DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Britpack Sailors
  HTML https://britpacksailors.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: 2017/18 Leg 3
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 122--------------------------------------------------
       Start time 15:00 GMT (probably)
       By: skipper7 Date: October 29, 2017, 7:40 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       If VR's maths are correct !  see you on the start line.
       >>>>>
       After a parade of sail past the waving crowds, it’s out onto the
       waters of one of the world’s Great Capes — Good Hope — and
       getting ready to face what, for many sailors, will be their
       ultimate challenge. As the Cape of Good Hope falls astern, the
       racing yachts tack down towards the 40th parallel. This is where
       the Roaring Forties start and the Southern Ocean provides some
       of the most extreme and exhilarating sailing in the world.
       Crew safety and kit preservation are the watchwords. If the
       cloud is thick, night sailing happens in inky blackness with
       just the compass and the instruments to help. It’ll be chilly,
       too, because although it will be a Southern Hemisphere spring,
       the wind might be coming straight up from the ice of Antarctica.
       Leaving the lonely and remote Kerguelen Islands to starboard,
       the combination of strong winds and large ocean swell that are
       bigger than buildings will keep crews on their toes. So, too,
       will the chance of vicious in-coming low pressure systems that
       can bring with them intense, gale force storms. Expect 80 foot
       swells, boat speeds of well over 30 knots and wind speeds that
       can reach up to 70 mph. A downwind run you’ll never forget.
       Your reward is the knowledge that you’ve raced in the most
       remote ocean on the planet, where outside of the Clipper Race
       fleet your nearest companions are the astronauts on the
       International Space Station.
       The beautiful, sun kissed beaches of Western Australia and a
       well chilled drink will be a welcome sight.
       *****************************************************