Vendée Globe

For the trio off Cape Horn the worst of the northerly winds seems to have passed to their north pretty much as it was expected to do.

Observations in sheltered Punta Arenas – in the middle of the Magellan straits to the north of Tierra del Fuego – recorded 60 knots during the night. While Brian Thompson’s shelter in the lee of the Island de los Estados seems to have been effective he said this morning that when he did venture to the east of the island where the topography dips, he had over 50 knots from the north. quikscat images showed average 56 knots in the Pacific zone and more than 50 knots in the area to the north of Bahrain Team Pindar.
Meteo France’s detailed report, confirmed now by observations from the skippers say that the winds are now in the SW for Caffari, Boissières.
Brian is moving off slowly now to the east. He is under four reefs in the mainsail and no headsail meantime to reduce his speed. He is expected to see the winds back into the SW by midday 20-30 kts building in the afternoon 35-45 knots gusting over 55 but easing by 2100hrs.
Dee has about 100 miles now to sail up to the NE towards Cape Horn which will allow her to modulate her speed and approach as she observes how the SW’ly is building, but the forecast for her and Arnaud sees it peaking around midday to 35-45 kts, gusts to 55 kts but easing after midday.
Thompson has just spoken to Race control and said conditions were manageable during the night. The barometer is still at around 962hPa so it it not rising very much yet, he is well rested and has been napping. He has been given the updated weather information and now it will be down to his own observations how he proceeds, but he is moving off slowly.

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