Sal's Ocean Globe Race Analysis: The Start of Leg Four
The glorious downwind sailing after the start of Leg 4 of the Ocean Globe Race was short lived, as the fleet knew it would be. Maiden hoisted a jib, packed away their newly painted spinnaker, and hauled in the sheets. The start of the long upwind slog had begun.
With High Pressure out to the East, there is nowhere to go, except upwind. Spirit of Helsinki, Translated 9 and Pen Duick VI headed East, on Port Tack but found themselves in light breeze, having sailed closer to the centre of the High. Maiden stayed on Starboard Tack for longer, closer to the coast and managed to keep good breeze and regain the lead in Line Honours, Flyer Class and IRC overall.
Sailing upwind is a trade of between speed and direction. A sailing boat cannot sail directly upwind but can use the sails like an aircraft wing to provide ‘lift’ to sail close hauled. Too close to the wind, and the speed drops, too far off the wind and the speed increases but the course is poor. This balancing act is called Velocity Made Good (VMG) so a high VMG compared to other boats is what they want.
Life at an angle has its challenges, at least it will be warm, but ventilation will be a problem, with water coming over the deck the hatches must remain shut and below deck will be like a steam room. It takes a certain kind of mentality to live willingly in these conditions, ignoring the hardships and genuinely enjoy the sailing.
The crew of Maiden have made a series of Posts on Social Media to celebrate International Women’s Day. They each wrote a letter to their younger self with advice. They are interesting, moving, and gives an insight into what it takes to make extraordinary things happen.
Fingers crossed that they keep trucking and the VMG stays right up there!By Sal Hunter, original crew member on Maiden in the 89/90 Whitbread Round the World Race. Photo ©OGR2023/The Maiden Factor
