Down the ice corridor

Banque Populaire maxi-tri's advantage over Groupama 3 plummeting

Saturday December 17th 2011, Author: James Boyd, Location: none selected

Chart above courtesy of Expedition/Tasman Bay Navigation Systems and PredictWind

Date time Lat Long VMG Crs Spd Spd Spd Dist DTF DT G3
          Inst 4 hrs 24 hrs      
17/12/2011 10:00 50°43.45'S 144°59.15'W 14.1 102° 14.8 18 10.7 257.4 9 720 1 268.20
17/12/2011 07:00 50°40.56'S 146°25.81'W 16.1 94° 17.9 15.5 11.2 268.2 9 769 1 300.80
17/12/2011 04:00 50°29.67'S 147°53.32'W 2.6 47° 9.2 13.9 12 287.8 9 823 1 332.90
17/12/2011 01:00 50°27.23'S 148°59.32'W 17.3 102° 18.3 11.8 13.7 327.9 9 861 1 382.90
16/12/2011 22:00 50°56.89'S 149°31.99'W -2.4 20° 13.3 10.3 16.1 385.5 9 864 1 463.30
16/12/2011 19:00 51°30.30'S 149°49.66'W 0.2 31° 8.6 4.4 18.8 451.8 9 857 1 557.90
16/12/2011 16:00 51°36.83'S 150°02.42'W 3.6 65° 6.1 8.9 22.4 537.6 9 861 1 641.40
16/12/2011 13:00 51°53.91'S 150°32.29'W 4.9 56° 10.5 15 25.2 605.4 9 869 1 719.20
16/12/2011 09:45 52°17.52'S 151°39.74'W 10.7 64° 17.8 18 27 648.7 9 895 1 782.00

Fingers crossed. The ridge has now passed over Banque Populaire and at midnight last night she tacked southeast. Although we're not sure exactly where the dangerous ice zone is - the 40m trimaran now appears to be on to her run down what hopefully is an ice-free corridor through the middle of this zone.

Yesterday afternoon Yvan Ravussin reported: "It is night, it's cold and there is little wind, about ten knots. We expect soon to reach the edge of ice zone, the prohibited area. These conditions allow us to recover. It's amazing how we move from one extreme to another. Some days it's hell, some are beautiful. Today it felt like the trade winds. It was perfect. This little calm patch allows us to perform a complete check of the boat."

The light winds and her northeasterly track over the course of yesterday has seen Banque Populaire's lead over Jules Verne Trophy record holder Groupama 3 dramatically reduced. Over the last 24 hours this has plummeted from 1782 miles to 1268 this morning. However now heading back to the southeast in 20 knot northeasterlies, this should slow the rot, even though the maxi-tri is not making exactly fast speed.

When she turns on to more of a southerly course, probably tomorrow, then we will know she is clear of the ice zone.

 

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