Following latest information on the development of Cyclone Pam, Race organisers have announced that Leg 5 from Auckland, New Zealand to Itaja\u00ed, Brazil, will now start on Wednesday, 18 March at 09:00 NZDT (Tuesday 17 March, 20:00 UTC, full story below).<\/p>\n
– Leg 5 will start 09:00 NZDT Wednesday morning<\/p>\n
– This decision has been made in collaboration with the fleet<\/p>\n
– Check out our latest video news releases here<\/p>\n
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 16 \u2013 \u201cWe see a significant change between leaving Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in easier conditions, and this was also the preference of the majority of the teams,\u201d commented Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad, coming straight out of a meeting with the six teams\u2019 skippers, navigators and weather experts in Auckland.<\/p>\n
The fleet is now leaving on Wednesday instead of last Sunday as initially planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cyclone is still a very severe system near New Zealand. Most of the routes on this leg take you very close to that cyclone for a substantially long period of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we have started delaying because of the cyclone, it\u2019s always a matter of when do you leave, when do you feel that it\u2019s far enough away? What we see is that the system is big, it\u2019s not moved very far, and leaving on Tuesday they\u2019d very quickly be into 40 knots and a very big sea state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably not many people who have sailed very close to a cyclone,\u201d commented Team SCA\u2019s navigator Libby Greenhalgh. The winner of The New Zealand Herald In-Port Race Auckland on Saturday agrees with this decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Tuesday, we would be in 35 to 40 knots for between five and seven days, whereas Wednesday that\u2019s not the case. We still end up catching it up but the storm has started to decay. It\u2019s probably going to be significantly different even though that\u2019s difficult to estimate and easy to underestimate as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not been easy for Volvo Ocean Race to decide but they\u2019ve listened and everyone has had their opportunity to put forward what they feel, and I think they\u2019ve taken a reasonable stab at it. For us we\u2019re happy, we\u2019re pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a discussion about whether we should start on Tuesday or Wednesday morning,\u201d said Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing\u2019s skipper Ian Walker.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour of the six teams very strongly felt that we should leave on Wednesday, so the organisers decided that we should leave at 09:00 Wednesday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now less than 48 hours to the start of this 6,776-nautical mile stage across the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn, Frostad also put things into perspective, reminding the fleet of the actual impact of Tropical Cyclone Pam in the Pacific region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a cyclone which has killed many people, and created a total disaster in some amazing islands that we just raced through north of New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just a weather system, we\u2019re talking about a natural disaster. For me, as a race organiser, I would never even consider starting in that cyclone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that the system is still out there. We have enough wind readings to know that it\u2019s still strong. There are times when you just simply have to wave the safety flag.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estimated Time of Arrival in Brazil:<\/p>\n
The initial range of ETAs in Itaja\u00ed was from\u00a0April 1 – 5, 2015. However, this is now likely to be delayed and at this stage there are still too many uncertainties in the forecast to establish a clearer range. More information soon.<\/p>\n
via The start is on!| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following latest information on the development of Cyclone Pam, Race organisers have announced that Leg 5 from Auckland, New Zealand to Itaja\u00ed, Brazil, will now start on Wednesday, 18 March at 09:00 NZDT (Tuesday 17 March, 20:00 UTC, full story … Continue reading