The paragraph of the Italian book “capire il vento e conoscere il mare” (Understanding the Wind and Knowing the Sea) written by Gianfranco Meggiorin (Navimeteo Managing Director) in 1993 says:
“…a sailor must always be able to analyze, at least from a practical point of view, the weather situation relative to his/her own route, and the re-assurance of this technical and detailed information allows him to find a decisive solution”.
This is what happened in the 2010 edition of the Route du Rhum regatta where the Italian sailor Andrea Mura from Sardinia arrived first in the Open 50’ class, followed by a fleet of French sailors.
Vento di Sardegna, an open 50 built by Felici Yacht, lashed at the winds, splashes and thunderstorms rode waves up to 4-5 metres from St Malò to Guadalupe islands (Pointe-à-Pitre) on 30th October, crossing the North Atlantic westwards.
The skipper Andrea Mura inside the small “shell” in the middle of the ocean, followed the reasoning of Gianfranco Meggiorin and his team which helped him find the correct strategy to win the regatta.
By supporting the project as a tecnical sponsor, Navimeteo had the possibility to test NavimeteoSat system onboard, as if it was a floating laboratory; it is a satellite transponder capable of connecting the sailor to a team of experienced Navimeteo Forecasters available 24 hours a day.
By knowing the exact position of the boat in relation to the movement of weather systems, the forecasters were able to provide Andrea with useful routing advice. The first important decision was taken at about 600 Nm from the start after the passage of Cape Finisterre, where the Azores High became dominant, facing two possible alternatives to move sail around it.
A Northern route would have crossed the tracks of depressions and weather fronts crossing the North Atlantic whereas the southern option would have exploited the weaker or moderate flow, sailing along the margin of the calm weather, being careful not fall into it by mistake.
The southern route was chosen taking into account the performance of the boat and the advantage of sailing in better conditions with a longer period swell between 2 and 3 metres, which was better to handle than the 5-6 metres which would have been encountered moving across the depressions to the North. It was a brave choice to take by Andrea which trusted Navimeteo advice, especially during the 20/30 hours when the two most fierced competitors Acapella and J. Dirigeants initially exploited the more sustained flow overtaking Mura, but it was a calculated risk, knowing in advance that the southwards route – if handled well – would have been the most successful.
Approaching the Azores islands after the anticyclone has gone, Andrea made his way towards the tropical latitudes where the increased instability, squalls and thunderstorms damaged some sails, despite the fact that Navimeteo recommended caution to Andrea while crossing the areas of instability.
The weather was different this autumn and to some extent anomalous with respect to the usual situation in which high pressure generates trade winds; this lied over much higher latitudes which led to a delay of the regular and favourable winds extending from the Azores islands to the Caribbeans, typical of this time of year.
The second half of the regatta was characterized by the difficulty of sailing close-hauled, because of the sustained SW’ly winds generated by the Lows along the coasts of the eastern United States which the participants to sail against, and even in this situation the southern side was chosen as it was quieter than higher latitudes where other competitors suffered more sustained WNW’ly winds and rougher seas. While moving southwards, the attention for Andrea gradually shifted to areas with calm winds to the South. He successfully managed not to fall into these “holes” ahead of him, there are areas usually swept by the trade winds, which were unusually missing.
In this part of the regatta, the VMG was seeked, i.e. the best trim, finding the compromise between speed and direct route, known as orthodromic route. That’s when estimating small course variations became important for Andrea; it meant having to set a course that did not diverge too much from the direct route. The moves from the competitors was also taken into account, trying to deduce any of their strategic attacks.
With just three days to finish the regatta, Vento di Sardegna hanged onto the favourable winds which accompanied Andrea to victory in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadalupe on 19th November 2010.
Well done Andrea and Navimeteo!