Good morning and welcome from Abu Dhabi. We're here in readiness for the arrival of the five boats at the end of this 98 nautical mile sprint. Justin is up in Sharjah this morning to provide on-the-spot coverage of the race and we'll have regular content from our MCMs on board.
Just to repeat: The leaderboard is updating when the official position reports come in every hour (and then half-hourly for the final two hours), while the tracker is updating every 60 seconds. So if you see a discrepancy that's the reason.
The fleet's average speed as they race the 17 nautical miles to the first mark is 12 knots, but CAMPER currently have the edge with 13 kts.
Hightidedrifter, if you hover your mouse over a boat on the tracker it will show you speed, heading and position.
Currently 20 knots of wind, gusting up to 24 kts, from 275 degrees. Waves are short and choppy, three metres.
We will have video updates from Abu Dhabi and Telefonica shortly on new.livestream.com/volvooceanrace
This just in from CAMPER's MCM Hamish Hooper:
Well here we go again...
It all seems a bit surreal to be back onboard CAMPER fighting it out with
our competitors.
It's one of those, 'Where am I moments'.
All of the guys again just seem to be able to flick that switch at the drop
of a hat and away we go.
We had a good start, the goal was to start to the right, as being furthest
right is forecast to pay dividends later on in the day, so the guys are
happy with our position right now.
Its bumpy out here which has made for an uncomfortable start. There are
fishing nets and pots all over the place, so it has been a bit of a
minefield trying to work our way through those and not get any tangled on
out keel or rudders.
So far so good but this will be a close and full on sprint right all the way
to Abu Dhabi.
Here's the latest from PUMA's MCM Amory Ross:
So we're off to Abu Dhabi, again. Only this time we may actually get there!
The local Shamal--a strong desert wind--is kicking up a good short chop
that's making life difficult. It's been a little while since we've been out
here and conditions are by no means ideal for getting our sea legs back.
Shortly after the start I had to go below to edit and I'm not feeling well
at all. The boat's lurching, slamming, and bouncing around like a toy in a bathtub as we bash upwind and out into the deeper water. Once there we'll turn left and sail downwind, which should provide plenty of good thrills in this straight line drag race for a few extra points. We're the furthest boat right and to leeward, which is exactly where we set out to be as we expect the breeze to gradually tick right, so things are going well so far! Stay tuned."
Amory
Good morning and welcome from Abu Dhabi. We're here in readiness for the arrival of the five boats at the end of this 98 nautical mile sprint. Justin is up in Sharjah this morning to provide on-the-spot coverage of the race and we'll have regular content from our MCMs on board.
