Welcome to the Second Doldrums

(December 5, 2014; Day 17) – The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is about to enter a light-air area due to a convergence between easterly and the westerly winds. Sailors call the “second Doldrums”.

Weather models are showing that they won’t be out of that system until Monday – at least! Winds are going to be very light. If they’re in luck, they could get 5 knots of breeze, at most.

Drifting across the Indian Ocean in very hot temperatures – definitely not your ideal weekend plan. The air temperature is between 30 and 35 degrees and the water temperature averages the 30 degrees.

Due to the light and shifty airs, MAPRE tacked four times from 1636 UTC to 1724 UTC.

Team Brunel and Dongfeng have lost 8 nautical miles (nm) to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. MAPFRE has lost another 10nm to the Emirati boat, and Team Alvimedica and Team SCA have been doing serious gains – 10nm in the last three hours, 20nm in the last six hours.

Leg 2 Position Report (as of 22:00 UTC)
1. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Ian Walker (GBR), 1629.9 nm Distance to Finish
2. Team Brunel, Bouwe Bekking (NED), 38.4 nm Distance to Lead
3. Dongfeng Race Team, Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 39.1 nm DTL
4. Team Alvimedica, Charlie Enright (USA), 123.5 nm DTL
5. MAPFRE, Iker Martinez (ESP), 129.2 nm DTL
6. Team SCA, Sam Davies (GBR), 242.4 nm DTL
7. Team Vestas Wind, Chris Nicholson (AUS), Suspended racing

Race website – Tracking – Watch log – Videos

Background: The 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race began in Alicante, Spain on Oct. 11 with the final finish on June 27 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Racing the new one design Volvo Ocean 65, seven teams will be scoring points in 9 offshore legs to determine the overall Volvo Ocean Race winner. Additionally, the teams will compete in 10 In-Port races at each stopover for a separate competition – the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Series. The second offshore leg from Cape Town, SA to Abu Dhabi, UAE is 6,125 nm, started Nov. 19 with an ETA of Dec. 9-16.