01 of February at 15:31 GMT maxi yacht “Trading Network Alye Parusa” crossed 45 South and entered Antarctica Cup Race Track. Fedor continue on the S-E heading toward the 48 South where he expects to get a westerly flow.
According to Antarctica Cup web site: http://www.antarcticacup.com/
“The 360-degree Racetrack features gale force winds, high seas, fog, snow, icebergs, islands, extreme cold, the Antarctic circumpolar current, sailing above and below the southern Polar Convergence. The Racetrack outer and inner boundaries are located on latitude 45 S and latitude 60 S making the Racetrack 900 nautical miles wide. The wide Racetrack allows competitors to take advantage of favourable weather systems rotating around Antarctica and within the boundaries of the Racetrack.
The currents of the Southern Ocean circulate west to east, unimpeded by land. This is the only place on the planet where the oceans can circulate around the globe, uninterrupted by any continental landmass. These currents loosely follow a route tracing deeper waters, and allow water transfer between oceans.
Antarctica@@apos@@s Circumpolar Current stretches for more than 12,400 miles around Antarctica. The surface speed of the current is modest but its great depth and width make it the largest of all currents in the world@@apos@@s oceans. It carries about 135 million cubic meters of water per second around the Antarctic continent – equivalent to about 135 times the flow of all the world@@apos@@s rivers combined”.
Fedor must stay within Race Track during his circumnavigation around Antarctica. He is sailing unassisted and unsupported. He is not allowed to make a stopover for refuelling or repairs.
One interesting part is the route across the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Generally this is part of the Antarctic Ocean that is not raced across. Most races around the Southern Ocean originate in the Northern Hemisphere and turn left or right at Cape Town or Cape Horn and once back into the South Atlantic turn north again missing out the central Southern Atlantic. Some of the most extreme weather in the Southern Ocean takes place in this area, around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Forecast from Lee Bruce:
“Need to squeeze every mile to try to escape the edge of light air with the high. Assuming SE to SSE heading at 5kt through 02/12Z, Fedor will be in the SW quadrant of the high, with building NNW breeze. In NNW wind, suggest heading near 115T, to try to stay in that wind field as long as possible, but also to get enough south to tap into a west wind band later.
02/06Z: SW 5-10kt, but decreasing
02/09: W 5 kt
02/12: NW 5, but increasing
02/18: NNW 15 kt
03/00-04/00: NNW 13-18kt”