Yes but they modify it so it's not the same as the actual current GFS data - so you can't download your own grib files and use routing software to find the best course.
Don't ask me how I know!!
Actually, many years ago, there used to be a desktop program that downloaded the latest grib files and you could use it to decide on the best route - it's long gone now unfortunately.
Would be useful but tbh it’s ok for me to work it out. I don’t need to do the sails etc...
Crawling along right now. Bouncing around position 200,000
I was offline most of the morning, but went to check at lunchtime and had a server timeout error.
I tried again at about 5pm and had the same
Now I am looking at a frozen screen.
That’s about 8 hours without and decent interaction at a time when I knew I needed to make some changes so I guess I will have lost another chunk of places .....
The servers have been busy today. I’ve had to close the app a couple of times and restart. You seem to be tracking me, not necessarily a good thing but at least you are not going to have a near miss with Madeira.
Had wtrl race this evening so missed a couple of hours. Lost 2000 places. But trying to head west a little more to get some wind for doldrums in 24-36 hours. Looking like a bit of an effort through Brazil to get to the good winds.
The servers have been busy today. I’ve had to close the app a couple of times and restart. You seem to be tracking me, not necessarily a good thing but at least you are not going to have a near miss with Madeira.
Thumbs Up Emoji....
NB Not sure how to do that here....
Another VGer here.
49er_Jerry - just to be original..... Currently about 54,000th. Very impressed with the fleet size!
Hi Jerry..... Watch out for Stapleford Flier going the wrong way as usual 😁
Come on you lot, I know Rodderz has coughed to having all the extra sails, I suspect some others do looking at boat speeds.
who is sailing on bread and water and who has bough the good stuff?
In my experience (started a load of these, finished very few) if you're not running decent sails package you're quickly going to be distanced. Unless you join late and mid pack, even then it'll be hard not to be demoralised when you hit the southern oceans and the guys running full sails dissapear.
Happy to admit that I screwed up the start, made a poor choice when I stuck too far east and I'm now lingering mid pack but with full sails. I still won't trouble the front but I won't find the whole exercise so aggravating that I jack it in in two weeks. I think it'll quickly become tedious on the limited sails. IMHO
I just used the money we had at the start to add heavy sails, quick winch and message alerts - note alerts aren't useful if you're asleep (7hrs with the wrong sails up going very slowly)
Have done a few of these races with no add ons and decided it was time to spend some money. Not like we can go far these days so I pretend to sail fast on this!
who is sailing on bread and water and who has bough the good stuff?
Two light sails and that's it.
Just using the 'free' upgrades here
Same
Looks like we are closing up now. Good racing. Those on east of fleet towards Africa are sitting at 2.Okts. If recall they’ll lose position as we head back across south Atlantic going to need to go to west as as will be tacking into the wind.
So they've made a change to the view we get when altering the boat heading - previously if you changed the heading you were shown the new heading dotted line along with the existing dotted line which was fainter.
Now we only see the new heading dotted line, so no comparison with the existing course. Rubbish.
@sharkbait - that feature is still available on the android app - might just be they've not updated it yet
Still have the old and new course lines.
Today's been about starting to head west to set up for the trade winds and then the doldrums, I've comforted myself with the knowledge that there are 9466 other participants from the UK, only 5280 of them are ahead of me.
I’ve comforted myself with the knowledge that there are 9466 other participants from the UK, only 5280 of them are ahead of me.
How did you work that out?
I need to find comfort after dropping about 140k places in 48hrs.
Edit: just seen it, I'm 5327th out of 9466
Now making the transition from sailing down wind to up wind. So it looks like a tricky night. Wind has been a northerly. Now transition to easterly. Then ese. Fun to do.
Back from 4 days on a biking trip. Lets see how bad it went in my absence. Am I grounded in Brasil?
looks like the conveyor running south will be closed by the time it get there 🙁
Desperately slow going again. Must be another 9 hours for the wind to pick up.
Desperately slow going again. Must be another 9 hours for the wind to pick up.
You are about one week of sailing (and 450k places) ahead of me, sorry if I don't feel sorry for you!
Righto, back from a cycling trip and managed to get a few bits of internet access that stopped me bumping into Brazil. Time to roll the dice i think and see if heading South can pay off.
I just crossed the equator for the first time in a (virtual) boat. Should I have sat in a bowl of porridge and carried out a ritual to worship Neptune?
How you care to celebrate in the privacy of your own cabin is your business, but please bear in mind I'm only a few miles off your stern so keep it PG please.
G
G. You have the fancy sails so I expect you to overtake me soon. I should warn you, I am sailing this boat totally naked with a large mast.
My years in the navy were a long time ago but I remember enough to avoid naked sailors and offers to polish their mast.
May the wind always be out your back Frank
G
The good ship yeti had a mare of a weekend loosing at least 24hrs to the STW frontrunners, but strangely gained 5000 places overall from friday. Now in the deep south going vaguely in the right direction after going in circles over the last 48hrs.
Looks like a few of us are desperately trying to get ahead of the low pressure to push us out of the South Atlantic. Winds are looking uncertain around the Cape of Good Hope, let's hope I can find some breeze and start the roller coaster to Australia!
Hopefully I'll use the following low coming across to catch up a bit. Good hope is still a couple of days away
@franksinatra, you've run aground on Tristan da Cunha,,, you may need to change course unless you're sipping mai tai's on the beach?
Thanks for the heads up BigG, I wouldn't have noticed until later if it wasn't for your message appearing in my inbox.
That is unreal, the most remote spec of land in the world, in the middle of a vast ocean and I manage to sail into it! I've made up 160k places in the past few days, I suspect I will loose most of them back now.
I've reset my course but not sure if I will actually be able to sail out or not, will see what happens.
I have always been fascinated by remote islands and, in particular, Tristan da Cunha. I suppose its nice to pay a visit.
It's a very small place right enough, it did make me spend a little time on google wondering how achievable it would be to WFH somewhere like that but then I remembered that Waitrose don't deliver to it so scuppered my plans. Imagine no organic red pepper hummus dip!The inhumanity doesn't bear thinking about.
So is everyone enjoying chasing the weather and staying above the exlcusion zone? There's a French boat making really heavy weather of some strong winds below the redline. I guess it's the price you pay.
Hoping to pick up some decent winds in a couple of days and start to shoot across the Indian Ocean but it a seems a bit of a lottery with the winds.
Anyone entering the Tara ocean race that starts this weekend? I'm in.... Because one race to watch isn't enough going on.
@peterno51
I think your boat Womble may be aground! Hit a very small lump of rock just off a bigger lump of rock
There's a good little bunch of us all within spitting distance of each other (apart from a couple of front runners)
Anyone else trying the other race that appeared over the weekend?
I'm currently desperately trying to find a breeze somewhere in the bottom of the Indian ocean, it was all going pretty well until the last 36 hours. I'm sure it'll pick up again.
I'm in the other race, the pace isn't exactly on a par with the Vendee boats is it? Feels like I'm doing a lot of work and not making much progress.
Ha, I know what you mean about lack of progress - 20kt wind and the boat is plodding / wallowing along at 5kt. Although I'm lying around 300th - f knows how I've managed that.
Cheers YetiDave!
What were the odds of that Little Rock, original course plot didn’t pick it up.
Took ages to get off it too.
Quite addictive this lark.
Bentanbroken, we are either racing very closely or you are actually stalking me! Our tracks are almost identical.
There may be nearly 1 million virtual boats but the only race that means anything to me is STWanchor racing against Bentandbroken!
So how is everyone getting on? There seems to be two STw flotillas, group one off the coast of Uruguay and group two approaching Cape Horn.
I’ve just rounded the Cape so on my way home. No chance of me catching the leading group but pleased to be ahead of my more immediate rivals!
