On Sunday, March 20th, we will once again slip lines and continue our way east round the world. Ahead of us lies a month-long ocean crossing, during which we will cover around 5,400nm. This will be the longest race of the whole circumnavigation.
Since we most likely will have to deal once more with the very thick fog and the vast amounts of fishing nets, fishing boats and cargo ships, there will only be a ‘fake’ race start just outside of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. The actual race start will take place around 40nm from Qingdao, until where the whole fleet will motor together. From there the race will start once again with the Le Mans start procedure (same as from Airlie Beach to Da Nang). Once the race has officially started, the fleet will make their way through the Yellow Sea and round the southern tip of Japan – the first waypoint. The big strategic question for the race will be: take the shortest/great circle route and risk headwinds or take the southern route, which is longer but with following wind. When the fleet roughly reaches the latitude of Tokyo, the boats will make their way offshore into the Northern Pacific, looking for favorable winds and rollers from behind, which will pick up the boat and accelerate it to 20-30 knots boat speed. Due to safety reasons, the race director has set a virtual beach at 45 degrees north, meaning that no yacht can go further north than this.
Another highlight for this race will be the crossing of the International Date Line (approximately after 15 days/3,000nm). This means that we will jump from the Eastern to the Western hemisphere and thus allow us to experience one day of the race twice. Since this race will not only be extremely long, but also include the coldest conditions of the whole race (snow and ice are possible), it will be key from the first day to preserve the boat, crew and personal kit as best as possible. The closer we will get to the American coast, the more variable the conditions can be, meaning that a high level of concentration has to be maintained, until we cross the finish line. Since the passage until Seattle can be quite narrow, the race finish will be just offshore, so that we will have to motor-sail another 20 hours until we reach the Bell Marina, where we will be berthed. Our estimated arrival window is between the April 15th and 20th.
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