When you look at today's situation regarding weather and routing, you will notice that there isn't much to be gained anymore through better strategic decisions - it looks rather straightforward. So far Cirrus has left 19 of the still-sailing boats behind her, including 9, which she has beaten even on absolute time. Not bad for the second slowest boat of the race! Let's hope she can maintain it. I think a few notches up the ladder are still possible for Cirrus, but not much. Unless the (very) fast guys behind her really run into troubles. These boats are currently crowding ahead of Cirrus in the rankings.
But although the plain sailing skills are now coming to the forefront, some interesting options still remain to be decided about the route: Note the zig-zag course proposed by the router, due to the fact that the wind is blowing straight to the islands, and a dead-down-wind (DDW) run is not only difficult to steer, but also slower than less DDW courses. However, see the proposed jibe for today at 23N/135W, and again in 2 days at about 21N/141W - when you are pointing straight to the finish line, it becomes so hard to decide for a jibe going away from it! But it could pay off handsomely, as Pyewacket had demonstrated in tp03 and tp05. Will be interesting to see what they do on the boat.
Ulli
P.S. They cannot see the posts on the boat, only the comments. Otherwise such discussion could be interpreted as outside influence, and a penalty is the last thing I want them to get.
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