Sydney to Hobart 07

[cooper]

Yeah thats what i figured....there goes another "hard option" !! Not that I would do it, but i always had a great deal of respect for the West Coasters. Simply due to the challange and lack of glory. No dieselpoweredcantingcanardwingedswingedwidget on those boats. I wonder how many of the east coasters will take a shorty through the cannal ?! ...

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by cooper

. I wonder how many of the east coasters will take a shorty through the cannal ?! ...

Depends if its been dredged. NSW people don't know about it. But I'd take it just to shove it up the nose of the dieselpoweredcantingcanardwingedswingedwidgets

[MarkJ]

42°53'30.96"S 147°48'13.04"E
The only vessels I can see are high and dry. Both ends at the Dunalley side look silted and the ocean side looks pretty bad too. I'm not sure if I would keep the spinnaker up, or change to the MPS?????

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by cooper

I wonder how many of the east coasters will take a shorty through the cannal ?! ...

I would be guessing not many; seeing as Tasman Island is a mark of the course! Also, going through the canal at Dunally is never a particularly easy option, especially in a racing yacht (which will tend to draw a fair bit). Although the canal has been dredged fairly recently, the outide entrance is a real b#tch, and plenty of boats still get into difficulties there. bear in mind that unless you are a real shoal draft, you will have to wait for the tide anyway... and you certainly wouldn't want to try to sail through and using your motor (in gear) usually gets you disqualified from a sailing race...

So, to answer the question; probably none at all!

[Weyalan]

For what it is worth, the only race I know of that allows the option of using the Dunally canal is the Tasmanian 3-peaks race (Beauty Point to Hobart, with runs up Mount Strasleki on Flinders Island, Mount Freycinet & MountHobart), and even then, that is only in the cruising division, not the racing division.

With favourable breeze it is about 5 or 6 hours longer to sail around anyway, so if you have a long wait for the right tide, it can be faster to go around...

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

Tasmanian 3-peaks race (Beauty Point to Hobart, with runs up Mount Strasleki on Flinders Island, Mount Freycinet & MountHobart),

Now thats a race for serious nut cases! What serious sailor would get off his nice Capt'n's cushion to go run 35kms up a freezing mountain? Let alone 3 freezing hills. Even a canting keel ain't gunna help win that one!

for those interested in the course the 3 Peaks website has the map

[Weyalan]

Most of the serious entries have 2 dedicated runners and the rest are dedicated sailors. The runners don't do much in the way of sailing - they seem to tend to want to lie down a lot after the running... and the sailors only run (walk) if one of the runners gets injured. But, yes; it is a race for serious nutcases.

[cooper]

Damm cant even cheat these days....was talking to the bridge keeper a few months ago...still like the idea of the stubbie in the net as payment...guess i will never be a first past the post sailor !! I have never sailed through the channel but it is high on my must do list (just for the fun).....cheers.

[Weyalan]

Many people donate a stubbie (or even a 6-pack) as payment for their canal transit (if only the Panama Canal was the same price). What not many people know is that the bridge keeper is tee-total.

[Weyalan]

For what it is worth, my pick for the win this year on corrected time is actually a fixed keel boat, and only a 65 footer at that... I think that Rosebud will beat the big canting keel supermaxis (although they will, of course, beat her a cross the line).

[Alan Wheeler]

Dang it. The Kiwi yacht Maximus has had a major Keel failure on the way over to Oz and has had to pull out of the line up for the race. This was a new Keel and was a real tech piece of gear. It not only swung, but it went up and down as well. Well it ain't doing neither now. Last year she broke the mast during the race.

[44'cruisingcat]

I wonder how many litres/nautical mile these boats acheive? They might be pretty economical power cruisers.

[cooper]

Hey Weyalan, you sure hes a tee totaler ? cause (not meaning to be rude ) he told me about the stubbie currency, and if so he sure do like his food....either way he is a really nice guy and gave me a heap of "if you are going to transit this canal then.." information.

[Joli]

Not sure why it bothers you that the race organizer allows the boats to use generated power to move the keel. It really is no different then using generated power to run an ap that moves the rudder or use generated power to run a electro mechanical sail tending system.

Your build looks good by the way.

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I wonder how many litres/nautical mile these boats acheive? They might be pretty economical power cruisers.

[MarkJ]

Hey, today was kinda fun!!!!
We watched the start from Neilson park 33°51'2.58"S 151°15'52.25"E (Yep, right where the bloke is fishing...).
It was directly at the eastern end of the first start line and there was only 2 other people on the point! We worked out why: About 10 seconds after the 10 minute gun fired a national Parks ranger told us to move! It was a restricted Re-vegetation area!!!!!!!!!!

Well bugger me if that didn’t go down like a lead balloon! Me and the other guy told the National Parks fella where he could shove his Regeneration area. The National Parks chap quickly decided he would give us 10 minutes grace as we weren’t moving anyway. As the ranger scurried away he pushed aside some blackberry bush... a noxious weed here! Regeneration area, my foot! They just steal the best parts of the harbour foreshore for their own.

At least the argument was short and we could watch the last 9 1/2 minutes till the race as the big boys jockeyed for the best spot on the line. That was the western end of the line - I thought it would be the eastern end but you know how you see things differently at the helm than on shore.
The cannon blasted and both start lines started simultaneously.
I can tell you those big boats, Wild Oates, et al, in 10 knots upwind can sparkle! dunno what the log was showing but they were dancing down the harbour. Did you read that forum topic here about the port starboard rule? There was some pretty shifty shifting and I couldnt hear the swearing, nor the flurry of protest flags but I am sure a maxi tacked onto port against starboard boat using 'I'm to big to maneuver so get over it" rule. I've done a few starts of races more than 50 starters but this one was.... well, you would have to be on the wheel to appreciate it!

A few boats in the second starting line had passed us by when they were recalled - they musta broken the start and been radioed- and boy did they do a turn quick smart, and you've never seen 5 spinnakers pulled out of nowhere and hoisted so fast! They only had about 400 meters to sail and they pulled up their kites! That impressed me!
And the lead boat of those that had to re-cross shaved the butt off the committee boat, I think to give them a bit of grief, and still had his kite half up! Must have scared the crappa out the geriatric committee dudes.

Great fun to watch it from our rock in the middle of the action. I am totally past racing.... but... boy oh boy - if I had a boat now, here, I'd love to do that run! Just as a cruiser, of course!


Mark