With the leading boats about 1200 miles out, the structure of the race is pretty much shaping up. Everyone had adopted a somewhat southerly course to this point, but we are seeing a significant number start to alter their courses aiming at a point more northerly.
A look at the forecast shows modestly stronger wind, by a few knots, to the north. Boats who can get up there quickly will take advantage of the more favorable conditions, while slower boats may opt to carry on with their existing courses to minimize miles sailed.
We're interested to see that a few boats are breaking away from this pattern, placing a bet on stronger winds developing in the south, we presume. Wolfpack, a frequently winning Donovan 30 skippered by Andrew Hamilton, is the lone wolf in this strategy.
We called the weather the "luck of the draw" earlier. We're entirely pleased that we have appeared to lucked into a couple of weeks of classically ideal weather. Prior weeks and forecast future weather were/will be much lighter, and we'd have missed out on tremendous conditions. Reports from the fleet are cheerful and optimistic.