1:46 PM Fri 22 May 2009 GMT
 | | 'Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael (BRA) at the start of leg 7 from Boston to Galway, is expected to take the Leg on Sunday morning.'
Dave Kneale/Volvo Ocean Race © |
Ericsson 4 (Torben Grael) is now expected to be a comfortable winner of Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race
Previously the Leg was expected to be very close run between all the yachts. However a split in the fleet has paid a dividend for the Race leader. By taking a more westely course Grael seems to have opened up a significant advantage, which she should retain when the fleet reaches the Great Circle route for Galway Bay, Ireland. At that point the fleet is expected to turn directly for the race finish and will be reaching in winds of around 20kts.
Projections from Expeditionand PredictWindnow indicate that Ericsson 4 will enjoy a 25nm lead , however just 12nm will cover the next five yachts. Currently the boats in the westernmost group are sailing in winds of 32kts gusting 20% more than that strength. To leeward winds are 5kts less.
The leg is now predicted to finish on the morning of Sunday 24 May
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The images used in this story have been generated by Expeditionwhich is a tactical and navigation software application which has been developed by veteran Volvo Ocean Race navigator and Whitbread winner, physicist Nick White, initially for his use in the 2001-2 Volvo Ocean Race with Team News Corp and the Stars & Stripes Americas Cup team.
Since then, Expeditionhas been continually refined by a core group of world-renowned navigators and two-time America's Cup winning navigator Peter Isler has consulted closely in the development of the system. Expedition supports more instrument systems, is easier to use and has the most powerful and useful functions for the racing navigator.
Expedition is now has PredictWind integrated into the application as an option for PredictWind subscribers.
The wind data and prognosis used to produce these images also uses software developed by PredictWind, an application developed by Jon Bilger a top NZ youth and Olympic sailor who turned his hand to wind and weather prediction, and helped Alinghi to their outstanding victories in the last two America's Cups.
Now that same technology is available to the weekend sailing and club racers, the cruising fraternity or professional sailors around the world. Select any region in the world of interest to you and PredictWindwill monitor the area for you and provide updated predictions on demand.
PredictWind is a subscription system, with a number of options. While some may feel the wind is free, the ability to get a five day detailed wind forecast for an area of interest creates great peace of mind, allowing forward planning and decision making to be made with some certainty. The time and money saved through being able to work with a high degree of confidence, is more than offset by the relatively small cost of the subscription.
But don't take our word for it, get PredictWindnow and have a 30 day trial for free, and see for yourself.
by Richard Gladwell
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
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