July 9 Update: Aegir Inching its Way to Finish
NEWPORT, R.I. — To say that Aegir is advancing at a snail’s pace towards the finish line of the Transatlantic Race 2019 might be an insult to snails. After all, the world’s fastest snail has been clocked at .0085 kilometers/hour. Aegir is, of course, sailing faster than that, but race watchers would be hard pressed to realize that fact watching the boat’s snail trail on the YB Race Tracker.
At today’s 1400 position report, Clarke Murphy and the crew of the 82-footer Aegir were some 60 nautical miles from the finish line in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Since 0030 UTC last night, Aegir had covered just 60 nautical miles, stuck in the middle of the English Channel looking for wind.
“With high pressure dominating, overnight there was virtually zero wind on the northern side of the western English Channel,” said Aegir navigator Mike Broughton. “We took a dive southeast towards Guernsey which seemed to work pretty well and kept us in an average of 7 knots of wind. It was a busy night close to the shipping channels.”
Aegir has favorable current until slightly past 1600 UTC and then will have about seven hours of adverse current until about 2330 UTC before the current turns favorable again.
July 8 Update: Swallowed Up in Celtic Sea Parking Lot
NEWPORT, R.I. — Like an immovable bouncer barring entry to the English Channel nightclub, the giant ridge, or zone of high pressure, continues to define this latter half of the Transatlantic Race 2019.
While the center of this huge “bubble” of light winds has retraced south gradually, its reach still extends north into the Celtic Sea (between Cornwall and southern Ireland). The latest forecasts show little prospect of it shrinking further south before the boats reach the Western Approaches.
Thus, for the next wave of boats that have spent the last week skirting the perimeter of the high, there is now no option: They must cross the high and accept a frustrating, but inevitable, down-turn in speed.
“Ordeal by ridge” has been the case since late last week for Clarke Murphy’s Rogers 82 Aegir (at right). Only this morning is the crew on board feeling some reprieve as not only are they through to the east side of it but have also “made land.”
Read more: July 8 Update: Swallowed Up in Celtic Sea Parking Lot
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