Sydney-Hobart 2014

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Doug Lord, Nov 25, 2014.

  1. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

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    You're so right. And coupling that with the fact that millions of us that were looking forward to watching the start and couldn't- is just pitiful.
    ---
    But on the good side it's turning into one of the greatest battles of all time.....
    UPDATE: At 9 EST USA Wild Oats is faster and 4nm's ahead AND the wind has shifted and they're going dead down wind.

    UPDATE: At 9:48 EST USA Comanche is down to 7.3 and Wild Oats is 11.2-distance between them 5 nm. I haven't seen a weather map but the arrows on the tracker look like they're both in an area of fluky winds as the shift to a north wind continues. What a race!


    Go Wild Oats!!!!!
     
  2. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    The relevant urls for the race:


     
  3. Moggy
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    Moggy Senior Member

    Retirements so far...

    Bear Necessity - Retired - Rudder damage
    Brindabella - Retired - rudder bearing damage
    Last Tango - Retired - sail damage
    Occasional Coarse Language Too - Retired-Steering damage
    Perpetual Loyal - Retired-Hull damage
    Tina of Melbourne - Retired - Hull damage
    Triton - Retired-forestay damage
    Willyama - Retired-torn main

    Hmmmm....
     
  4. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Sidney-Hobart--

    Wow-Wild Oats now 10 miles ahead and going over twice as fast-maybe something wrong on Comanche? (11:19 pm EST USA)
    Wild Oats=12.3 knots
    Comanche=5.2 knots
    UPDATE: 12:24 am EST USA-distance between the boats now 15 miles.
    Wild Oats 11.6
    Comanche 6.7

    I've got to go to sleep-go Wild Oats!
     
  5. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Heres a wind picture-its going to get progressively windier as they get closer-might be just what Comanche needs:
    click on the image for detailed view-
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Moggy
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    Moggy Senior Member

    Hmmmmm... I think that all bets are off when Westerly arrives.
     
  7. CT249
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    CT249 Senior Member

    Ok, I've gotta admit I didn't think that WOXI would pull away like that; did she get a streak that got her out of the high or is Comanche in trouble or slow downwind in the light?

    The way the next group is piling together off Gabo, and the wind markings on the tracker, indicate a major hole south of Gabo that Comanche could still be stuck in. Wedgetail and Blackjack are getting good numbers to the east and could have great pressure and angle when they gybe back.
     
  8. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    More importantly - my cousin on Martela will be happy - running second in IRC Div 4.

    40 nm lead for Wild Oats is going to be hard to wind back. Looks like experience is paying off. They were never that far behind down the coast.

    What i really want is one of the classic, close tacking duels up the Derwent River to the finish line - that really gets the spectators out on shore.
     
  9. Moggy
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    Moggy Senior Member

    Comanche is to draggy in the light stuff, if the common wisdom is to be believed.
     
  10. Moggy
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    Moggy Senior Member

    There is Storm Bay, it could happen.
     
  11. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    As of 7:33 EST USA, Wild Oats is 40 miles ahead and doing18.5 knots with Comanche doing 16.5.
    The race is a still a long way from being a sure thing for Wild Oats-she needs to "bank" as much distance as she can now for later. But I still can't get over how great a race this has turned into.........
    AT 9:07 Oats 18.8, Comanche 18, distance for Oats to finish 208. If the wind holds WOXI may finish tonight. Still 40nm between them. Comanche needs to make up at least 4 miles every hour to be even.
    UPDATE: At 9:39, Comanche is faster than Wild Oats for the first time in a long time: Comanche 19.4 knots, Wild Oats 19.2 knots.
    UPDATE: At 11:39 Comanche is 43nm behind and moving at 22.8 knots. WOXI moving at 19.7. Dist to go for WOXI=157 miles. At the present differences in speed, it will take 8 hours for WOXI to finish and Comanche will still be behind by 18.2 miles at the finish......
    UPDATE: WOXI 24.6, COM 24.4 knots 12:27pm USEDT
    UPDATE: Comanche has dramatically caught up: at almost 3 pm she was 24 miles behind and doing 23 knots,WOXI was doing 16.7. If this disparity in speed keeps up Comanche will be even in about 3 hours-2.6 hours before the finish. WOXI must have sailed into a hole-her only hope is that Comanche finds the same hole.What a race!
    UPDATE: at 5pm USEST Comanche is doing12.1 knots and is 16 miles back. WOXI is doing 10.2knots
    and has 63 miles to go. What a race-wish they had helicopters to video these guys when it starts getting real close-which it will. This is just great.
    UPDATE: 5:19 WOXI finally faster again-12.8 vs 9.3 for Comanche-up to 17nm between them....


    Go Wild Oats!!!!!!
     
  12. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    Attached Files:

  13. Moggy
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    Moggy Senior Member

    IMO Wild Oats will slow into Storm Bay then they will come together. It is probably down to which boat goes the correct way in the bay.

    JMO
     
  14. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    There is the hole - Commanche 6.7 knots, Wild oats 11.5 knots.

    Theres the experience too - Commanche is too close to the coast, which is blanketing the wind.
     

  15. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    I wonder who's doing their routing ? C is closing with the coast matching boat speed and hoping for a bit of a wind shift to hit WO.

    WO is staying in deeper water too, that reduces the wave resistance from the combination reflected waves coming of the line of cliffs eastward of Tasman peninsula. These wind conditions are very fluky around that part of the coast.


    Variable gentle changeable, a tacticians nightmare.


    http://wind.willyweather.com.au/tas/hobart/hobart.html
     

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