CLIPPER RACE OFFICE INSIGHT – RACE 2: HUNDRED YEARS CUP – DAY 20
05 October 2023
With the teams now over halfway on their passage towards Punta Del Este, Deputy Race Director, Dale Smyth gives an update on what's to be expected over the next few days of Race 2: Hundred Years Cup.
Dale says: “Throughout the Ocean Sprint, the fleet has been taking full advantage of the slowly backing trade winds, giving much faster off the wind conditions to the initial hard upwind slog teams experienced exiting the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
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“Typically, as the fleet is now experiencing, the trades become more and more north easterly as they race towards Cape Frio, where the coast falls away towards Rio De Janeiro. Up at the front of the pack a real battle is going on. Yacht Club Punta Del Este is pushing hard to be the first into its Host Port, but Perseverance is giving the local boat sleepless nights as it threatens that possibility. PSP Logistics and Dare To Lead are equally threatening as things look slightly more complex over the next few days.
“Past Cape Frio, the fleet will be faced with developing low-pressure cells as it moves away from the trade winds. This could cause a real stall up in the front of the fleet. The challenge for the leaders is going to be navigating the transition through the windless patches, and then changing gears into some upwind conditions again. The gains made by the top boats could easily slip away as they will be the first arrivals into the complexities ahead.
"The next few days will certainly be riveting viewing and nail biting for the teams deciding how to best pick their way through the tactical challenges ahead.”
"The next few days will certainly be riveting viewing and nail biting for the teams deciding how to best pick their way through the tactical challenges ahead.”