Chris Bedford, Ericsson Team meteorologist: Investing in the south

Better than any press release, Chris Bedford's concise reports provide an excellent overview of the general situation in this second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. According to Chris the 2 Ericsson boats follow their southerly strategy while it appears that the Telefonica squad has chosen to go further north, probably sacrificing the points at the scoring gate in order to finish first.

[Source: Chris Bedford, Ericsson Team meteorologist] This morning, we start to see the effects of differing strategies. Both Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 have invested hard in the south to gain maximum distance east and speed toward the scoring Gate. Even still, they are not the southern-most boats – Puma has gone even farther south.

Both Ericsson Racing Team boats are firmly placed in the south westerly breeze now and they are expected to hold this for the next few days – pretty much all the way to 58E before gybing north and making for Cochin. Wind speeds will be 20-30 knots w...