Sydney-Hobart: CBTF wins!(prediction)

At least I hope either Wild Oats or Alfa does. This is the first time a fully functional CBTF boat has been able to race in this sometimes really, really tough race. Last year the old Wild Oats was entered but had to restrict it's keel cant because of the rules in effect at that time.They wound up retiring early because of an electrical problem. This year it's full cant ahead(sorry) and the two big CBTF boats are looking real good though neither has a whole lot of ocean experience at this point.CBTF equipped boats have won the Bermuda race and the Transpac (and numerous other races)but this is going to be the first Sydney- Hobart-I hope!
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Start in just a few hours....

[usa2]

Wild Oats has installed a new canard.

[michael-compwes]

..Doug how can a boat really win a sailboat race when it relies on a deisel engine to operate???

Gee Michael, you know as well as I do that the diesel is only to run the ac below to keep the crew cool while they pull that keel around...

[yipster]

tomorrow morning the boats be in Hobart?

Should be there tomorrow morning I think-fast pace but probably just under a record ..

[michael-compwes]

....Skandia unable to gybe for 2hrs because of their F'n engine!!!It seems these boats are COMPLETELY reliant on their deisel engines well beyond their ability to re-charge batteries and to 'provide AC'!!
On recent news on the site,,there's some people speculating that they have some good chance of gains on yer CBTF's if the winds build,as at least SOME of the CBTF's are sure to melt-down.....and canter owners saying the lighter winds cause them not to use the cants,anyways---quite a silly conundrum.
I like the idea of these boats being in a separate division that starts 1-2 days after the main fleet,so that the actual sailors get some of the focus!!

Here's a Report from Grant Wharington (Skandia) - 6.00pm, Tuesday 27 December,,from the S-H site....

Well, crisis averted!! Did you know we had a crisis?! Yes well we did, even if it was short lived! We have been on the same gybe for the last two hours due to engine failure - the engine powers the keel so we couldn’t cant easily (we have batteries but they would have run out quite fast) - we thought that we had water through the engine but it seems that it is OK!

Not sure how much ground we have lost, but we are back firing again now and going to give it a real good go. Back in the hunt, with still everything to play for.
The breeze we have at the moment doesn’t allow us to use our secret weapon of the increased righting moment we have with our extra 5 tonnes of lead, in fact there is a reasonable argument that we would have been faster before we did the changes that have emptied our coffers (again) over the last few months. Such is the game of yacht racing - we have less wind than we had in Sardinia earlier this year in a race that always
(well, almost always) promises a tough ride across Bass Strait.

Very frustrating but if only the breeze would swing slightly we could start powering forth with our extra stability.

Better get back to it. Pray to the wind Gods for us and see you soon.

[yipster]

"5 tonnes of lead" seems a lot even on these maxis
what volume is that in kilograms to liters?

[michael-compwes]

Originally Posted by yipster

"5 tonnes of lead" seems a lot even on these maxis
what volume is that in kilograms to liters?

..wharrington's saying 5 EXTRA tons....

Not over yet? Oh, well-give it a few hours! I sure hope the CBTF guys can hang in there. Skandia is not in the same class from a design or technology standpoint.... In even head to head competition CBTF is the fastest canting keel system period. The Volvo's would have been even faster had the rule allowed CBTF -and had Reichel-Pugh designed a boat or two.

[D'ARTOIS]

So canting keels are NOT the solution. A ship that relies on an engine to manoevre, is not anymore a sailingyacht. The whole Canting keel system is an ultra poor effort to energise the sailing yacht.
Fact is, - that the VOR fleet is not that particular fast. If you divide the time sailed over the total distance, the boats come hardly over 13 knots general speed.
Everybody is bulled up by the media.....

Thats nutty, D'Artois! What are you smoking?
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UPDATE: Wild Oats(CBTF) within 10 miles of the finish---Alpha(CBTF) fairly close behind; Skandia"TMF"(?) way behind.....Konica Minolta-not even on the radar screen.....

[D'ARTOIS]

I better ask what you are smoking: you haven't read my post - I am not discussing the S-H boats but just the VOR fleet!
If the VOR fleet has to sail up wind, they are not that particular fast: any maxi will sail rings around them. They can only do their milk run. They are made for the down-wind tracks.
Let it put us this way: if you require a diesel to power your keel, in order to manoever, or change track, you don not have a sailing yacht but a motorsailor.
How does that look for a change?

Still nutty , D'Artois...
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May be disaster on the course:Wild Oats has dropped her main-she's still making 12-14 toward the finish....

[D'ARTOIS]

Why drop the main? They have a sailing boat and 12 knots is not that particular fast, know a number of fixed keel boats, much smaller, doing the same.
Point is that if the keel cannot move - for whatever reasons, the boat is crippled, and dear friend, that is nutty!

You must have learned for a long time that the weakest issue in a sailing yacht is the engine.