The fifth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) from Auckland to Itajai is not only the longest, but traditionally it is also the hardest.
With the leadership of the race so tight, it could also be the leg that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
This leg could end up being about the navigators. Azzam’s man Simon Fisher talks us through the leg’s key navigational spots.
Negotiating Cyclone Pam
It can be quite tricky getting out of New Zealand if conditions are light and difficult.
But it’s actually going to be very windy, so we’ll probably get out of the coast fairly quickly. We’ll do the normal in-shore bit of the leg, which is always good to do well in. Usually we approach it in quite a conservative manner to not do anything stupid on that first day.
The key will be leaving the coast and getting ourselves down into the Southern Ocean. It’s going to be fairly exciting this time because of Cyclone Pam, and that will have a big impact on our race.
Go westerly
Although it will be very windy and conditions will be pretty unpleasant, it will help us get down into the Southern Ocean quite quickly.
Tactically, the priority is to get down south and into the strong westerly.
Once we’re in that strong westerly wind, it’s all about managing the strong weather systems that come through and staying in phase with the weather that is coming through. We have to make sure we’re in enough wind – not too much, not too little. That continues for a couple of weeks as we head into Cape Horn.
Cape Horn
It can be very tricky. There can be temptation, after you’ve spent two weeks in water temperatures that are less than 5°C, that you want to get north quickly.
But often it is best to stay south.
We have a very important decision when we get to Cape Horn about how quickly we turn up north and start heading to Brazil, and that is dictated by how the weather is coming in from the South Atlantic and round the tip of South America.
South American coast
That can be a complex area with the weather.
Lots of low pressures coming through, and because the Andes are such a high mountain range that mixes things up quite a bit and can make it quite tricky.
The weather changes very fast, and managing that bit up past the Falkland Islands is a quite important part of the leg.
The finish
From there, we transition back to warmer weather.
The final part of the leg is, potentially, quite light. We could end up close to the coast trying to find reliable wind.
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
RESULT
Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
ORDER OF PLAY ON SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - 4pm (UAE)
Gael Monfils (15) v Kyle Edmund
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Magdalena Rybarikova
Dusan Lajovic v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 - 4pm
Adam Pavlasek v Novak Djokovic (2)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Gilles Simon
Angelique Kerber (1) v Kirsten Flipkens
Court 2 - 2.30pm
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Marcos Baghdatis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Christina McHale
Milos Raonic (6) v Mikhail Youzhny
Tsvetana Pironkova v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
