The world’s oceans cover roughly 70% of the earth’s surface. Correspondingly large is their contribution to our planet’s climate. But many areas are not well studied or haven’t been studied at all. For climate scientists especially the water temperature, salinity level, CO2 concentration and surface currents are of interest. The temperature has an immediate effect on how much CO2 can be absorbed in the water. While most of us know the transatlantic Gulf Stream from school, there are many other currents which vary seasonally and as a result of climate change.

To extend the available data, scientists use both stationary measurements close to the coast and drifter buoys offshore. Those drifter buoys stay close to the surface and drift along with any current, as their name would suggest. They then collect various data and send it off to satellites. As we are sailing through areas which are not that heavily frequented, some of the boats have taken along such buoys. They are to be deployed at predefined positions along the race track. And also we have taken such a buoy. Due to logistical difficulties it is only a very simple one, which will only determine its position. Nonetheless, we hope the data it collects will offer new insights.

A few days ago we reached the position we were to deploy our buoy. After activating it, we had to wait for confirmation of successful data transmission. Only after we could drop it into the ocean with its drogue anchor attached. It was impressive to see how quickly that small buoy disappeared in the waves. An important reminder to all of us to not go overboard, especially when we move at over ten knots. Niw the buoy is floating somewhere in the South Atlantic and collecting data for roughly half a year. This is how long the integrated battery lasts. Many thanks to Alfred from CV27 – Team Gosh for coordinating the delivery of the buoys.

On the same day we prepared our boat for a storm. The weather forecast, which we receive daily, predicted a ridge moving over us that night. With that ridge we would get strong winds with gale force gusts. To be on the safe side we had put up our smallest yankee headsail, together with the storm jib and the main in reef two roughly eight hours before the weather system was supposed to reach us. Besides that we made sure everything below deck was stowed safely so that nothing was flying around. When we were done with our preparations we were moving a but slower than the other boats of the fleet but we were prepared for the forecasted conditions.

In the early evening hours until around 10pm the wind was picking up until we had around 35 knots of breeze. When we got on watch at 11pm the worst part should have already passed. So we expected the wind to ease over the next couple of hours. Despite our reduced sail area we were making around 12 knots of boat speed with occasional surfs showing up to 19 knots of boat speed on the instruments. In conditions like that you need good helmsmen. They need to be able to keep the boat on course despite the wind and the waves, which reached around five metre at that time. An additional difficulty was the night time. Especially this night was very dark due to the thick clouds which were part of the ridge passing over. As a result we kept swapping between two of us on the helm. This was tough but at least each of us got a little break every now and then. Just before the end of our watch we then got struck by one of the squally gusts that had been predicted. It read over 50 knots of wind speed. I was at the helm at that time. It only took a couple of seconds, maybe a minute until the gust had passed. But at that moment I was very glad for the preparation, our training and the confidence in our vessel. This is what allowed us to come out with no damage nor injuries. A few moments later the wind was below 30 knots again and we sailed as if nothing had ever happened.

In the meantime we are less than a day away from the finish line off Cape Town. The winds have eased quite a bit and we were able to hoist our lightest spinnaker. The days before were busy with sail changes. Through all these evolutions we have actually become quite good at them. Yankee down, spinnaker up or vice versa. In between soma smaller repairs on the sails whenever we noticed any damage. That made the days very exhausting. This is also one of the reasons why this blog took a little longer. But it was worth it. So far we have been able to defend our position. With only a few miles between us and CV21 – Seattle Sports we have to stay concentrated. And maybe we can even attack those ahead, depending on how the wind develops. Our thoughts are also with CV26 – Washington DC who had to retire from this race after damaging their rudder in a collision with a submerged object. They are safely motoring their way to Cape Town.