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Daily Analysis — Newport→Bermuda 2026

What the daily practice reps are telling us as a series — the trend across 31 briefs (2026-05-28 → 2026-07-10) and how the race is shaping up against previous race-year weather patterns. Each brief is a practice rep of the live pipeline; this page reads them together. Newest: 2026-07-10.

PRE-RACE PRACTICE ONLY — not for use during the race

These are pre-race research / practice reps. Per RRS 41 (2026 NOR) a boat shall not receive routing assistance from shore — including AI-generated — while racing. This page stops updating before the June 19 start; do not open it from the boat once racing.

Live data frozen for the race (RRS 41)

Gulf Stream + weather visuals were frozen at the June 19 start. Last full refresh 2026-07-10.

Where things stand — T−-21

  • Regime: practice + ocean-tracking. Race day is still beyond the ~7-day model horizon, so today's atmospheric analog is a practice rep, not a forecast. The genuinely predictive signal this far out is the Gulf Stream. A real race-day call unlocks at ~T−7, when convergence tracking begins automatically.
  • 31 briefs on record, 2026-05-28 → 2026-07-10.
  • Today's closest analog: 2012 (score 2.55) — W-PF/W-BH/W-BH.

The honest read: The closest analog has held on 2012 for 2 days — early stabilization, but still pre-horizon, so treat it as a practice lean, not a call.

What the series is telling us

Trend at a glance

Day-over-day across the series (2026-05-28 → 2026-07-10, newest at right):

metric trend first → latest
Model agreement % ▁▃▆▆▆▆▃▃▆▃▆▃▆▃▆██▆▆▆▃▁▁▃▆█▆▆▆█▆ 67% → 89%
Crossing SST °C ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▅▄▅▄▄▂▁▅▅▅▅▅▅▆▆▇▅▅▅▅▆▇█▇ 22.1 → 28.8 ↑ (72 → 84 °F)
Peak wave m ▄▄▃█▅▃▃▃▂▁▂▃▃▂▃▃▃▃▃▄▃▃▆▅▂▂▁▁▃▃▂ 2.4 → 1.7 ↓ (8 → 6 ft)
Analog score ▂▁▄▁▄▁▄▁▄▁▄▄▁▄█▄▂▄▄▅▄▂▄▂▄▄▄▄▁▄▁ 3.40 → 2.55
North-wall jump °C █████▇▅▇▆▆▅▄▂▁▆▆▆▆▅▅▅▆▇▆▆▅▅▅▆▇▆ +6.1 → +3.9 ↓ (+11 → +7 °F)

Each bar is one brief day; rows are min–max scaled independently.

Weather — the last 10 days

Animated daily 10 m wind field and sea-level-pressure contours over the Newport–Bermuda corridor, ERA5 reanalysis, the last 10 days into the 2026 start Each frame = one ERA5 day (holds on the most recent). Filled contours are MSLP (warm = high, cool = low); arrows are 10 m wind coloured by speed; dashed line is the rhumb. Frozen, committed — pre-race research only (RRS 41).

Daily max wind, gust and mean sea-level pressure at the Gulf Stream crossing over the past month, ERA5 reanalysis Wind run-up at the 37°N crossing (left axis, knots) with corridor-mean band, against sea-level pressure (right axis). Spikes are frontal/low passages; flat high-pressure spells are the calmer regimes.

Closest-analog signal

Model agreement

  • Cross-model agreement 67% → 89% ↑ across the series. Rising agreement near the horizon is the confidence signal; this far out it mostly tracks short-range weather, not the race.

Gulf Stream — the real signal this far out

  • Latest snapshot: 2026-07-10 (0 days old). A ring or meander near the rhumb persists for weeks, so today's Stream state genuinely informs June 19 — see the corridor decision page.
  • Crossing SST 22.1 → 28.8 °C (72 → 84 °F) ↑; north-wall jump now +3.9 °C / +7 °F (clear front).

Gulf Stream sea-surface temperature near the Newport–Bermuda rhumb — Rutgers RUCOOL satellite, 2026-06-19 Frozen snapshot — clearest Rutgers RUCOOL SST pass, 2026-06-19; the live sources are linked under Data sources below.

Animated daily Gulf Stream altimetry current field off the Northeast US over the last 10 days (current + previous 9), with the Newport–Bermuda rhumb and current-optimal crossing overlaid Daily AOML altimetry (cloud-immune) — watch the Stream's meander and eddies migrate. White = Newport→Bermuda rhumb; green = current-optimal crossing (Zermelo least-time through the GLORYS field — current only, not a wind route). Frozen, committed (RRS 41).

Sea state

  • Peak corridor wave 2.4 → 1.7 m (8 → 6 ft) ↓.

Data sources

How the race is shaping up

If the pattern currently leading holds — and this far out it may not — the closest race-year analog is 2012:

  • That year: Carina (Reichel/Pugh design) — line honors basis
  • What won: Simple execution near rhumb; ~2 jibes + 2 tacks for 636 nm
  • Best corridor: RHUMB
  • Lesson: Benign Stream year. Execution beats positioning. Low maneuver count wins reaching races.

A practice lean drawn from a still-bouncing signal, not a race-day forecast. The page commits to a real call only once race day is inside the model horizon (~T−7) and the analog stabilizes.

Convergence tracker

  • Not yet converging. Race day is T−-21, beyond the ~7-day model horizon. Convergence tracking (consecutive stable race-day analog) begins automatically at ~T−7.

Full brief log

Every brief, newest first.

date T−N regime headline analog P1/P2/P3 Stream Δ
2026-07-10 T−-21 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-PF 2026-07-10 new Stream
2026-07-09 T−-20 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-07-09 analog 2024→2012
2026-07-08 T−-19 practice 2024 W-BH/W-PF/W-BH 2026-07-08 analog 2012→2024
2026-07-07 T−-18 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-07-07 new Stream
2026-06-27 T−-8 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-27 new Stream
2026-06-26 T−-7 practice 2012 W-LA/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-26 new Stream
2026-06-25 T−-6 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-25 analog 2022→2012
2026-06-24 T−-5 practice 2022 W-BH/W-LA/W-BH 2026-06-24 analog 2012→2022
2026-06-19 T−0 conv 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-PF 2026-06-19 analog 2022→2012
2026-06-18 T−1 conv 2022 W-PF/W-CF/W-CF 2026-06-18 analog 2012→2022
2026-06-17 T−2 conv 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-PF 2026-06-17 analog 2022→2012
2026-06-16 T−3 conv 2022 W-PF/W-PF/W-BH 2026-06-16 analog 2012→2022
2026-06-15 T−4 conv 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-PF 2026-06-15 new Stream
2026-06-14 T−5 conv 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-14 analog 2022→2012
2026-06-13 T−6 conv 2022 W-BH/W-PF/W-BH None analog 2012→2022
2026-06-12 T−7 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH None steady
2026-06-11 T−8 practice 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-BH None new Stream
2026-06-10 T−9 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-10 analog 2018→2012
2026-06-09 T−10 practice 2018 W-BH/W-BH/W-PL None analog 2024→2018
2026-06-08 T−11 practice 2024 W-PF/W-LA/W-BH 2026-06-08 analog 2012→2024
2026-06-07 T−12 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-07 new Stream
2026-06-06 T−13 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-PF 2026-06-06 new Stream
2026-06-05 T−14 practice 2012 W-LA/W-BH/W-BH 2026-06-05 analog 2024→2012
2026-06-04 T−15 practice 2024 W-PF/W-LA/W-PF None analog 2012→2024
2026-06-03 T−16 practice 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-PF None steady
2026-06-02 T−17 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-CF None steady
2026-06-01 T−18 practice 2012 W-BH/W-BH/W-BH None new Stream
2026-05-31 T−19 practice 2012 W-CF/W-BH/W-PF 2026-05-31 steady
2026-05-30 T−20 practice 2012 W-PF/W-BH/W-PF 2026-05-31 analog 2018→2012
2026-05-29 T−21 practice 2018 W-LA/W-CF/W-PF 2026-05-31 analog 2022→2018
2026-05-28 T−22 practice 2022 W-PF/W-CF/W-PF 2026-05-31