As the fleet approaches the end of leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, the forecasts for the weather at the finish are coming into focus. With ABN1 only 800 miles from the end, there should only be 2 or 3 days worth of GRIBs for the navigators to worry about.The mini low to the east (as pictured in the last post) has caused place changes, with ABN2 being punished for being too close, letting Pirates slip through. Now all the fleet is hugging the coast in the final push for Rio.
(as an aside - why hasn't Sao Paulo got a mention on the Virtual Spectator map?)
Coming up are light winds, mostly in the right direction (southerlies) but gradually changing full 180 degrees to northerlies as can be seen in the forecast below for 48 hours out.
However the change is least pronounced the further north you go where there are easterlies. So if ABN1 gets lucky it might be approach Rio at that time and have nice reaching weather for the finish.If only they can get there in time.....
Graphics from Virtual Spectator and www.stormsurf.com
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