Doldrums Roaring Forties Trade Winds The table gives details about each leg. The Stopover table provides details of the maximum number of days the teams will stay in each port. Doldrums Sandwiched between the north-east trades of the northern hemisphere and the south-east trades in the southern hemisphere, the Doldrums, also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), is an area of low pressure lying along the equator. Winds are light or non-existent, the weather is hot and sticky, and thunderstorms and squalls can appear with little warning. Yachts can be becalmed for days on end. The Doldrums vary each year, but never extend far south of the equator. A striking advantage can be gained by a yacht which crosses the doldrums at their narrowest point - though to locate this in shifting variable conditions requires luck as well as skill. Download a video clip about the doldrums (2.6Mb) Roaring Forties After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, sailing ships making for Australia (going the conventional way round) would drop down to this aptly named area of the Southern Ocean between latitudes 40o-50osouth, where the prevailing winds would speed them on their way. The Roaring Forties are feared for their rough seas and frequent gales. They will provide a tough test for boats and crew, which will be travelling west, heading into them. Trade Winds So called because trading ships used them to get across the oceans, these are every sailors dream: winds which blow from a constant direction and usually at a steady strength, in a belt extending about 30' either side of the equator. In the northern hemisphere, the trades blow from the north-east, and in the southern hemisphere, from the south-east. The fleet will have the benefit of the trades on the first and fifth legs of the race and should be off the wind in the North Atlantic westerlies for much of the sixth leg.

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