Over the past 4 days, Challenger has been countering the northward current by flying towards perpendicular to the east. Since then, the currents let up a bit allowing Challenger to fly more quickly through the water, shown but the increase of 20 to 23 on the figure below:

ru29_Speed

However, now the current although still relatively weak, is rotating back to our nose, so we have pushed the waypoint a little further away to 35˚23’S, 1˚30’W.  This will keep the glider flying along the white line shown below which is the direct path from Challengers latest location to the shores of cape town.  This path also does a nice job of lining the glider up to fly smoothly through the eddy that is resting on the prime meridian while steering us clear of any unfavorable bathymetry.

RU29_20151210_waypoint

Force Wind Sea & Honor