When good news is bad news

Well there's finally good news for Ericsson - they're not last any more. Buts it's a sad way for it to happen as yet another Farr boat has keel problem. This time its Movistar which nearly sank in the freezing southern ocean, water breaking through under the relentless pressure of driving at over 20 knots.

For a time it seemed that Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean race would be the one where you could count them all out and count them back in, and for once the VO70 hulls, keels, their hydraulics, and the rigging would all keep in one piece. Then this. But look on the bright side - they say worse things happen at sea... er. .. I mean....

And (I can almost cut & paste this) its congratulations to Mike "Moose" Sanderson and the boys on Black Betty for being first again, this time to Cape Horn. I'm sure it's a lot more satisfying than just 3.5 points, for the Cape is the most significant landmark of all for round the world yacht racers.

And now there's the routing decisions of which side of the Falklands to go. The forecast for 24 hours out from stormsurf below suggests more wind the the east, which BB would probably like. But after that there's a ridge of light winds, and how to cross that?


Graphics from Virtual Spectator and Storm Surf