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10:02 AM Sat 23 May 2009 GMT
Local hero, Green Dragon has made a big jump with just 200nm left to sail to the next mark on Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race.
The Chinese/Irish entry, skippered by Ian Walker, is projected to hold that place, currently 1nm ahead of Puma Racing (USA), and may move out to a slightly more comfortable 3-5nm margin at the next turning point Aran Island.
 | Current positions for whole fleet 300nm from the finish at 1000hrs on 23 May 2009, local time on Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race. Shoes the positions of all boats at the first update since the conclusion of the Stealth Plays - PredictWind-ExpeditionClick Here to view large photo |
All boats have now emerged from their various Stealth Plays and the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is tightly grouped with 77nm covering the whole fleet.
With around 400nm to sail to the finish, the official placings show Ericsson 4 leading Green Dragon by 27nm, with Puma Racing 1nm astern;. The next yacht Telefonica Blue is 43nm astern of the race leader with Delta Lloyd on the same mark.
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The yachts that have stuck closest to the Great Circle route (the shortest distance to the next mark) have been the ones who have come out best of the Stealth Play phase that has been running for the last day.
Winds are still expected to ease from 15kts down to 10jts towards Aran Island, which is the penultimate mark from the finish and is about 35nm from that point.
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The images used in this story have been generated by Expeditionwhich is a tactical and navigation software application which has been developed by veteran Volvo Ocean Race navigator and Whitbread winner, physicist Nick White, initially for his use in the 2001-2 Volvo Ocean Race with Team News Corp and the Stars & Stripes Americas Cup team.
Since then, Expeditionhas been continually refined by a core group of world-renowned navigators and two-time America's Cup winning navigator Peter Isler has consulted closely in the development of the system. Expedition supports more instrument systems, is easier to use and has the most powerful and useful functions for the racing navigator.
Expedition is now has PredictWind integrated into the application as an option for PredictWind subscribers.
The wind data and prognosis used to produce these images also uses software developed by PredictWind, an application developed by Jon Bilger a top NZ youth and Olympic sailor who turned his hand to wind and weather prediction, and helped Alinghi to their outstanding victories in the last two America's Cups.
Now that same technology is available to the weekend sailing and club racers, the cruising fraternity or professional sailors around the world. Select any region in the world of interest to you and PredictWindwill monitor the area for you and provide updated predictions on demand.
PredictWind is a subscription system, with a number of options. While some may feel the wind is free, the ability to get a five day detailed wind forecast for an area of interest creates great peace of mind, allowing forward planning and decision making to be made with some certainty. The time and money saved through being able to work with a high degree of confidence, is more than offset by the relatively small cost of the subscription.
But don't take our word for it, get PredictWindnow and have a 30 day trial for free, and see for yourself.
by Richard Gladwell
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
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