The Luzon lesson
Category: InternationalStill sailing against the wind and the sea, the fleet is approaching Taiwan and is set to pass through the Luzon Strait mid-afternoon European time. At the front of the pack alongside the New Zealanders, to windward, and the Spanish, to leeward, Groupama 4 is in a favourable position to finally escape the South China Sea and begin her descent towards the Melanesian islands, which is forecast to be tricky...
In the end, the monsoon took on a somewhat different guise than usual, straying away from its customary system of fairly stable north-easterlies from Taiwan to Vietnam. Indeed the VO-70s initially had to dive towards the East-South-East for half a day, before climbing up to the North-East for over 24 hours and then hitting a big south-easterly rotation. As such it's beneath the Tropic of Cancer that the exit door is half open to enable the fleet to reach, if not the Pacific Ocean, then the Philippine Sea. The initial phase of this fourth leg has really put the boats under pressure, as well as the crews, who have got shaken about and have been having to keep an ear out for the slightest hint of a suspicious sound.
"It takes a bit of time to get into the swing of the watches after a stopover, especially at night since we were used to sleeping as we do on land: the first 72 hours are always long... The watch in the middle of the night is the hardest because there's no moon and you wake up for a four hour spell with no references. Unless you have young kids which get you used to getting up at midnight, it's not easy. Added to that, we were told that the Volvo Ocean Race is essentially downwind and so far we've been sailing close-hauled since Singapore! It's not the most comfortable point of sail, or the fastest. And we've got more of the same for a few days. For now though, we're in the leading group!" commented Charles Caudrelier in the depths of the Chinese night.
Three in one
Indeed the Luzon Strait, nearly 200 miles wide, separates the northern extremity of the Philippines from the South of the island of Formosa. It is dotted with a multitude of islands and islets which form three main passages: to the North the Bashi Channel, at the centre the Balintang Channel and to the South the Babuyan Channel. Driven back towards Taiwan, the crews have had no other choice than to take the same track, trying to sail as close on the wind as possible. Camper is in pole position in this little game thanks to her ability to sail close to the wind. Her situation is set to further improve over the coming hours since the breeze will shift round towards the South. After a short final beat to get around the southern tip of Formosa, the crews are in for a long parabola course in which the New Zealanders are set to boost their lead over Groupama 4, which in turn should be able to keep the Spanish in her wake.
The Gulf Stream counterpart
Early this Wednesday afternoon, there was still some breeze around the outskirts of Taiwan, around thirty miles in front of Groupama 4. The wind, around fifteen knots of South-East to easterly (120°), is picking up quite rough seas, under the influence of the Kuro-Shivo oceanic current, which forms to the West of Formosa and is beginning to influence proceedings. This stream of current, which is the equivalent of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, climbs up towards Japan before bending round towards Hawaii: swirling around in the Philippine Sea, it also mixes with the tides, making the waves very abrupt and chaotic, even when there's not a lot of wind. In this messy chop, the crews will have to contend with an easing wind in the Bashi Channel, which will shift round to the South from sunset, at which point it will only reach around ten knots.
As such, it's by setting a course to the East-South-East that the fleet will be able to traverse the Luzon Strait with a few islands to be rounded such as Y'ami, Mabudis, Siayan, Itbayat, Batan and Sabtang, and the prospect of a few meteorological and oceanic unknowns along the way! The main aim for the navigators seems to be to distance themselves from the Philippines as quickly as possible, even if they have to extend the distance to travel, as the wind is more stable offshore. The gradual curving round of the trajectories should bring the fleet in line, with the New Zealanders leading and a bunching of the chasing pack behind Groupama 4. In principle, there aren't likely to be any major upsets in the hierarchy over the next 24 hours and it's likely that Camper will be able to claw back some additional miles in these conditions where there is less than twelve knots of upwind breeze. However, prior to the weekend, the return of an easterly monsoon system will relaunch the drag race just as the fleet begin to see the first signs of equator-like conditions... And there is still nearly 4,700 miles to go before they can get a glimpse of Auckland!
Position of the competitors in the Volvo Ocean Race on the fourth leg from Sanya - Auckland at 1300 UTC on 22/02/2012
1. Camper 4,716.3 miles from the finish
2. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - 4.2 miles astern of the leader
3. Team Sanya - 5.1 miles astern of the leader
4. Groupama 4 - 6.6 miles astern of the leader
5. Telefonica - 12.9 miles astern of the leader
6. Puma - 16.3 miles astern of the leader
* At 0800 UTC this morning, the first waypoint of the leg changed: the standings are no longer calculated in relation to the Philippines but instead from a position to the North of New Zealand. Hence a change in the podium in favour of the boats positioned further South: Sanya takes second place and Abu Dhabi third. Groupama is positioned in fourth place, but you can clearly see on the cartography that the French are in the leading group, in an attractive position.