The Volvo Ocean Race fleet turns South!

From Sanya to Auckland is a South-East direction. Strange that over last 8 days the Boats followed a East or more ENE course looking they want to sail to the West Coast of America than to the Southern latitudes of New-Zealand. 


It is all because of their chosen strategies, to go as far East as required to have the benefit of beam sailing in the Tradewinds and as such make a faster route. 
It looks like the boats are now turning the bow to the SE or SSE as a sign that they expect the race in Tradewinds will start from here. 


Groupama is the leader at the moment, with Camper (the long time leader) now in 2nd place. Puma sailed the most northerly course, gained already a lot back,  but still has to gain more from the others to bring them the victory. 




The  virtual players VORG has had some rought seas for some days with server breakdown of about a day and  a common restarting point in the middle of a wind hole. However , those boats are now sailing as well but many try a route closer along the Phillipine coast. Wonder how long it will take till the real boats will blast passed them :)


For the progress of different boats and categories, you may have a look at my maps under the TAB Progress Map above. 


In another virtual sailing site, LiveSkipper, a group of sailors is organizing a kind of mirror to the VOR and have a lot of fun with un-interrupted sailings from the original Sanya start onward. 

Remote Control Volvo Ocean Racing

Real or not?

With the repairs on the Real Boats finished for almost all Boats, it is time for some other (sailing related) activities!


What about a sailing race with 1 m. long models of the VOR boats ? Great fun to sail these models with remote control. 


Sanya was the BIG winner of the RC In-Port race. And lets hope that Sanya Lan also will be able to win the Sanya Hiatang Bay In-Port Race on 18th February. 
Starting time will be: 06:00 UTC so a little early for some Europeans maybe, (14:00 local time) 


The course layout. 

9 Pack Serie LiveSkipper Sailing Race

Yesterday I also Finished my boat sailing into Sanya on LiveSkipper's 9 Pack Serie Stage 3. I was 6th in a fleet of 20 boats, so not too bad.

Sanya Phoenix island hotel, China

The progress can be seen in the Progress Map above in the TAB, or on this special map. 


More important is that this is the 1st Stage that I was able to sail with the faster boats. So it seems my exercises during Stages 1 and 2 have giving me some experience that helped me climb the ladder. Lets see to continue this upward trend. 

Volvo Ocean Race Finished in Sanya, China

Yesterday 03:58:22 UTC, Saturday 3rd February 2012, did the First 5 boats Finish Leg 3 of the VolvoOceanRace in Sanya , China.

Telefonica winner of Leg 3

The Podium places were gained by:
1st  Telefonica     - 12d 19h 58m 21s
2nd Groupama     - 12d 21h 45m 24s
3rd Camper          - 12d 23h 28m 23s
4th Puma              - 13d 00h 29m 12s
5th Azzam            - 13d 03h 05m 05s
6th Sanya Lan      - 14d 04h 35m 16s


Next event for the battle in VolvoOceanRace is the Sanya In-Port Race on 18th February. Don't miss it as these In-Port races are mostly very exciting and can be followed live on the web.