This is why this sort of sailing is so brutal. From Marco Nannini in the GOR...
A few hours ago we tacked south following Phesheya’s example to distance ourselves from the worst of the winds of the low pressure north west of us. By the time we tacked the wind was already blowing a full force 7 gusting 8 yet according to the grib files we should have had about 20 knots of wind and it was due to get a lot worse… so by extrapolation we decided we didnt want to find out what the predicted 35 knots towards the centre of the low would look like in reality, I think we’d expect something in the region of 40 to 50 knots, as grib files notoriously underestimate the top winds and any prediction beyond 20-25knots must be treated with due care and respect for the elements.
Every hour we sail south is an hour added to hour arrival time, as we are not currently getting any closer to Wellington. Had we carried east we’d be on a better course, but the risk of serious damage in the eye of the storm was not worth taking especially as Phesheya and us like racing America’s cup style, a duel to the finish, so we have to cover them now…
The Pacific Ocean is proving a nasty beast, when it blows it always looks menacing, stray surface currents make for very confused seas, it’s bloody cold and wet.
It is not all bad news though, once we’ll find the nerve to tack east again we should see the wind progressively veering and freeing until we’ll have nice downwind conditions to run with at high speeds.
