Thread: Sydney - Hobart 2013

Published on 23 Dec 2013
The main contenders for the Sydney to Hobart have had a first look at their competition, ahead of a race that is tipped to be the most exciting yet.

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Tracker - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2013

Race Web Site : http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/

Wild Oats takes first blood in Sydney to Hobart trial run
December 10, 2013


Well credentialed: Wild Oats XI will be hard to beat in the 2013 Sydney to Hobart.
Photo: Nic Walker

Wild Oats XI will go into this year's Sydney to Hobart yacht race in sublime form after knocking off new rivals Perpetual Loyal in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge around Sydney Harbour on Tuesday.

The handicap winner was Shogun V, which isn't contesting the Sydney to Hobart this year, while another high-profile contender, Wild Thing, broke the start and finished fourth.

Across the 14-nautical mile course, Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards was in control of his crew, while new challengers Perpetual Loyal, who have undergone extensive modifications to their boat, were lucky to finish the race when one of their light weather assymetrical sails split in two.


Pivotal moment: Investec Loyal's sail tears during the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday.
Photo: Nic Walker

It hampered their chances to get a psychological edge over Wild Oats XI before the big race begins on Boxing Day, but sailing legend Iain Murray said it was more of a practice run than anything.

"It's the first time these boats have sailed together and they seem to be reasonably close," Murray said. "I don't think you can read too much into it today; if it's a light race it will favour Wild Oats and if it's a windy day it will definitely favour Perpetual Loyal. They're clearly different boats but it's interesting to see the strengths of the two boats. It's a very testing day on the Harbour today because the wind's up.

Murray was recently named chief executive of Hamilton Island Yacht Club's Team Australia, which will challenge for the America's Cup.


The two leaders rounding Fort Denison on the first lap of the race.
Photo: Nic Walker

SOLAS big boat challenge
Click for more photos

Murray said Australia has enough gifted sailors to create a winning team, but conceded it will take time and management to scale the heights of 1983 when Australia II won the Auld Mug.

"The talent pool is enormous, and you can see that in our Olympic results in all the classes," the 55-year old said. "The young guys were all doing so well [at the Olympics] and you only had to look at the America's Cup this year. There was Aussies floating around everywhere; sailing, managing and designing boats."

Skipper of Oracle Team USA, Australia's James Spithill is a sailor Murray would love in his crew given his recent success at the America's Cup. However, Murray said even if he doesn't snare the services of the Aussie, he won't mind the underdog status when the crew gets up and running.

"I think that's probably a slim chance [to get Spithill]," Murray said. "He's at a very senior level and we are more of a junior team at the moment and we're looking to build for the future. We're setting ourselves high goals but like many Australians we like to be the sleeper. It's early days and we want to build a strong team, but we have limited resources in this country financially. It's great to be back into it though and we need to work with that enthusiasm to get the Cup back."

Meanwhile Rob Brown, who also was part of the successful Australia II crew in 1983, said he was meeting up with Spithill this week.

"James has Australian citizenship and he has a house here so I'm confident we might still be able to convince him to jump on board because he'd be a great asset to the crew," Brown said.

smh.com.au

‘Dark Horse’ arrives race ready for Rolex Sydney Hobart
Di Pearson
Sunday, December 22, 2013


Beau Geste has arrived in Sydney ready to take on the Rolex Sydney Hobart
Darren McManaway, LiveSailDie.com

The new boat every Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race competitor aiming for line honours and overall glory has been waiting to see has arrived in town and sailing master Gavin Brady warns “We’ve arrived ready and probably more prepared than anyone else.”

Beau Geste, the 80 foot Botin design that everyone is talking about, was ordered by Hong Kong business identity, Karl Kwok, following the near-demise of his previous Beau Geste.

Brady and the Rolex Sydney Hobart race crew, minus Kwok, sailed the yacht from New Zealand into Sydney Harbour last evening after leaving Auckland on Tuesday. Brady was bemused when people questioned: “What took you so long?”

The Kiwi sailor, whose resume includes five America’s Cups, 10 Hobarts and Volvo Ocean Races and match racing titles, said: “We didn’t deliver the boat to Sydney for the race, we raced the 1400 nautical miles here – that’s two and a half Hobarts,” he said of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual 628 nautical mile race.

“We are probably the most prepared yacht entered in the race.”

“We tested everything; our watch systems, sail changes, we put reefs in the main, shook them out, we did everything we would normally do racing a boat, down to getting the milk right in people’s tea.”

Brady also reminded us that he and owner/skipper Karl Kwok have sailed together so long: “We can read each other like a book, we have our communication down pat; things like our terminology. And with Steve Hayles in the nav station – the three of us, along with the rest of the crew, are ready,” he said.

“Quite frankly, we’re ready and we’re confident. We got half way here, and in the Tasman the wind died, then it picked up. So we did windward leewards. One minute we were pointing at New Caledonia, the next at Hobart. It was the perfect practice. It was open-ocean and no wind shifts. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Brady said that owners should take advantage of racing from their home port to Sydney for the start, just as the Beau Geste crew has done, “because that’s the best preparation you can do for the race.”

Beau Geste arrived in Australia with no damage on her maiden voyage. “The worst that happened to us was hitting a sunfish 20 minutes into our voyage – hopefully it was the last one. We left it with a headache,” Brady said.

Asked what his hopes for the Rolex Sydney Hobart are, Brady said, “I hope when I look back after the race, standing at Constitution Dock in Hobart that I’ll be able to say, ‘We did the best preparation possible and it paid off.”

The Rolex Sydney Hobart, will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia, the Australia Network throughout the Asia Pacific Region and webcast live to a global audience on Yahoo!7 from 12.30pm until 2.00pm on Boxing Day.

rolexsydneyhobart.com

The Sydney to Hobart has become just another bloated ego wank for dissolute millionheirs.

SOLAS Big Boat Challenge
Andrea Francolini from Tuesday’s action in Sydney
11 December 2013 by


SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. Sydney, 10 December 2013.
Photo copyright Andrea Francolini


SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. Sydney, 10 December 2013.
Photo copyright Andrea Francolini


SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. Sydney, 10 December 2013.
Photo copyright Andrea Francolini

Lots more at Link : SOLAS Big Boat Challenge | VSail.info

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Sydney-Hobart yachties are in for a wild ride with extreme weather forecast

THE Sydney-Hobart fleet is bracing for violent weather conditions not seen since the deadly 1998 race that claimed six lives.

An updated weather forecast issued yesterday sent a chill through competitors, with predictions of 35-knot winds off the Tasmanian coast and up to 45 knots when the fleet reaches Storm Bay, 30 nautical miles from the finish line.

A front may hit all but the fastest yachts in the 94-strong fleet, which sets sail on Boxing Day at 1pm, with the minnows expected to bear the brunt of the worst conditions.

Veteran Tasmanian sailor Roger Hickman, a former overall winner of the Sydney-Hobart and the skipper of 43-footer Wild Rose, expects to be "clobbered" by wild winds on Sunday, three days after the start.

"There is potential there for some really violent weather," Hickman said, ahead of his 37th Sydney-Hobart.

"We are in for a real belting in the later part of the race."
Sydney-Hobart yachties are in for a wild ride with extreme weather forecast | The Mercury




Most of the yachts starting do not have corporate sponsorship, professional crews and back-up, and are certainly not competing for line honours. One of the great things about the Sydney Hobart is that it remains an 'everymans race'.

7 Day Wind, Wave & Tide Weather Forecasts!

7 Day Wind, Wave & Tide Weather Forecasts (including live wind reports) for Australia

Rolex Sydney Hobart: Big Boats predicted to avoid gale
Richard Gladwell


'Dockside at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA)'
Rolex - Carlo Borlenghi ©

The supermaxis contesting the 2013 Rolex Sydney Hobart race are expected to dodge the strong winds predicted for the latter stages of the race.

The latest projections and course routing using a polar (performance data) from a top supermaxi, shows the big boats will have winds mainly from a northerly and easterly direction, with winds peaking at a 22kt average - meaning a 30kt top end.

Strangely with such a favourable wind direction and strength, the race record does not seem to be under threat, with the boats expected to take just over two days, according to two of the wind models used to develop the optimum route.

For those further down the fleet, the picture is not so leisurely with the 50fters to be hit with a southerly change on the evening of December 28 around 8.00pm.

Then the wind is expected to switch within an hour from a northerly direction of 23kts average to a SW direction of 26kts - both are average wind strengths and the gusts are expected to be around 35kts or more initially, increasing to over 30kts the following day (Gusts expected to be in excess of 40kts) before beginning to ease in the early hours of the following day.


Course options for the supermaxis in the 2013 Rolex Sydney to Hobart. The red dotted more direct course is expected to be the one taken by the leading crews. - PredictWind.com

A TP52 polar used by Predictwind for weather routing indicates that this size of boat will finish in about 2 days and 14hrs – about 12 hours after the supermaxis.

For the start of the race, winds are expected to be from a SE direction are around 15kts average (20kts plus in gusts). But they swing north and lighten for the following day.

The weather routing recommends the boats follow a more easterly course, with one model recommending a big hook out to sea. From experience the competitors do not stray too far from the direct line from the direct route to Hobart, for reasons of sailing extra distance, being caught on the wrong side of a change, and separating from their competitors. More radical tactics sometimes come into play in the latter stages of the race as trailing boats are prepared to take more of a gamble to make a break through on the leaders.

Sail-World will be updating regularly with the latest weather projections and routing throughout the race from Predictwind. Over the past few days, weather projections have changed quite markedly, and this is expected to continue after the race gets underway.

sail-world.com

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On The Web

For those who can't get to watch the live broadcast of the start of the Race on the Seven Network across Australia, Yahoo!7 will webcast the program. You can also watch the same webcast on the home page of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race website.

The official race website www.rolexsydneyhobart.com is one of the most popular Australian sporting websites during the Christmas New Year holiday period and is your information portal for everything there is to know about the 628 nautical blue water classic.

Included on the website is the complete list of yachts entered, along with a photograph and description of each boat, a rundown on the crew, and the boat's past racing record.

There's also archival data including results of past races since the first in 1945, the weather they encountered; a summary of line and overall handicap winners of those races; historical reports and statistical information; designers of those line and overall winners; and profiles of some of the race luminaries over the years.

You'll also be able to follow the event on twitter for race updates http://twitter.com/rshyr and via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RolexSydneyHobart

Following the Race - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2013

inside the 5 ................

Wild Oats XI from Pepetual Loyal at the 1st mark

Originally Posted by peterpan

Originally Posted by sabang

The Sydney to Hobart has become just another bloated ego wank for dissolute millionheirs.

True enough, Big money professional sailors,exotic materials.
Fragile, un sea worthy yachts.
Sydney to Hobart has no more relationship to real world sailing as Vettle's redbull F1, to real world motoring.
When I was living in Melbourne I did a Melb to Hobart race in Wild thing, I was cured of yacht racing for good.

Got it out of my system, its no Wednesday nite yacht club bash around the buoys, that's for sure.

Smallest boat carries big dreams as skipper contests first Rolex Sydney Hobart
Danielle McKay
Sunday, December 22, 2013


Nick Cannar is undaunted about skippering the smallest boat - Wilparina - in this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart. Image supplied by yacht owner

As if skippering the smallest boat in the fleet isn’t daunting enough, Wilparina’s owner Nick Cannar will also be embarking on his first keelboat contest when he takes-on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race aboard the 33-footer.

It’ll be a bouncy and a long race aboard the S&S 34 - and Cannar knows that.

But what’s important to the 66-year-old is getting his four dinghy sailing mates and one experienced offshore crewman safely to Hobart.

“It’s a huge challenge,’’ Cannar admits. “I’ve never raced a keelboat before; we’ve cruised, but never raced.

“As part of the qualifier, we crewed the Tasmanian entry in the race, Martela, up to Sydney.

“We had 50 to 60 knots of breeze; it was a shock but it gave us a good understanding of what it will be like.”

You’d be hard struck to find a better boat to start the learning curve of offshore keelboat racing.

The American designed and Australian made yacht is as sturdy as they come.

The yacht’s association boasts that they’ve completed more long distance voyages, especially solo, than any other design.

Most Australians might not know it, but the S&S 34 features prominently in the country’s maritime history.

It was the boat of choice for Jesse Martin and Jessica Watson on their endeavours to become the youngest to sail non-stop, solo and unassisted around the world. It was also the boat of choice for Jon Sanders too - and for the same reason.

“These boats have a long history of being seaworthy,’’ Cannar said. “Sure it will be bouncier than most boats, and we won’t be planning downwind, but there’s comfort in just how solid it is.”

Joining Cannar is a crew as diverse in background as they are in age, varying from 19 years to 68.

It includes Tim Knox, an adventurer known for building a homemade raft and navigating the Murray Darling and Hawkesbury Rivers.

The most experienced crewman is American Brian Caldwell, who in 1996 at 19 was the first person under 21 to sail around the world single-handed with stops.

He’s since become a veteran of numerous Sydney Hobart’s, Mini Fastnets, Trans Pacs and other ocean races.

Having Caldwell aboard has reinforced Cannar’s sense of adventure.

“It’s a great comfort having him on board,’’ Cannar acknowledged. “You know, we’ve a lot of sailing experience between us, and we’ve been training and working hard to get the boat ready.

“You might say some of us are old, but even when you’re old you still have dreams and look to challenges. This is one for the list.”

The start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia, the Australia Network throughout the Asia Pacific Region and webcast live to a global audience on Yahoo!7 from 12.30pm until 2.00pm on Boxing Day.

rolexsydneyhobart.com

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Perpetual LOYAL leads Rolex Sydney Hobart
Di Pearson
Friday, December 27, 2013


Perpetual LOYAL gained the upper hand late last night over Wild Oats XI
Rolex/Daniel Forster

It’s happening again – Anthony Bell and his Perpetual LOYAL crew are making the running difficult for treble crown holder Wild Oats XI in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, late last night overtaking their foe for a 10 nautical mile lead this morning and were sailing almost abeam of Eden.

Perpetual LOYAL navigator Stan Honey reported at 0500hrs AEDT this morning: “We’re in 9 knots running downwind on port tack. Last night we were further out to sea and that seems to have paid off.”

Asked were Bell and his crew surprised to be doing so well in conditions that don’t suit the purported fastest super maxi in the world, Honey said: “We’re pleased to still be in the hunt, as light air is not our strong point and it’s been light all night.”

Bell has both advantages and disadvantages aboard the former Speedboat. The yacht only arrived from New Zealand after receiving modifications and having its keel strengthened, but it is known to be fast. The Sydney based chartered accountant is also carrying some celebrity crew, including celebrated Bennelong chef, Guillaume Brahimi, who is not noted for his sailing ability.

Aboard Wild Oats XI, navigator Tom Addis explained their falling behind “It was a messy night, lots of storms off the coast and we got tangled in the tail end and lost ground on (Perpetual) LOYAL and Giacomo – so we’ve got a bit of catching up to do- but we’re pulling back Giacomo now,” he said off Jim Delegat’s VOR 70 from New Zealand, which is close by and continues to lead the race overall.

Addis said the maximum breeze they encountered overnight was 15 knots and that they could not be worried about the six boats that have been hanging onto their coat tails since the start of the race yesterday.

“They could be in a different breeze to us, but it was easier to manage one challenger last year than the six this time. You have to be very disciplined and sail your own race; you can’t afford to get caught up in what the others are doing.”

Addis said today would be just as tough. “There’ll be quite a few decisions to make and quite a few sail changes to make – a few gybes coming up,” he said. “Bass Strait will be a landmine paddock with light air,” added Addis who said Wild Oats XI was running in light air from 030 (just to the east of north).

Overall, Giacomo continues her good run of yesterday to lead Perpetual LOYAL and CV10, the Clipper 68 from the UK with the wily Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail non-stop single handed around the world, navigating. Victoire, the canting keeled Cookson 50 recently purchased by Darryl Hodgkinson, is in fourth place.

The bulk of the 92-boat fleet in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race is sailing between Ulladulla and Nowra on the NSW coast. The last boat on line is Black Adder, James Clayton’s Sigma 41 all the way from Fremantle in Western Australia.

rolexsydneyhobart.com

• LINE HONOURS
  Racetime : 00:19:40 - 27 December 2013, 8:40 AM
  • 1
    Perpetual LOYAL
    Anthony Bell NSW Racing
    DTG
    401.9
  • 2
    Wild Oats XI
    Robert Oatley NSW Racing
    DTG
    409.4
  • 3
    Giacomo
    Jim Delegat New Zealand Racing
    DTG
    422
  • 4
    Ragamuffin 100
    Syd Fischer NSW Racing
    DTG
    425.8
  • 5
    Black Jack
    Peter Harburg QLD Racing
    DTG
    428.6

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/

WOXI is relentlessly grinding Loyal down , only 1.7 in arrears now .

WOXI has just rolled Loyal and is back in the lead for line ,

H'cap is no longer there for the maxi's and will end up amongst the 40 footers .

Slow night in the lottery


It has been slow progress overnight and this morning in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race with Wild Oats XI opening up a 15 nm lead over Perpetual LOYAL and a further eight miles back to Ragamuffin 100 as they close on the Tasmanian coast.

News - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2013

• Racetime : 01:19:10 - 28 December 2013, 8:10 AM
  • 1
    Wild Oats XI
    Robert Oatley NSW Racing
    DTG
    184.9
  • 2
    Perpetual LOYAL
    Anthony Bell NSW Racing
    DTG
    214.9
  • 3
    Ragamuffin 100
    Syd Fischer NSW Racing
    DTG
    216
  • 4
    Giacomo
    Jim Delegat New Zealand Racing
    DTG
    235.2
  • 5
    Black Jack
    Peter Harburg QLD Racing
    DTG
    239.1

rolexsydneyhobart.com

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Tracker shows WOXI round the Iron Pot and on the final leg up the river

13.7 @ 300