Update from team meteorologist Jure Jerman:
“Phil and Pablo are managing a good speed and are not too far from the leader, though movement on the leader board is likely to continue. The doldrums are in a heavily disturbed state with a huge amount of thunderstorms developing, and with every formation comes its own unique wind system.
“If you take a look at the accompanying infrared satellite image with ASCAT winds from last night the position of Imerys Clean Energy is marked as a red dot. The north and the south edge of the doldrums are fluctuating a lot and this is where ‘Teamwork40’ managed to get lucky, catching this oscillation on the northern side, which has brought them up to the leaders. This is how it goes in the doldrums! If this is difficult for us just following the race, it is difficult to imagine the level of frustration on board the original top three boats.
“The exit of the doldrums has moved south by some 120nm, so currently they have 180nm to go. At the exit the leading group will face the trades with a very south direction and in this game boats exiting the doldrums further to the east will have a slight advantage.
“The race has almost restarted from zero and we should expect to see extremely close racing all the way to the finish. But hey, this is what the sport is all about, isn’t it? Just keep supporting the guys! – Cheers, Jure”
17.11.17, 10:00 UTC
