Light winds bring an early end to Race 9

It has just been announced that the course for Race 9 has been shortened due to the lighter than expected winds en route to Panama City, threatening the fleet’s scheduled transit through the Panama Canal.



With the fleet currently logging 12-hour runs of between just 17 and 48 nautical miles and the winds forecast to remain light before building as headwinds, the Race Committee has decided to utilise the pre-determined Gate Angel, approximately 140 nautical miles ahead of the lead boats, to finish the race that started 13 days ago in Santa Cruz.


Gate Angel is one of several intermediate gates contained within the Sailing Instructions for Race 9 that allow the Race Committee to shorten the course and finish the race early in case of abnormal weather conditions that seriously affect the safety of the fleet or the overall programme for the race. Most of the fleet crossed the first gate yesterday off the coast of Acapulco.


Race Director Joff Bailey said, “The Race Committee has been studying the forecasted winds for the next seven days and monitoring the fleet’s slower than expected progress towards Panama City due to the lighter than expected winds since the start in Santa Cruz. In order to ensure a smooth transit through the Panama Canal, the fleet has been informed that the Race Committee has opted to shorten the course and finish the race at Gate Angel.”


It is expected that the first teams will finish during Wednesday with the remaining teams finishing over the following 24 – 36 hour period. After finishing, each of the teams will motor sail to Panama with the first boats expected to arrive in Panama City on 13 May.



At today's 12:00 schedule JAMAICA was still in 8th place, some 32 miles ahead of 9th placed Durban. The key objective over the next 24 hours will be to consolidate our 8th place whilst focusing on 7th placed Western Australia just 32 miles ahead. And with such fickle winds, and a wide variety in speeds being posted, overhauling WA may just be possible. The route they will take to Panama and then on to Jamaica is shown below.



Go JAMAICA !