pristato
"Doldrums" - nenuspėjami pusiaujo vėja ir orai. Vieni tikisi lietaus, kad pagaliau nusipraustų po dušu, kiti skaičiuoja sekundes, kai pirmą kartą su jachta kirs pusiaują. Tačiau visi tikisi rasti plyšį po šią zoną ir pirmieji ištrūkti į švarų vėją, kitus paliekant užnugaryje. Ateinanti diena-dvi - lemtingos.
Team Brunel
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
Even though I’m tempting fate writing this, the headline of the day so far would be “Doldrums? What Doldrums?” Certainly, based on weather models we should have already seen 5-10 knots of breeze and dropping. So far all day we’ve had around 15 knots and been making great speed straight south!
Another beautiful sunset however was interrupted by fairly large rain clouds indicative that we’d reached the Doldrums. Please let it rain! We could all use a shower!
Matt Knighton, OBR
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing
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Team Alvimedica
We are currently drifting some way, nobody can bee too sure which way that is at the moment, and the wind speed is barely registering at all. Somewhere between one and two knots. The mainsail slams one side to the other and the winches constantly spin as the guys on deck try and prepare the boat for whichever puff seems most likely to stick.
Because it is pitch black the clouds are impossible to see; besides watching the radar for rain—a guaranteed indicator of cloud and wind—there is little to do but remain non-committal and keep your options open. Wind can arrive from the left, from the right, from the front or from the back, and you have to be ready for a lot of it, too. Its arrival is never gradual!
It has also become very hot. And super smelly. So yes, confidently confirmed: we are in the Doldrums! Wish us luck.
Amory Ross, OBR
Team Alvimedica
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Dongfeng Race Team
The dawn of a complicated day. Let’s face it: we’re not having a very good time on Dongfeng. We lost distance last night, and our leading position. The day got dull afterwards. Sailing straight ahead, with the spinnaker up, in light winds. Not very interesting…
At least, we made the most of it, eating and sleeping… Charging the batteries, waiting for what’s next.
And the next thing is the International Tropical Convergence Zone, also known as “Doldrums”. We started to feel its effects in the evening. Somebody has switched off the fans. At 2230 UTC, the trade winds we had since Cape Verde stopped. All at once.
Yann Riou, OBR
Dongfeng Race Team
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Team Vestas Wind
Wouter thinks he’s found a gap to squeeze through. I guess the others think they found a gap too. Could we all be right? Could we see some winners in this split in the fleet? We hope it’s us that make it out the other side. If we do being more east than the rest we should have a more favorable angle to sail to the Brazil coast to our next turning mark. We have a little time to sit and wait it out.
For now, we sit tight, wait it out for another 15 hours and pray the gap through is still open to us when we arrive…….
Brian Carlin, OBR
Team Vestas Wind
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Team SCA
Two days, eight hours, thirty-four minutes, and ten seconds, nine seconds, eight, seven, six, five… over the last few days the clock has gotten louder and louder as it counts down to October 23rd at noon—the time when we cross the equator and the time when myself and six other sailors join the rest of our crew in King Neptune’s court.
“Hey want to hide?” Stacey asked Libby.
“Sure, but I also have to tell them we’re crossing the Equator,” Libby (the navigator) replied.
Corinna Halloran, OBR
Team SCA
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