@ 17:20 GMT

Position: 32° 23.014 N x 70° 06.957 W

Speed: 5.7 kts

Course: 27° True

If you are following us on the tracker you will notice that we are not making a direct course to the Azores. Why, you may ask? If we were using an engine we would indeed take the most direct course to get there asap. But since the wind is our engine there are two major factors to take into account: i) where is the wind and where will the wind be over the next several days, ii) how effectively does the boat sail in relation to the “wind angle” (direction of the wind in relation to the direction of the boat).

When you listen to the evening news (if you do) or check your favorite weather app you will hear the meteorologists refer to low pressure and high pressure systems as as well as cold and warm fronts. Without needing to know what these mean, they do allow us to predict the direction of the wind. A lot of time and money has been spent in developing forecasts of these weather systems. We use these forecasts to anticipate where the wind will be and what its direction and strength will be. Thus, if we are heading directly to the Azores the forecast, which we download twice per day, may tell us that we will lose wind ahead of use over the next 50 nautical miles (nm; 1 nm equals 1.18 statute mile). But that there may be wind developing north of us that we can use to sail east. In this scenario, we would change course and, using our existing wind, we would sail north into the area of forecasted wind and then turn east and use that wind to take us towards the Azores. 

The attached video shows you some of the tools we use to identify where wind will be and helps us position Ingwe to use it to our advantage.