Shortly before reaching the northern tip of the Philippines, Brunel and Team SCA made a turn to the north and broke away from the field as it cruised close to the coast. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing initially took the lead, but was closely followed by the other three.
In the north, the SCA and Brunel teams are currently listed far behind, with a gap of around 140 to 150 nautical miles. However, this information is misleading, as they are all far off the shortest course, which means that the distance calculations are not worth much.
The reason for the northward orientation is to avoid the strong Kuroshio current, which sets to the north-west. This means that the teams can sail northwards and do not have to sail against it. Brunel and SCA have also avoided the strong compression of the current on the coast of the Philippines.
Most recently it was only blowing at 11 to 15 knots. The second tactically important goal must be to be the first to get fresh wind in the North Pacific and turn south. The organiser's race viewer predicts a wind shift to the right, which would favour the quartet further to the right and south.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
