Dramatic wind drop as Volvo fleet heads north

11:04 AM Fri 21 Nov 2008 GMT

'Gustav Morin/Ericsson 3/Volvo Ocean Race.
Ericsson 3 doing 39 knots in 40 knots of wind with 6 metre waves, in the Southern Ocean, on leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Cochin, India' Volvo Ocean Race &copy Click Here to view large photo

As the Volvo Ocean Race fleet turns sharply north for Cochin, the wind is forecast to ease dramatically. Already, the northernmost boats, the two Ericsson twins, are seeing the effects of this, with windspeed down to the mid-teens. And it's only going to get worse.

As the northernmost boats in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet leave the effects of the deep low pressure system they've been riding for the past several days, wind speeds are already beginning to drop and the forecast is that this is only the beginning.

The entire fleet will enter a zone of much less pressure over the next 36 hours, and with boats spread nearly 120 miles north to south and 100 miles east to west, there is sure to be some winners and losers in the changing conditions.

Overnight, PUMA tucked in behind the race leader, Ericsson 3, at one point crossing over her track, before settling on a heading just slightly to the east of Anders Lewander and his men. PUMA skipper Kenny Read wrote in about the improved mood on board as the crew tackles repairs and begins to focus on speed again.

'Today was a great day. It is the little things in life that tip the scales from not so good through to great,' he wrote. 'It is a larger scale on some days than it is on other days. What made today so great is the fact that it has been over 24 hours since we have had out power tools grinding carbon fibre in order to laminate new carbon skins on our damaged yacht. Seriously, this is a great day.

'We do have a new lease on life in the race as well. We got the boat going again and made some gains to the north enough to feel like we are back with most of the pack. Not out of the woods yet but at least we feel like we are back racing with the main part of the fleet. Again, a huge relief. Believe me, there was a point in time where I was wondering if we could make it in to port within a few days of the fleet, never mind feel like we were racing again.'

Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 remains furthest east on the 04:00 position report, but has made good ground to the north as well overnight, and is now the third most northerly boat in the fleet, having nicely consolidated her position. Grael and navigator Jules Salter are still slightly exposed out to the east, compared to Ericsson 3 and PUMA, which are nearly 100 miles further west.

Guy Salter/Ericsson 4/Volvo Ocean Race.
The crew of Ericsson 4 prepare to be hit by a huge wave, on leg 2 - Volvo Ocean Race &copy Click Here to view large photo

Sandwiched in the middle are Green Dragon, Telefonica Blue and Telefonica Black, which is slightly further back. On board Telefonica Blue, the wind is still up over 20 knots and it's still very wet on deck, as Bouwe Bekking can testify.

'On deck: wet, wet, wet, and the guys look like soaked cats when they come down below, but no complaints, they are all doing well. These kinds of courses always give a good opportunity for guys who don't do a lot of driving in other conditions. Pepe, for example, is one the fastest in these conditions, just keeps the pressure on and we are ripping along, slowly but surely eating miles back from the guys ahead of us,' Bekking wrote in overnight.

Team Russia and Delta Lloyd continue to follow a more easterly progression, out behind Ericsson 4, with the Russians just over 15 miles directly ahead of Delta Lloyd.