Pre-Race update:
With less than 24 hours to go, the wind at the start is forecast to be out of the NE and under 5kts. Total time for the race looks to be about a day and a half.
The wind is forecast to clock 90° in the first six hours, giving racers a port tack start, and then a long reach up Long Island Sound on starboard.
Slipping through Plum Gut, the starboard tack continues until the clocking wind forces a tack toward the sea. By that time, TWS is just over 6kts.
The route to the Buzzards Bay Light Tower passes outside of Block Island before heading NE again past Narragansett Bay and Newport, RI. These are the waters that hosted the Americas Cup for decades.
Winds are forecast to stay in the 4-8kt range on the way to Buzzards Bay Light Tower. Coming home will be a little more brisk – reaching in winds of 8-10kts. It’s a good thing that the Santa Cruz 52s we are sailing perform well in light airs.
There are two Santa Cruz 52s on the current entry list – Magic and Bombardino. Both are raced often and look to be competitive. Certainly boats to watch.
You can find more news about The Vineyard, including the latest weather forecasts from SailFlow, at yachtscoring.com.
The 2230Z and 0430Z WXs show a trend of
— less wind at the start
— more wind at the finish
— shorter time to complete the race.
Still passing through Plum Gut outbound and inbound.
The 0430Z WX favors leaving Block Island to starboard on the outbound leg … a change from the original post.
The 1030Z WX split the difference between the prior two WXs as far as starting conditions and total time of the race are concerned. That bodes well for a “no surprises” WX at 1630Z, which is only one half-hour after the start of the race.
SailFlow’s summary of forecasts and nowcasts for the western Long Island Sound show the data that the IRL will certainly be using.