The Vic-Maui fleet is finally, blissfully high-tailing it for Hawaii. The tradewinds have kicked in and the postcard conditions have appeared. Firefly and Joy Ride will be concluding their duel sometime tomorrow, and by the looks of things Firefly is extending her lead a bit and will get the elapsed time gun, but Joy Ride will correct on top. Time will tell whether Salient out to the west or Kraken on the rhumb line will win the Beneteau 40.7 battle. Here’s David Sutcliffe’s weather summary that appeared on the VM website:
The Weather Eye, July 12 – Drag Racin’ in the Trade Winds
by David Sutcliffe, July 12th, 2018
Amazingly, after sailing for 1600-2100 nautical miles and through a series of complex weather systems and transitions, the fleet are all on very similar final approach lines. That in itself is a bit unusual. A more normal situation would be for boats to be converging into the finish from a wider range of laylines and optimal gybe angles.
July 12, 0900 HST – a normal summer pattern prevails over the Northeast Pacific Ocean
So, it’s a lot simpler now, right? In one word, yes!
The longer answer is that the boats are each on their own line to the Pailolo Channel which separates Maui and Molokai. That line was pretty much determined for each boat by how and where they managed to navigate through the low wind area associated with the ridge/plateau that extended East of the High, and into the actual Trade Winds. The lines are more similar than different.
At the macro level, the expected conditions from here to the finish are Trade Winds blowing from 075-090 degrees True at 13 – 18 knots of True Wind Speed, sustained, with higher speeds in gusts or squalls.
Now, it is a simpler mode of optimum boat speed in the desired direction. This is known as Velocity Made Good on Course – VMC, rather than Velocity Made Good – VMG which is relative to the wind. For boats that are inside their own optimum laylines to the Finish, gybing with squalls or changes in wind direction or speed will help optimize VMC.
As the boats are all on a similar approach line, and the macro weather picture is stable, it looks like the last stretch will be a raw speed drag race.
July 12, 0900 HST – a drag race in the Trade Winds to the Finish!
But, there’s always a few more things to think about … the islands of Maui and Molokini, and the Pailolo Channel between them, bend and funnel the Trade Winds. Plus, the Finish line is near the leeward side of the island of Maui. To finish well, the boats should be paying close attention to how they get in the channel and across the finish line.
One eye on the weather!
Caveat: this article and images are presented for informational purposes – they are not predictions of or advice to any boat regarding weather or routing!
Also, for those who aren’t on (or don’t obsessively monitor) Facebook, a couple of posts:
Firefly Blog post #8 &/12/18
We are down to the wire and it is clear that we are in a race! Joy Ride is a little north and east of us but the wind has picked up and we are both moving along well. Whereas we didn’t find much wind in Fabio we are finding a good breeze of 16-20k in the trades, as Brad predicted. The sailing is exhilarating though exhausting, especially at night. But it is so much more fun to be making the kind of headway we are versus the slogging of a couple of days ago-the knot meter actually registered 0.0 kn at one point!
It is hard to believe we have 1 ½ days to go. We are seriously into our routine and though sometimes exhausting and physically taxing everyone is hanging in there like champs. One thing I have come to realize is that food indeed does matter.
I had assumed on the food front that I could eat anything for two weeks but turns out that good food and lots of it is pretty key. This is not Tim’s first rodeo and he gets this. As a result as mentioned before we burn more calories than I ever imagined and we are hungry and wolfing down our meals. And the morale boost from having well thought out and prepared menus and meals makes a huge difference getting thru some of the more challenging days. A sampling: last night we had lasagna with a vegetable medley (yes you got that right), tonight we are having my favorite, Mountain house beef stroganoff, meat balls our last night and as we speak, Brad is preparing his famous tuna melts! Can’t beat it…
As this trip winds down it is hard to completely plug into that mindset of nearing the finish, in part due to the fact that we still have lots to do in terms of finishing strong with a building wind and the competition breathing down our neck. It has been a truly amazing experience for a neophyte like me-Firefly has performed stellarly, it has been more exciting to do a long distance ocean race than I could ever really imagine and it has been hard but super fulfilling. It will take some digesting but my first pass is that it has been completely awesome.
36 hours or so to go…can’t wait!!
Bob
Day 11: Joyride Team update. 15:05 HRS
And yet another day passed. Time is flying by. We’ve been under spinnaker for a while now trying to get to Maui the quickest as we hear that’s where the cold drinks await.
It’s warm now, even at night. The occasional mist of rain to cool things down. Plenty of clouds give us a little protection from the burning sun.
Flying fish all around us, a gannet here and there, is it for wild life today. Other animals are those on this fine ship. We’ve discovered Robin drives best under Frankie goes to Hollywood. It’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make as his driving is excellent. Alex is loosing his boots, shirts and pants (don’t ask me how) and has drawn an amazing cartoon of the crew which was posted yesterday. Quill is eating through his book while off watch we’re worried what he will devour next. Erik grinds as if it is a hand blender with mojito fixings; he is ready for a cold one I can tell. And I can go on and on….
Spinnaker sailing is a little more involved than our extended jib reach. We’ve done a few sail changes the past 24 hrs peeling from A1 to A2 and vice versa, adding a stay sail when the wind picks up and taking it back down when it impedes the A sail from flying. We’re all a little tired after going through the night. The mixed sea state and constant changing wind speed/ direction require utmost attention from driver and trimmers. Making sure the boat doesn’t stall, wrap a kite around the forestay or round up and cause other issues. Even sleeping under these conditions proves hard with your body being flung from one side to the other side of the bunk – oh for pipe berths!
So we’re a little more subdued today. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still enjoying the ride. In day light though we can keep the boat on a more stable heel better anticipating the rollers and seeing the luff curl. So people are catching up on sleep.
Yesterday afternoon we played with the drone and took some videos on deck and down below. We will post a compilation once we’re in Maui. Food remains delicious/ we’ve been out of cookies and muffins but the delicious dinners keep on coming.
Pacific Cup Update
The Bieker designed 41-footer Blue was scheduled to start today, and it’ll be interesting to see if she can stay with the 70-footers. In Division C Alex Simanis’ Poke and Destroy has dropped to 3rd on corrected time, but is positioned almost directly on the rhumb line. The Canadian J/92 Zaff is close by. Three of their primary competitors, Sweet Okole (Farr 36), Aloha (Hobie 33) and Limitless (Express 37) have wandered pretty far north of rhumb. In Class B, the Tacoma-based J/35 Shearwater has taken over 1st in corrected time standings. The PNW based doublehanded boats Zipper and Alternate Reality are hanging in there, and there appears to be a split in the fleet as the boats further to the north are gaining ground on the southern contingent.
Here’s the latest report from Poke and Destroy:
Day three of the Pacific brings a bit more southerly breeze for Team Poke and Destroy and their competitors in Division C of the Pacific Cup.
Division C is currently crossing a low-pressure system with low southerly wind velocity that has parked itself between the fleet and their destination in Hawaii. The boats in Division C are spread out laterally about 50 miles from south to north as they try to best navigate through or around this low wind zone. Poke and Destroy has opted for the most southerly route in the Division, following the rhumb line, which is the most direct route to the finish.
As of 11:30 a.m. PDT, Sweet Okole is 1882 nautical miles from the finish line. Poke and Destroy, Aloha and Limitless are 1885 miles out, Dare Dare is a mile behind, and Zaff is bringing up the rear at 1893 miles to go.
The low-pressure system seems to be moving north, so it may follow the boats that have gone north to avoid it. Or not. By Monday, a high-pressure system with stronger northerly wind should fill in, with winds of about 15 to 20 knots.
Here is an update from skipper Alex Simanis, sent by sat phone on the morning of July 13:
Day 3 brings us a fair amount of breeze. Still southerly.
Eating has been hard, but sea state is getting better. Beef bourguignon will be for lunch.
6.7 kts on the Speedo with the #1 genoa on the fence is happy days! Breeze is building. Hoping to get into the Jib top soon.
Poke & Destroy handles the waves well. We are looking forward getting a
spinnaker up!
Cheers to all ashore. we are feeling your good vibes.
Alex
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.