Green Dragon Leg Five Day 11

What looked like a promising highway south a good three days ago, now has turned into a dirt track with some very nasty potholes. Risk of a complete stop is about 70%, and the less than 30% chance of a swift arrival at the other end is making it look less than ideal.

It no surprise that the fleet has made a sharp left hand turn and prefers a close look at Fiji over the no doubt beautiful islands of Vanuatu.

The limited weather info package we are receiving (the satellite arrangement upstairs is interfering with our comms) gives us only a tantalising hint of what is going on in the Southern Ocean, and for days the route south was a mystery.

The weather studies that we worked on before the start with weather expert Jean Yves Bernot and fellow navigator Ian Moore already showed a more easterly route along the Marshall and Kiribati islands to be favourable, but also some more risky options for a direct southerly route with huge benefits.

So we have so far chosen the more conservative easterly route. It already gave us stronger winds and a better wind angle in the NE trades, and yesterday, a swift doldrum crossing. Now with the southerly route blocked we have a great chance to cut the corner and get back in touch with the fleet too!

The reverse isochrones (lines of equal time to the mark) to Fiji are actually showing us ahead of the fleet, but we know that the power machines in the south are generally kicking our ass on boatspeed in these reaching conditions. We will be modest and are happy with being in touch with the fleet near Fiji.

It really looks like a 1000 NM drag race up there with not too many options. Be as fast as you can! In the meantime down in the dungeons Ian and I will be rattling our brains on how we are going to get to the westerlies of the Southern Ocean.

Every gribfile shows a little window, but we know that the weather models are generally overestimating the development of the low pressure systems. Sure enough, the next grib file we get in the low is less intense, the promising winds have disappeared and we are moving our waypoint further east, waiting for the next opportunity.

Eventually it will come, we are confident. In the meantime we are enjoying the great gains to the fleet of the last days. The Green Dragon team is a happy bunch with a good dose of determination. 3,600 fast miles under our belt and only 9,000 miles to go. We are in with the bunch and are going to give these guys a good fight. Hey guys, you might be fast down there, but be aware the dragon has sharp claws to fight back with all the way to Rio!

Wouter Verbraak - Navigator