Happy Holiday All,
This 4th of July morning at 0900 PDT, BobJ on his Alerion 38 SURPRISE continues his lonely slog westward, 25+ miles north of the remaining Long Pac racers. Bob is 102 miles west of the Golden Gate, and same distance from his turn around point at 126-40W. SURPRISE, averaging 5.5 knots, should be headed home in approx. 17 hours, or 2 A.M. tomorrow morning.
Conditions over the course have moderated, with 18-20 knots of wind from the NNW. And should slowly moderate a bit more over the next 12 hours. SURPRISE, by going West, rather than Southwest, is setting up for a fast broad reaching angle home. Everyone else, further south, is going to be sailing more miles, and at a slightly slower angle on their return.
Here's the GFS chart for 11 A.M. PDT this morning. Yellow is 13-15 knots of wind. Orange is 15-17 knots. As will be noted, the wind arrows are in 5 knot increments, and do not exactly match up with the chart colors. For example, a barb and 1/2 = 15 knots of wind. Two barbs = 20 knots of wind. In addition, in swell, the wind strength near the surface is less than higher off the water, say 10 meters. Also, cooler air is denser. 20 knots of wind off the CA coast is stronger than 20 knots of tradewind in Hawaii.
Attachment 4506
Good sailing to all. Here at CBC, we had a very low tide this morning, -1.4 feet. Beachgoers from over the Hill were already planting their umbrellas in the sand at 7 a.m. under overcast skies. Dozens of surfers were out early, enjoying the chest high southerly swell.