Sydney to Hobart

[Factor]

Nice start from everyone and some good TV. As expected the motor sailers are well in front.

Appears they may get a bit of rough weather tonight

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Factor

Nice start from everyone and some good TV. As expected the motor sailers are well in front.

Appears they may get a bit of rough weather tonight

Its called a Southerly Buster, In excess of 30 knot winds,

That will be nice tonight, Not. In the middle of the Tasman Sea, Bass Straight and the Southern Ocean and a Southerly Buster thrown in for good measure,

Its a good place to avoid, Chronically, Survival sailing,

One blew me up a beach,

Nice clean start, no mishaps, Shame the TV coverage doesnt go longer,

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Its called a Southerly Buster, In excess of 30 knot winds,

That will be nice tonight, Not. In the middle of the Tasman Sea, Bass Straight and the Southern Ocean and a Southerly Buster thrown in for good measure,

Its a good place to avoid, Chronically, Survival sailing,

One blew me up a beach,

Nice clean start, no mishaps, Shame the TV coverage doesnt go longer,

Actually Brian, it isn't called a Southerly Buster. It is a standard issue frontal passage associated with a fairly broad trough which has brought the cloud cover that covers us. And actually, the predicted winds are in the 20-30 knot range, and shouldn't be much of an issue for even the smaller boats. There could be embedded thunderstorm cells associated with the front which could make for short term stronger winds.

A Southerly Buster is a clear sky event, usually following a period of lighter winds, and doesn't resemble a frontal passage.

And I know that this is heresy, but very few of the racers actually cross Bass straights. The rhumb line takes one quite a way east of the straights and their shallow and constricted waters.

Gee, I hope that none of the high rollers run out of diesel...

Cheers,

Jim

[IslandHopper]

Yacht Tracker for those that may be interested.....

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011.. Yacht Tracker

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by Factor

Nice start from everyone and some good TV. As expected the motor sailers are well in front.

Why is it that they don't have specific events for the motor sailors and call them that?

Twas out on Sydney Harbour today on one of those triple deck cruise boats to watch the start of the race. A pretty good vantage point and almost non stop commentary for the 4 hours on board. So vast was the commentators knowledge that, amongst others, he came out with this gem: " the boats with the orange flags are cruising past the start boat to show the officials that they have them on board. If the weather gets really rough they fly them and it makes it easier to be seen." Needless to say, 4 hours was enough on this boat.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Eleebana

Why is it that they don't have specific events for the motor sailors and call them that?

Twas out on Sydney Harbour today on one of those triple deck cruise boats to watch the start of the race. A pretty good vantage point and almost non stop commentary for the 4 hours on board. So vast was the commentators knowledge that, amongst others, he came out with this gem: " the boats with the orange flags are cruising past the start boat to show the officials that they have them on board. If the weather gets really rough they fly them and it makes it easier to be seen." Needless to say, 4 hours was enough on this boat.

Hmmm. maybe they could those small orange flags as some sort of sail if the weather got tough... Gee . I am a thinker too!!

[hoppy]

I see that the former forum favourite Jessica Watson and her kindergarten crew of Ella Bache are currently leading their division and the Sydney One Design class.

All crew on board are 21 or younger making it the youngest crew ever to compete.

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Actually Brian, it isn't called a Southerly Buster. It is a standard issue frontal passage associated with a fairly broad trough which has brought the cloud cover that covers us. And actually, the predicted winds are in the 20-30 knot range, and shouldn't be much of an issue for even the smaller boats. There could be embedded thunderstorm cells associated with the front which could make for short term stronger winds.....,,,,,,,,,,,

Cheers,

Jim

Well the thunderstorms just hit here at Newcastle 69 or so miles up the coast from Sydney. The rain seems to be falling vertical from the sky, which does not indicate a lot of wind out there.

On a more technical note, the biggest difference between today's weather pattern and the traditional 'southerly buster" is that the dominant low pressure cell is a former tropical cyclone moving north to south-east. In comparison, a "southerly buster" is the front of a low pressure cell moving from the south in a roundabout north-easterly direction. This reversal might be indeed challenging for the current race skippers and navigators desperate to find wind?

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Actually Brian, it isn't called a Southerly Buster. It is a standard issue frontal passage associated with a fairly broad trough which has brought the cloud cover that covers us. And actually, the predicted winds are in the 20-30 knot range, and shouldn't be much of an issue for even the smaller boats. There could be embedded thunderstorm cells associated with the front which could make for short term stronger winds.

A Southerly Buster is a clear sky event, usually following a period of lighter winds, and doesn't resemble a frontal passage.

And I know that this is heresy, but very few of the racers actually cross Bass straights. The rhumb line takes one quite a way east of the straights and their shallow and constricted waters.

Gee, I hope that none of the high rollers run out of diesel...

Cheers,

Jim

I got the Southerly Buster off one of the Sydney newspapers headlines, Off the internet as well, while trying to get some sort of updates as the race progressed, The TV start is all you get here,

If your awake, and sailing on the open ocean, Its just one of those things you cope with,
But I was parked, asleep, and was washed up in less than 10 minutes, That was a Southerly Buster, The locals told me they know about them,

A couple of hours and their gone,

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by hoppy

I see that the former forum favourite Jessica Watson and her kindergarten crew of Ella Bache are currently leading their division and the Sydney One Design class.

All crew on board are 21 or younger making it the youngest crew ever to compete.

God damn P-Platers, zig zagging through traffic and driving too fast!! On to water too it appears

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I got the Southerly Buster off one of the Sydney newspapers headlines, Off the internet as well, while trying to get some sort of updates as the race progressed...,,,

To improve ratings and sales the media are probably looking for any comparison to a 1998 event they can find? The biggest this year is probably some of the cross seas from the ENE swell and the brewing mild southerly seas causing a bit of seasickness?

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

God damn P-Platers, zig zagging through traffic and driving too fast!! On to water too it appears

And just like most P-platers, it looks like they must have spun out and ended up in a ditch before being pushed out and continuing, because they have dropped to 9th in their division and 5th in the SOD.

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by hoppy

And just like most P-platers, it looks like they must have spun out and ended up in a ditch before being pushed out and continuing, because they have dropped to 9th in their division and 5th in the SOD.

They're out of mobile phone range. It's a new experience for them. Can't text their friends or check facebook. I mean, how could you possibly survive?

[AussieGeoff]

I wouldn't write off Ella Bache just yet. They're making a couple of knots better than some of the boats currently ahead of them. She stayed closer to the coast and didn't benefit from what look to have been better winds further out yesterday. Looks to be doing better now, I suspect they will overhaul some of the boats ahead of them. It's a yacht race, anything can happen. The lady's been around the world, I'm sure she'll find Hobart before a lot of others do.

AussieGeoff

[Noztradamus]

Originally Posted by hoppy

And just like most P-platers, it looks like they must have spun out and ended up in a ditch before being pushed out and continuing, because they have dropped to 9th in their division and 5th in the SOD.

Nah, they took the night off to go clubbing. Dropped to 65th, 6th in class, 13nm behind class leader (drumroll) The Goat by morning.

OTOH Reslience of youth: they've been the fastest 38 for the past 4 hours (in upper 7Kts area) and have caught up 5nm on The Goat.