Liberty is being free from the things we don't like in order to be slaves of the things we do like.--Ernest Benn

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Velux 5 Oceans Solo Yacht Race: 2nd Leg

The first Velux ocean sprint from La Rochelle to Cape Town wasn’t hard enough for the five single-handing skippers. The Velux 5 Oceans is about to get a lot tougher. Howling winds, freezing temperatures, mountainous seas and icebergs await the five ocean racers as they leave the comfort of Cape Town and head into the bleak expanses of the Indian Ocean bound for Wellington in New Zealand. It is here they will encounter some of the worst weather conditions known to man – and they will face them alone. More than 7,000 nautical miles, and countless obstacles, lie between the skippers and their next port of call. These are the latitudes known as Roaring Forties and the Screaming Fifties, where boats can do 10-15 knots over the water under bare poles. People will get wet and boats will be broken, somewhat.

But not for me. I'm going to sail the same distance, solo, without getting wet, injured, starved, or shipwrecked. I'm going to be doing it virtually! 

At 0400 PST tomorrow, my Open Container III will start the second leg, along with 64,329 (at last count!) other one-design boats. My goal is to finish in the top 1,000! Judging from my 2010 stats up until now, that will be achievement enough for me!

There is Open Container, sailing along in 723rd place (see the violet track)!

But look at the light green track! That's Belladonna! Not too shabby, huh?

Well that was then, my next map is going to show my position degraded somewhat. For lack of a better word! I have been inattentive (somewhat).

The real world concerns ... you know what I mean: the usual suspects. Well, I have to forgive myself.

The real issue is, of course, how far south does one go to get in the funnel, into the jetstream?

The winners are people who knew this starting out. Like Contiguous, for example. (His is the green track.) This dude has become a serious racer, I seem to recall beating him handily. But he has done his homework, understands the distortion or the Mercator map as opposed to the globe and is diving south. From the Many Players game machine he derives a position of 208th! That's very good. I'd be very comfortable with that.

But alas, I haven't been studious enough nor attentive enough and I have slipped back into 1,467th place.

Not good. I feel badly. I'm trying to figure out who I have to answer to....

This next screen dump was taken yesterday, when I was flying high. I actually attained 505th place before the wind change.

That's Dinty, a skipper very well schooled in classic English litarature (thank you) some 75 miles behind trailing a green wake!

Since then, my fortunes have changed: In the early, early Saturday morning hours I elected not to cover him and tried a port gybe instead of a starboard gybe. At the time, I was thinking it was a toss-up. Dinty lost, maybe, 500 places; I lost 4,000.


If I were a football coach, I'd be fired; as it is, for my Anosognosiac Sailing, I'll lose 90% of my sponsors. 

Oh! And no, I'm not thinking I'll show current positions. Much too ugly.  (DADT!)

Now, it's a better scene. Somewhat.

I have been greatly disappointed. Hoping for an overnight gain of 500 boats, I came up with an improvement of less than 100.

Meanwhile,Dinty has been plunging south. He's in 1,945th place and definitely gaining. I'm having to cover.



Looking ahead, there's Belladonna, seemingly out of reach! All the more spectacular because she's flying stock suit of sails. Her all-black profile can be seen leading us south at 1,229 on the leader board.

I just wish Contiguous were close enough to also be in the picture. I'm hoping C does better in the days to come, but not too much better!

I have my work cut out for me if Open Container III is going to attain 999 or better!

It's a long leg, and I've certainly had my share of opportunities. Don't know how many more I can get or deserve.

This evening's shot is really dramatic.

Open Container III's violet wake is streaking south easterly at 14.6 knots in 18.4 knots of wind.

Paula, in No Going Back, is chasing me at 13.4 knots.

Just to the east of N.G.B., are, (in order),  

  • Companion in 1,172nd place,
  • Dinty in 1,092nd,
  • and Belladonna in 898th place.

As you can see, I am in deep trouble.

47 comments:

  1. Not exactly 1-design if people like yourself can buy electronics and xtra sails, is it?

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  2. BSD, your point is well taken. But this here old fart is not going to single-hand without all the electronics he can get his weak old hands on nor is he going to compete without the best sails he can buy. So, what's your point?

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  3. Happy to see you back, Doc. You know my POV re. options. I'll try my best w/o any. It's a long trip, we'll see at the end !

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  4. How come you decided to drop down here to 43° South and not stay up with Belladonna and Philou33 RKN the winner of Leg One? Would it be to hang with the rumbline?

    Cross your fingers!

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  5. Ah, there you go, again, Contiguous! Trying to mislead me into the valley of shadows and no wind... But you are doing GR8!

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  6. Yea - going great now that I have Pro Sails. And going great until I had to be out of town for 8 hours without access to a computer. Too bad we can only program change of course and not sails at the same time. 4 hours with the wrong sail up can hurt. Ugh! lost 1000 positions and Open Container III flew by. Ouch! Nice going!

    I understand the Great Circle Route - BUT - I forgot for a couple of days about the concept that land can get in the way. Great for airplanes but not so good for boats. Plus we have a no go ice zone to observe- the red line. Going this far South turned out well and luckily I thought to place a string on my globe to see that my route was taking me right through Antarctica! Woops. That might scratch my keel. But that was early enough in the race that I could recalculate and find a modified Great Circle Route.

    Keep an eye out over your stern. I might just sneak back up on you. (I hope!!!)

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  7. Contiguous, The game's computer says you have a 2,000+ lead on me, but I still prefer my position over yours. Marginally.....

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  8. Doc you were right to make your move to head east vs south to the really fine wind hole that I found all by myself. A tad frustrating watching you and Dinty roll right over me. Still over 4,000 miles to go so there is always hope. Should be interesting.

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  9. Very generous compliment, Contiguous. But I have to cop to not sailing like a mastermind; I'm just a seat-of-the-pants kind of a guy, with no clue as to how truly incompetent I really am.

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  10. Incompetency is overrated. Although I must say your modesty is refreshing even if I dare say if that if I were to observe you speaking the words in person I would probably be able to detect a small smirk on your smiling face.

    Seat of the pants sailing on the other hand is not overrated for it is one’s butt that serves as a truly valuable sensor for both speed and angle of heel as I am sure you are aware. What sort of vibes to you detect while sitting at your computer that told you to continue heading east yesterday?

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  11. Hi folks, I know it's night time in CA, but have a look on our respective positions when you wake-up. Surprizing is'nt it !!

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  12. I am shocked, Belladonna! What a great run you are having!

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  13. Contiguous, you're still close enough to hurt me. So, I can't disclose the vibes in my posterior yet. Maybe after the sailin's done we can discuss what we've learned as well as what we have forgotten?

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  14. With 33.4 miles advance for me, at 0.4 knots speed difference thanks to your pro sails, it will take you 84 hours to reach me, if I cover you the right way. That is 3.5 days. Pity there is no sthealth (not sure about the orthograph) mode.
    Good wind Doc !!!

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  15. Doc, what Bella is saying is that you are dead meat & road kill and it's not going to get much better.....

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  16. Vlad is telling you to throw in the towel, Doc. Time to punt!

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  17. Punt like the New York Giants did? No thanks!

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  18. Doc, don't pay attention to those jalous. Keep trying hard. You ve'got everything needed to beat me. Still more thanhalf the way to go !!!

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  19. I'm still here... waiting in the long grass....ummm deep water, watching you guys and trying to catch up!!!
    NGB

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  20. OMG, Paula! You have appeared out of no where! Did you turn on your engines?

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  21. You must have been freezing down there near the Sixties, Doc :-)

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  22. You know what it is? It's ....... Just too much work!

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  23. So what's the name of Paula's boat so we can watch her catch you?

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  24. Paula's boat is NO GOING BACK. How do I know? I read above!

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  25. You all can put a fork in me. I'm done. Overdone.

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  26. At this time, 10:50 am gmt+1, I am 966th and you 967th. So you finally catched me, but there are 160 miles difference in straight line and 2°30' in latitude, so things are not done !!!

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  27. The Good Guys are 961st!
    Dinty is 969.
    Belladonna is 996.
    Paula is 1,455 (& gaining)!

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  28. Doc, are you a real insomniac or does it happens to you to sleep a few hours ???

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  29. I knew I had to tack to avoid an iceberg! They call them growlers!

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  30. Avast ye sea dogs! Stay outta my way. Doc has turned 'is wheel over to me for the next day 1/2. And I have no knowledge of the laws of the sea or rightaways! So watch yourselves....!

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  31. Thx lot, Otto! You're a helluva cruiser. But a racer? Not so much!

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  32. Belladonna 842
    Dinty 845 (Wow!)
    Companion 1260
    No Going Back 1859 (Wow!)
    Open Container III 1941 (Xmas-Vacated)

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  33. Dinty has becomed a nail in my !s!, following me tack over tack for days, and finally passing me with her pro-sails. Easy way to go ! BS !
    But I remain confident !

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  34. I'm happy for you, Belladonna! My confidence left me long ago....

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  35. Well Done Bella! I'm disappointed not to finish in the top 1,000 .....again. Next leg Doc, huh?
    Happy New Year Eveyone. May we all enjoy the year ahead together as we continue to sail the oceans.

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  36. This is the message I sent to Paula, as she is now heading full north : "Are you going to the sun ? With OC3 ? Pse stay w/us, Paula !!"
    Anyway, very Happy New Year to all of you and see you next on the virtual waters.

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  37. Congratulations on a great race, Belladonna!

    I tricked Paula into taking the scenic route. Now, I'm diving to take the southern route. NGB's currently 1704 and I'm 2186. She's only 482 boats ahead of me. Can that be right? Let's see if I can pick up some places before we finish. Dodgey winds and tricky maneuvers ahead!

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  38. TKS Doc. Well, well, so I finished 730th, and 55th on the w/o options classification. Which is for me not to bad. Now it's time to bury 2010 and say hello to 2011. Let's see what VR'll be offering us. Pity that BWR's not on the menu !!!

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  39. Well Done! How many in the stock-boat class? Do you know? Where can I look that up? You even tanked Sea Mi Go NNN, who always impressed me in the Stock Boats. You did fabulously! Next leg, Buddy. Next Leg!

    Happy New Year!

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  40. We are about 36,000 in this leg of Velux5Oceans.
    Here is the link to the site, unfortunately only in french I'm afraid :
    http://vr-annexe.akroweb.fr/index.php
    Best wishes !

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  41. Sorry, just click on the British flag on top left to get it in english.

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  42. Now this is a sweet day. What a way to bring in the New Year! Anytime I can squeak out a win from Doc is is a cause for celebration. Especially when he passed me 18 Dec to open up an 856 mile lead by 29 Dec. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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  43. Let me be the first to congratulate you, Contiguous. And thanks, also, for being so graphic about it on your site! You are stylin' in your winnin'!

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  44. One regret among others is that Paula and I didn't elect to have a race circumnavigating around New Zealand like the impromptu race we had during a respite in the VORG a few years back!

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