Vestas 11th Hour Racing meteorologist Chris Bedford – who has been involved in multiple America’s Cup and Whitbread wins – summarises the complex range of conditions to be faced by crews on the new Leg 4 from Melbourne to Hong Kong


previously by allowing the possibility of the boats taking a shorter route to Cape Town. However, that needs to be balanced by the potential for additional wear and tear on the boats and crews with a lot of race still to go after arriving in South Africa. Leg 4 from Melbourne to Hong Kong is a


completely new leg. So that one will be very different. The leg travels north off the east coast of Australia and across a vast section of tropical ocean which will be quite un - stable in both wind and weather conditions. It will be fascinating to watch and I antici- pate all the teams will experience some big ups and downs before reaching Hong Kong. SH:How far is the Vestas information supply to ‘your’ team allowed to extend? SF: We have been given access to the work Vestas did for the last race, which was a very good starting point. As I mentioned, we are also getting access to a lot of data and resources from the Vestas meteorological team. Thomas Alsbirk from the Vestas met team joined us in Alicante where we also looked at other ways they can support us. For that we are very grateful. SH: ‘Climate trends and the VOR’ are interesting from many directions. SF: Having us sail through the Southern Ocean is always a good opportunity for us to provide more information whether it is observations, dropping current buoys or providing access to our wind and SST data, as not a lot of boats go down there. We have had some interesting briefings based around the ‘sustainability’ theme of this race and I’m hopeful as a fleet we can help both by spread- ing a message of good ocean health, but also by collecting and sharing some valuable data. CB: It is hard to say that we’ll see the direct results of climate change in the weather we encounter. Races occur periodically and we capture only the conditions that happen to be present at the time the boats sail through a particular region. Climate is the accumula- tion of all weather over a long period of time. So really, in terms of weather, we won’t ‘see’ the effects of climate change. However, one aspect of climate change


that may impact the race is the presence of icebergs in the Southern Ocean. As global temperatures warm, the Antarctic ice sheet is breaking up and shrinking, leading to an


increase in the iceberg population in certain segments of the Southern Ocean. The inten- tion is for the race committee to set safety boundaries for the fleet to keep them out of areas of significant icebergs, which present a very clear danger to any high-performance sailboat moving quickly. They will employ satellite searches for ice in the Southern Ocean and establish zones into which the fleet will not be permitted to sail. This may in turn keep the boats further north than during previous races, where they are likely to experience different weather conditions. SH:A delicate question, but you have to go as far back as the 1996-97 Vendée Globe to find a race that encountered ‘extreme’ Southern Ocean conditions. Such events have a natural frequency and everyone hopes this race does not encounter one – however, is the likelihood of such an ‘event’ any different today? SF: I will leave the climatology to Chris (Bedford) as he has a much better view on that than me, but I will say that I think with better data and faster boats we probably more actively avoid the more extreme condi- tions than they did 20 years ago! We actu- ally get slower when the winds exceed 35kt so we do our best to avoid the worst of it. We also have access to much better ice data so inevitably we don’t get as far south as they did in the past; I’m happy to say we don’t have to take the same risks they did, as the race committee can now set their exclu- sion zones based on good data. I think for them to know there is ice there and send us racing down there anyway would probably be irresponsible and doesn’t really add any- thing to the sporting value of the race. No one wants to see an accident. CB: I honestly don’t believe the probability of extreme Southern Ocean conditions is any different than it was 20 years ago. What is different is the accuracy and availability of weather data. Twenty years ago the use of detailed model data and routeing software was still very much in its infancy. Today technology allows the boats to receive much more detailed weather information than was available in the past. In addition, weather modelling/forecasting has made significant strides in its ability to predict conditions days in advance and with great accuracy –


even in remote places. This allows the crews to see and avoid areas of extreme and dangerous winds and seas, while routeing software is able to help them simulate both the fastest and safest routes to take. SH: This race is placing more emphasis than ever on a practical commitment to clean oceans and broad-based sustainability. SF: Vestas 11th Hour Racing aim to be the most sustainable team in the race and it feels good to be contributing to that. Mark Towill (team director): We are all looking forward to using this race to spread the message of sustainability and draw awareness to the issues. We have three main components to our programme. The first is operational, onshore and onboard. We took a hard look at our last campaign and identi- fied areas that we can improve. This goes through to resource vetting suppliers and monitoring the carbon footprint of our logistics. We source local foods and sort out our waste from the boat to make sure it is properly recycled… (and we avoid meat on Mondays!). We are partnering with local environmental organisations at each stop to try to give local issues a small boost; each group will also receive a grant from our other main partner, 11th Hour Racing, to encourage their work. Our goal is to leave a lasting impact at each of the stopovers. The last component is through communi-


cation: this race has a big following, and all the foot traffic at the stopovers is a chance to reach new audiences. Our base includes a dedicated public education space centred around ocean health as well as renewable energies, encouraging visitors to consider changes in their own behaviour. SH: Finally, please can those of you sailing onboard give us a little more insight into how you balance time and energy trying to win a premier yacht race with collecting a realistically modest amount of useful scientific data along the way? MT: For the first legs we are using a special app to track the marine debris we see; this was developed in collaboration with 11th Hour Racing. The OBRs are responsible for compiling the information, which then goes into a public database to be used by scientists around the world. We will also be using a marine mammal tracking system to record wildlife encounters. This race has a specific mission to gather data that will help make a meaningful difference in the fight against ocean plastic pollution. As part of this programme the Turn the Tide on Plastic boat is carrying equipment on the early legs to collect extra scientific information includ- ing salinity, water temperature, dissolved


CO2 and other seawater data; they also use a custom filtration system to measure the amount of microplastics in the ocean. These key metrics will add another snapshot to current data on the world’s oceans.


SEAHORSE 43


q


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94