Rolex Sydney Hobart, difficile ma veloce
Rolex Sydney HobartVela 24 Dicembre 2008 Zerogradinord 0
[singlepic=1210,250,170,,left]Rolex Sydney Hobart – Sydney – Gli ultimi bollettini meteo parlano di una sessantquattresima Rolex Sydney Hobart partcolarmente veloce, talmente veloce da lasciar pensare alla possibilità che Wild Oats XI, o il suo rivale Skandia, riescano nell’impresa di migliorare di alcune ore il record della regata.
I venti, da tesi a forti, dovrebbero infatti soffiare da nordest per i primi due giorni della manifestazione, in programma come di consueto a partire dal 26 dicembre, permettendo alla flotta di tenere medie importanti anche in seguito al previsto giro verso ovest-sudovest, atteso per il momento in cui il gropsso della flotta starà navigando verso la Tasmania, ultima boa di percorso prima dell’arrivo.
Velocità impressionanti per i Maxi, quindi, e onde enormi da fronteggiare per i più piccoli in mezzo allo Stretto di Bass, ma le condizioni dovrebbero comunque restare gestibili anche perchè nessun bollettino riporta la temuta parola ‘southerly’, foriera, in occasione della Sydney Hobart, di navigazioni quasi impossibili tra i frangenti del tanto temuto stretto.
Uno scenario, come anticipato, che ben si sposa con le aspettative di Wild Oats XI. Il Maxi di Bob Oatley è determinato a migliorare il primato di 1g 18h 40m 10s fissato nel 2005 e a conquistare i line honours per la quarta volta consecutiva. Secondo Mark Richards, skipper del Reichel-Pugh 100 pluri vittorioso: “Le sei ore iniziali e finali saranno determinanti per il miglioramento del record. Alcuni bollettini, dopo la Tasmania il vento potrebbe anche mollare. Sarebbe comico arrivare lì in un giorno e poi, per fare quaranta miglia, metterci altre dodici ore”.
Oltre a Wild Oats XI, anche Skandia affila le armi per quella che si prospetta come una sfida davvero difficile: “Abbiamo una barca più vecchia di Wild Oats XI. Le nostre possibilità di successo sono minime – ha spiegato l’armatore Grant Wharington – ma è nostra intenzione provarci in ogni modo”.
Altri osservati speciali saranno il Reichel-Pugh 80 Shockwave 5 di Andrew Short, il VOR 70 Ichi Ban, il Reichel-Pugh 66 Black Jack e il nuovissimo Loki, un altro progetto R&P lungo sessantatre piedi.
Per consultare la entry list clicca qui.
Per visitre il sito dell’evento clicca qui.
[flashvideo filename=video/varie/SydneyHobart_presentazione-2008.flv /]
Video courtesy Regattanews.
ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART, FAST AND HARDER
[Rolex Sydney Hobart Press Release] The latest weather forecasts suggest the 64th Rolex Sydney Hobart will be a quick one. Fresh to strong, 20-30 knot northeast following winds for the first two days from the 26 December start will push the 100-boat fleet south at high speed under spinnaker. The predicted west-southwest change of 25-30 knots to follow will allow straight-line reaching courses towards Tasman Island, the last turning mark 41 nautical-miles from the finish.
The sailing will be tough as the yachts speed south at speeds of up to 25 knots for the maxis and the mid-fleet and smaller boats will have to climb big waves in Bass Strait, but the conditions will be manageable for all. Nowhere in the forecasts – government and commercial – is mentioned the dreaded S-word, ‘southerly’, that on this 628 nm course, which crosses the notoriously rough Bass Strait, means strong to gale force headwinds and punishing waves.
In this scenario, the fastest yacht in the race, Bob Oatley’s canting-keeled Reichel/Pugh 98 Wild Oats XI, could cut an extraordinary ten hours off the race record she set at one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds in 2005 as well as taking line honours for the fourth consecutive year.
But forecaster Roger Badham, who provides specialist services to a number of yachts in the fleet including Wild Oats XI, warns that the pace-setting big boats could be slowed by a lightening of the northerly flow as they close the Tasmanian coast on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, 27 December. “It’s looking a bit wishy washy,” Badham says. “They look like getting around Tasman Island around 9pm to midnight, still ahead of the race record but facing softer breeze.”
Wild Oats XI‘s skipper Mark Richards sees the first six hours and the last six hours of the race deciding her record-breaking chances, “You could get to Tasman Light in 24 hours but it’s a matter of getting from there to the finishing line, which can take 12 hours. You just don’t know.”
Following Wild Oats XI home to Hobart should be Grant Wharington’s Jones designed 98-foot canting-keeled maxi Skandia and the fixed-keel R/P 80 ASM Shockwave 5 (Andrew Short). Next into Constitution Dock should be Matt Allen’s modified Volvo 70 Ichi Ban and Peter Harburg’s well-sailed R/P 66 Black Jack – another two entrants equipped with canting keels. Wharington concedes his older maxi Skandia has little chance of beating Wild Oats XI into Hobart and so has configured her to win the race’s major trophy, the Tattersall’s Cup.
The international yachting community will be following the fortunes of the two brand new Reichel/Pugh designs, the 63-foot Loki, owned by Stephen Ainsworth and the 62-foot Limit of Alan Brierty, which should also both enjoy the downwind conditions. They are virtually sister designs. Limit’s slightly more plumb bow profile accounts for the overall length difference. Loki has a more conservative ‘pin-head’ shaped mainsail while Limit has square-topped mainsail, inspired by latest Volvo and America’s Cup grand-prix sail design.
British America’s Cup and Olympic sailor Andy Beadsworth, tactician/helmsman aboard Loki, welcomed the forecasts of more moderate winds than those issued earlier in the week, “we don’t want to break the boat on its very first outing but we also want to push the boat hard and see what we can do on its first race.”
Forecaster Badham believes winner of the Tattersall’s Cup is most likely to come from the mid-sized band of boats, which include the race-hardened, well-campaigned TP52s Wot Now (Graeme Wood), Ragamuffin (Sid Fischer), Quest (Bob Steel), Cougar II (Alan Whitely) and the boats most likely to be close behind them at Tasman Island including Ray Roberts’ canting-keeled Cookson 50 Quantum Racing, R/P 55 Yendys (Geoff Ross), the Cookson 50 Shogun (Rob Hanna) and Geoff Boettcher’s R/P 47 Secret Men’s Business 3. By turning up at Tasman Light between nine in the morning and mid-day they would benefit from more reliable winds over the last tricky 40.8 nm across Storm Bay and up the River Derwent to the finish.
The USA’s sole entry is the legendary Ragtime, the hard-chine plywood 65-footer originally named Infidel, which John Spencer designed for Sir Tom Clark of New Zealand in 1965. Thwarted from entering the 1967 Sydney Hobart by the CYCA’s firm stance in those days against admitting radical designs, Clark sold the boat to a syndicate of Americans based in Long Beach, California. Ragtime went on to win line honours in the 1973 and 1975 Los Angeles-Honolulu Transpac races and continued to be a Transpac line honours contender through to the 1990s. She sat neglected in Long Beach Harbour for five years until a consortium including Welsh bought her at a sheriff’s auction and got her to the start of the 2005 Transpac.
Welsh subsequently bought out his partners to take sole ownership and give Ragtime an extensive refit, in consultation with designer Alan Andrews. He installed a new rudder, a new keel and a carbon rig, adding a new mainsail and new asymmetrical spinnakers. Earlier this year Ragtime won the 3571nm Tahiti Race from Los Angeles to Papeete and in October won the IRC handicap division of New Zealand’s Coastal Classic, from Auckland to Russell.
A fleet of 100 yachts will compete in this year’s race, which starts at 13.00 AEDT, 26 December 2008. The Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet will have crews representing the USA, UK, New Zealand, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia and New Caledonia as well as every Australian state.
To read the entry list click here.
To visit event website click here.
No comments so far.
Be first to leave comment below.