Sydney-Hobart 2017

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Doug Lord, Dec 1, 2017.

  1. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Wild Oats has won Line Honors 8 times! Two of those set new race records. Discounting these achievements is way wrong.......
    Sydney-Hobart is not just a handicap race-it is one of the Worlds premier Line Honors contests drawing some of the worlds most high tech monohulls!

    Go Wild Oats!
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2017
  2. Martin B.
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    Martin B. Junior Member

    Thanks Fred but no need.
    My main point (although not acceptable to D Lord) is that the S2H is, and I will repeat that again, IS a handicap or corrected time event.
    I have been following the S2H as an Australian yachtsman living and sailing in Australia since about the third running of the Race as reported in Seacraft magazine and on the ABC radio in the days of "radio relay ships".
    In my opinion the Race has been 'damaged' by the clamour emanating mainly from the press re first home versus the Overall Handicap Winner i.e, the winner of the Tatts Cup.
    Here's hoping that the '17 Race will have the necessary breezes for the less expensive, less exotic and wind powered ONLY yachts to win the Cup and not the diesel powered aircraft carriers the so-called maxis have become.
     
  3. Doug Lord
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    Sydney-Hobart Race Preview from North Sails courtesy of Scuttlebutt Europe:
    Rolex Sydney Hobart Race Preview https://northsails.com/sailing/en/loft-news/race-preview-rolex-sydney-hobart

    Excerpt:
    The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour is always a spectacular preview to the Rolex Sydney – Hobart Yacht Race (RSHYR) . Are you surprised that Black Jack took the win over Wild Oats?

    It looks like Black Jack is a stronger boat upwind in lighter air and Wild Oats is stronger upwind in heavier air, probably due to the modifications that Wild Oats has done. The same applies downwind. Once upon a time, Wild Oats was a very strong light-air boat but she seems to have given some of that away. Mark Bradford and Vaughan Prentice from North Sails Brisbane both sail on Black Jack so they were obviously really happy to have won, but the SOLAS results shows a slight shift in focus for Wild Oats to optimize for the full range of conditions that they will see in the Sydney – Hobart.

    The RSHYR is one of the pinnacle offshore races in the world and one of the biggest sports events in Australia – what do you think makes this event so special and why should it be on every offshore sailor’s bucket list?

    There is a lot of history behind the race. This is the 73rd year; long enough to become a stalwart of offshore races. It is always a tough race-you know that you will get a range of conditions while you are out there. You are also pretty much guaranteed to be going upwind in heavy air at some point during the race; 30 knots plus for a period of time. And the smaller boats will likely see two weather transitions during the race so they will have to deal with two frontal systems, which makes it that much harder. When you do complete it, to have come through all that and arrive in Hobart the feeling of achievement is so much sweeter!
     
  4. Doug Lord
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    Scuttlebutt USA tidbits:
    GO USA
    : H.L. DeVore who will be the navigator on Warrior Won, likes what he sees amid the Provisional Division listings (click here) now posted for the 2017 Sydney Hobart Race. “It’s one of those days where everything just seems to be falling into place. Every IRC Division has an American boat and the placements are not disadvantageous in any way.”

    OATS UPDATE: After getting struck by lightning last weekend, the Reichel/Pugh 100 Wild Oats XI has passed a sailing test in stormy Sydney and is being boosted by replacement equipment from a rival and overseas. The boat is expected to be right and ready to go for the Boxing Day start of the Sydney-Hobart.

    The race starts on Boxing Day at 1300hrs AEDT and will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia.
    NOTE--see post 20 for the tracker and broadcast info. Remember: in the USA the race will be seen on Christmas Day about 8:30 pm.
     
    JosephT likes this.
  5. JosephT
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    JosephT Senior Member

    Thanks for the update Doug. Still can't believe Wild Oats got struck by lightning right before the race. Of all the bad luck. The turn around to get her under way is a story in and of itself.
     
  6. CT249
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    CT249 Senior Member

    More proof that the arrival of the 100ft supermaxis has radically changed the relationship between the big boats and the bulk of the fleet. As North says, the small boats have to deal with very different weather systems.
     
  7. Doug Lord
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    From Scuttlebutt:
    The Bureau of Meteorology has given the 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet an early Christmas present - speaking at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia this morning, Bureau of Meteorology's Manager, Weather Services NSW, Jane Golding, delivered a forecast that points to a fast, mostly broad reaching and running race.

    "The race will start in a moderate east/south-easterly breeze around 10 knots," Golding expects, "and the winds will shift around to the north-east during the afternoon., to around 15 knots off Batemans Bay."

    All four models the Bureau use point to the nor'-easter building overnight and the next day to around 20 to 25 knots in Bass Strait and down the Tasmanian coast, and those favourable winds will hold into the 28th as well.

    The models are split about a weak southerly front that will develop on the southern Tasmanian coast on the 28th, but Golding describes the change as fickle, and it may not even reach the fleet before it is pushed out to sea by a big High in the Tasman.

    It is a wonderful forecast for the Line Honours favourite, LDV Comanche, this month purchased by Australian Jim Cooney. In these conditions, the wide, powerful 100 footer should expect to pull away from her narrower rivals Wild Oat's XI, Black Jack, and InfoTrack, which, as Perpetual Loyal, broke the race record in somewhat more robust but similar weather last year.


    www.rolexsydneyhobart.com


    Go Wild Oats!
     
  8. Doug Lord
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    Sydney-Hobart:

    Wild Oats Crew: 301 Starts
    When the knife-like bow of the supermaxi, Wild Oats XI, carves across the start line in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day the 20-man crew will have an astonishing 301 starts in the classic to their credit.

    On top of that, three of them - skipper Mark Richards, Steve "Mothy" Jarvin, and kiwi Robbie Naismith - will have been aboard for every one of the yacht's 13 starts since being launched in 2005.

    In total, the number of nautical miles covered by the entire crew in Hobart races is the equivalent of Wild Oats XI having sailed more than eight times around the world - or more than three-quarters of the way to the moon. Steve Jarvin lays claim to the most race starts with 28, followed by Iain Murray with 23.

    Wild Oats XI, owned by the Oatley family, was scheduled to be out of the water for much of today day for a final hull polish. At the same time technicians were finishing repairs to the yacht's instrumentation which was damaged when lightning stuck the top of the mast early last Sunday.

    On the crew front, skipper Mark Richards said today it was unlikely that the yacht's regular Hobart race navigator, Juan Vila, would be aboard for the Hobart race. Vila is currently navigator aboard Mapfre, which is leading the fleet towards Melbourne in the Volvo round-the-world race.

    Richards said current indications are that Mapfre would not reach the finish in time for Vila to jump ship and get to Sydney before the Hobart race start.

    "It's a scenario we had always planned for," Richards said, adding that prominent Australian navigator and offshore sailor, Ian "Fresh" Burns, would be aboard for the Hobart race.

    Meanwhile, Wild Oats XI's "little sister", the 20-metre long Wild Oats X, has undergone some minor modifications this week in preparation for the Hobart race.

    Skipper, Troy Tindill, said it was hoped that the changes would increase the yacht's chances for winning the race on corrected time. He said that the most significant change was strengthening the bowsprit so a more powerful headsail could be carried in light conditions. --

    Rob Mundle
     
  9. OzFred
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    OzFred Senior Member

    Is this thread about the Sydney to Hobart race or Wild Oats XI?

    There are 5 time zones in the USA. The start time will be on Christmas day at 16:00 (4 pm) HAST in Hawaii and 21:00 (9 pm) EST in New York.

    The channel 7 broadcast will start at 12:30 AEDT (GMT+11:00), or half an hour before the start.
     
  10. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    ===========================
    It is what you make of it. If you like another boat or boats you can post that-if not then it is about Wild Oats vs Comanche.

    Go Wild Oats!!!
     
  11. Doug Lord
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    Sydney-Hobart:
    tracker- Tracker - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2017 http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/


    FOR RACE WEBCAST: Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2017 http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/

    Following the Race - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2017 http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/spectators/following-the-race/

    The race coverage will be broadcast on the Sydney-Hobart website starting at 12:30 AEDT which is 8:30pm on Boxing Day. The broadcast date is December 25th on the eastcoast USA at 8:30pm.
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2017
  12. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  13. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Wild Oats doing what she does so well:



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


  15. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

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