • The Big C Abandons Transatlantic Micro Yacht Attempt
      by Photoboy
      Big C abandons Canada to Cornwall crossing after sinking at quayside


      Andrew Bedwell has abandoned his mission to sail from Canada to Cornwall after his home boat sank” while docked.
      https://nautica.news/big-c-abandons-...all-crossing/?

      He was setting out on the 1,900-mile solo voyage from St John’s, Newfoundland, at noon on Saturday, but a few hours into the voyage, the Big C began to take on water and he was forced to return to shore.
      When his
      ...
      05-30-2023, 11:39 AM
    • Two MOB Incidents In Separate Cross Channel Races Result In Fatality
      by Photoboy
      Two separate Man Overboard incidents have occurred during different cross-Channel races this weekend, with one fatality confirmed.



      https://www.yachtingworld.com/all-la...or-dies-145845


      The first incident took place during the Royal Escape Race, which set off from Brighton to Fecamp, in Normandy on Friday 26 May.

      The yachtsman is reported to have fallen overboard around 1400 hours, some six hours into the 66-mile race across the English
      ...
      05-30-2023, 11:29 AM
    Working...
    X