The boats participating to the Route du Rhum Regatta left on Sunday 31st October from St Malo and entered the Gulf of Biscay today November 1st. A large high pressure ridge significantly influenced the sailing routes during the first 48 hours, forcing sailors to make no compromise solution.
During the continuous weather monitoring of Vento di Sardegna sailing boat with the innovative NavimeteoSat tracking system, Andrea assessed the routing options at the passage of Cape Ouessant. Vento di Sardegna choose a WSW’rn route, which is closer to the orthodromic route (i.e. the shortest distance), rather than a route to the SSW.
The boats that went with the the first option are few and it seems to have worked heading more towards the West. In fact, Andrea is leading the race of the boats of the same class, whereas a fleet of more numerous boats has moved away towards the South. However, we will only find out during the next 48 hours which of the two options was really successful.
The boats to the South of the orthodromic route lie on the eastern fringe of the high pressure ridge across the Gulf of Biscay, trying to exploit the favourable NW’ly flow for a longer possible time, before it eases. This choice will probably be the best option in the short term. Therefore, we would not be surprised if the boats to the S made more progress than Andrea, but in the mid to long term Vento di Sardegna at higher latitudes should better manage to sail close-hauled on a SW’ly wind expected to pick up during the course of the day, allowing him to catch up again on his competitors.