Day 2 – Directions

Those of you following the dots on the YB tracker will no doubt have spotted the squiggly course that Ocean’s Elite have been taking over the past 48 hours. This is clearly not their intention, and has understandably raised some concerns among supporters and followers. It might not have been part of the plan but the team have coped brilliantly with the very specific and localised issues they’ve faced. Rather than keeping up with the same efforts in the same manner, they decided to get some rest and press on together when they had regained some energy. The plan worked and after 08:00 this morning the crew of Ocean’s Elite have made excellent progress out into the deeper waters of the Atlantic. This will see the sea beneath them get deeper and they will be able to take advantage of more rounded swell with less of the peaky, chop they have contested so far. Hopefully this might mean fewer waves crashing onto the deck and a slightly more comfy ride. If not then at least they’re making some decent mileages towards Barbados.

Rowing Stones have also started to find their groove today. After a “rather active night with waves crashing on the deck (and us), difficulty keeping the boat straight, the damp cold in the cabin” they have been enjoying “beautiful sun, following 2m waves, 15-20kt”. They reported that they see all these challenges are “part of the fun and we’re all smiling now that it’s daylight again. The sunrise shift was glorious, with big surfs and a stunning moon to sun transition.” Their appetite is returning too which is a good sign and JP is fighting his sea sickness a little bit more than the others, but medications are helping and the crew are supportive. This is very normal and we’re monitoring their condition closely but have no concerns. It’s just likely to take a little while for them to adjust to being at sea, and then the sea sickness will disappear. Their speed has also increased since yesterday and we’re starting to see some much more positive daily distances which is very encouraging. Long may it continue.

It’s probably, a good time to talk about the route in general and the aims of the crews, at least initially. The red line on the yb tracker may represent the shortest route between the start and the finish but it is not likely to be the quickest route for our teams. As we’ve mentioned above the boats are pushed by the wind to a greater or lesser extent, and the route we row is because we can expect the winds to generally push the crews in roughly the right direction. In the North Atlantic weather is mostly dictated by a weather system called the Azores high. This high pressure system generated by warm air rising above the Islands of the Azores and generates a giant clockwise spinning mass of air extending across the Atlantic, including as far south as considerably beyond the Canary Islands. This air then moves east to west across the Atlantic and is known as the trade winds. Low pressure systems to the north of the Azores can cause the trade winds to become disrupted (especially in areas towards the latitudes of the Canary Islands.) It is for this reason that they crews will benefit from heading further to the south than the shortest route, at least to begin with, before turning more directly towards Barbados later on.