Finally trade winds for Maserati Multi 70, skipper Giovanni Soldini and his crew (Guido Broggi, Sébastien Audigane, Oliver Herrera Perez and Alex Pella). After struggling for two days to pass through a tropical depression, this night just before dawn, the trimaran entered the range of north eastern trade winds, meaning constant winds. It’s the beginning of a long starboard tack that will allow the Maserati Multi 70 to head north maintaining good speeds.
In the coming days, the strategy and the route will largely depend on the evolution of the Azores high. Often centered on the Portuguese archipelago, from which the name comes, this high pressure separates the trade winds zone that blow further south at the tropical latitudes from the area of the powerful westerlies winds determined by the depressions that cross the North Atlantic from West to East in our latitudes above 40° N.
However, the current weather situation and what is expected for the next few days do not correspond to the classic scheme, as Soldini explains: “The Azores high pressure has unusual forms and positions. Today it is a strip that stretches from the Strait of Gibraltar to Florida. In the next 4/5 days, it is expected to extend from Ireland to the Azores. And this does not look good for us because it will bring cold and strong winds from East/North East, that is to say, contrary winds. We hope that the models are wrong or change in the meanwhile. Now we are concentrating on our trajectory and we are monitoring the weather evolution looking for some opportunities to go as fast as possible without extending the route”.
After 26 days of navigation, at the 10.46 UTC rankings, the advantage of the Maserati Multi 70 on the record holder’s roadmap is 1.515 miles. There are 2.684 miles left (of the initial 13.000 nm) to the finish line in London.
