Volvo Ocean Race organisers have launched a 24-hour watch system on their fleet but latest predictions on Sunday indicated that Cyclone Pam was likely to miss Auckland after wreaking havoc in the South Pacific (full story below).- Race organisers keep 24-hour watch system on fleet- Dilemma over when fleet can set sail for Itaja\u00ed- Check out our latest video news releases hereAUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 15 \u2013 Volvo Ocean Race organisers have launched a 24-hour watch system on their fleet but latest predictions on Sunday indicated that Cyclone Pam was likely to miss Auckland after wreaking havoc in the South Pacific.The race\u2019s official meteorologist, Gonzalo Infante, said on Sunday (1030 UTC) that a change of course by the deadly weather system would keep the eye of the storm around 200 nautical miles from the New Zealand port where the six boats are currently moored.Organisers had already been forced to postpone the start of Leg 5 to Itaja\u00ed from Sunday (0100 UTC) to no earlier than midnight on Monday (2400 UTC)\/Tuesday midday local time because of Cyclone Pam, which struck the island of Vanuatu with devastating effect at the end of last week.Latest aid agency reports indicate that at least eight people have been killed in Vanuatu with some 90 per cent of houses in the capital Port Vila destroyed or damaged.Other islands were also affected by the 270 kilometres per hour (kph) cyclone, which is reckoned to be one of the worst ever to hit the region.Race management have a round-the-clock watch system on Auckland\u2019s viaduct to monitor the weather and its effect on the boats.\u201cWe now don\u2019t expect the impact in Auckland to be as high as first feared,\u201d said Infante. \u201cReadings around 20 miles north of Auckland have been about 50 knots (92.6 kph) and the impact predictions in Auckland have been downgraded.\u201cWe now expect the worst of the conditions around late Sunday CET time, with wind speeds in the Race Village within the range 30-35 knots (56-65 kph) and not as heavy rain as previously expected. A small change in the track of the cyclone looks like it has prevented a much bigger problem for us.\u201dInfante said the main issue now for the re-start was the sea state which is likely to greet the fleet once it ventures out in to the South Pacific and then Southern Ocean.\u201cOnce the boats go past the most eastern point of New Zealand the systems look like they\u2019ll be pretty rough. We have to make sure the fleet has options to escape if the sea state is really bad.\u201dSkippers on the six boats \u2013 Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Dongfeng Race Team (China), Team Brunel (Netherlands), Team Alvimedica (Turkey\/U.S.), MAPFRE (Spain) and Team SCA (Sweden) \u2013 will meet on Monday evening local time in New Zealand to discuss with race management if it is safe enough to sail from Auckland the following day.\u201cFor sure, it\u2019s the right decision to delay the fleet,\u201d Ian Walker, skipper of race leaders Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, told reporters on Sunday.\u201cNobody wants to send us out there to break boats, damage sails or, worse still, injure people.\u201d\u201cThe situation is different to what we\u2019ve ever had before in the 41-year history of this race,\u201d said Team Brunel\u2019s Australian navigator, Andrew Cape.\u201cWith a cyclone in the race course at departure time, you can\u2019t send boats into it, it\u2019s just ridiculous. It\u2019s like driving on a greasy road \u2013 there are just some things you don\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n
via Latest: Worst of Cyclone Pam \u2018will miss Auckland\u2019| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Volvo Ocean Race organisers have launched a 24-hour watch system on their fleet but latest predictions on Sunday indicated that Cyclone Pam was likely to miss Auckland after wreaking havoc in the South Pacific (full story below).- Race organisers keep … Continue reading