2012 Sydney - Hobart

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J.D.
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2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

Not a big field but not a small one either. A bit more interest at the front end of the fleet too.

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Current betting has Wild Oats XI at $1.50, Ragamuffin/Loyal at $3.25 and Wild Thing at $13.

This is going to be a bit interesting, though I doubt if we'll see anything like last year's finish.

Both Wild Oats XI and Wild Thing have done some extensive modification work in the past few months. Wild Oats has had a dagger board fitted to the bow to improve tracking in light air. That's a pretty radical move. I've never seen anything like that in a modern maxi. The last boat I can remember doing anything like it was Tom Blackaller's USA (US-61) which appeared in the 1987 America's Cup in Fremantle.

http://www.americas-cup-history.at/engl ... s/2643.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bob Oatley has also had a monster light weather asymmetrical spinnaker made for her, as large as two tennis courts. Tacked to the bowsprit, it goes to the mast head and the clew reaches 3/4 of the way down the hull. Whether they will get to use it or not is anyone's guess. It all depends on the weather.

Grant Wharington's Wild Thing, winner of the 2003 Hobart, has been even more extensively modified. Something like 9 metres was sawn off the back of the boat and a complete redesign was done. The difference will be very noticeable compared to the other maxis. Her stern will be much wider, in line with recent practice to improve performance on all points of sail but especially down wind. The boat will appear less "pinched" at the stern compared with Wild Oats, Loyal and Lahana.

This is how Wild Oats XI currently looks, a classic IMS design:

Image

Wild Thing is probably going to look something like this (remember, the boat in this pic is about half the length of Wild Oats but has a wider stern):

Image

Much wider in the stern for her length, a la TP-52s. The side decks should be just about parallel from amidships back, compared with her old tapered shape.

How much better she'll go is anyone's guess. If the designer has got it right she'll be a better boat. If he's got it wrong she'll bury her bow all the way to Hobart because of the extra floatation aft.

Keep an eye on Loki for handicap honours. Stephen Ainsworth's Reichel-Pugh 63 won last year and is still the boat to beat.

Should also be some good racing in the Sydney 38s. TP-52s, the true Grand Prix machines of the race, will also be worth a look.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

Current weather predictions show a north easterly wind swinging to the north west. Potential for a record.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by pixelboy »

Where did you get that forecast?

Meteorologists at work said it would be South East for most of the race.

I wouldn't bet on a record.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/2012/ ... onference/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also been talking to some friends about the Melbourne - Hobart. One of people I sail with owns Goldfinger, which holds the race record for the East Coaster. She told me yesterday that the long range forecast is for good conditions with reaching and running most likely.

The Sydney - Hobart will probably be a spinnaker start and the first 12 hours will be a southerly but the winds are expected to shift to the north. That fits with the forecast for the Melbourne - Hobart which starts a day later.

At this stage I don't think anyone's saying it's anything more than a chance. If the pattern stalls, as it often does, then, no; it won't be a record.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by richo »

Who cares pack of bloody wind thieves!

Too tight arsed to buy fuel and a decent V8 :)
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

Pfft.

LOL! Wind thieves...now there's a concept.

What would I want one of those smelly things for? ;)
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by pixelboy »

Yeah a nor-easter looks likely on Thursday but I'd still expect 18 - 24hrs of SE winds.. No chance of a record IMHO.

Still should be a good close race (hopefully)
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

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If anyone is interested, the 7 Day forecast can be found here:

http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/wind.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It shows the wind swinging from South East to East between 4:00PM and 10:00PM on Boxing Day. By 10:00AM the next day it will parallel the NSW coast.

Will it be enough? Who knows but the Maxis have been close to record pace in the past with less favourable conditions than that.

I'd say 25% chance, probably no more. They only have to manage about 15kts to break it, which is not that hard for a maxi.

What the waves and currents are doing will make a difference too.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

Looks like a big boat race* this year:

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/2012/ ... nd-faster/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is assuming the sou'wester comes in after the big boats turn right into the Derwent. Even so, they will still be at a significant advantage because the smaller boats will still be at sea when that change comes through.

The maxis don't need a lot of that 20kt northerly to make up a lot of time.

*Meaning that the winner on corrected time will be a big boat rather than a small one.
Last edited by J.D. on Sat Jan 05, 2013 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by Bauer »

interesting day in the race so far

Nothing like getting the arse on race day. Not sure who is ultimately to blame but I guess the skipper walks the plank in the grand scheme of things.

Ive been rooting for Black Jack in this race. The motorsport connection to the name made this a given. Its 5th atm I think with Wild Oats XI are fair way clear in the lead.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by mrleisure »

Go Loki :) , not much chance though :rolleyes: .

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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by wobblysauce »

So no chat about Wild Thing or False start?
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by pixelboy »

Well whatdoyaknow, they did get the record..

/me retires from sailing forecasting
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

'Morning all.

Just spent 4 days in Hobart covering the event so haven't been able to contribute anything here.

Certainly was amazing being part of it, especially since I was also there last time Wild Oats XI took the treble in 2005. It's only happened three times in the 68 occasions on which the event has been run. The first in the inaugural race in 1945 when there were only nine boats and Rani did it and both other times were by Wild Oats XI.

Wild Oats XI had it all ahead of her coming into the Derwent on Friday morning. After an amazing run the day before, when she hit speeds of up to 35 kts, which left her about 40nm ahead of her 2005 record, she was bedevilled by very light air overnight and fell about an hour behind. With her brand new code zero headsail - the size of two tennis courts - she made her way up the river in very light but promising conditions and made up that time and a bit more.*

The crew have spent an awful lot of time optimising her for light air after she had to lower her colours to Loyal last year and it really paid off.

During the previous day she blew out a number of spinnakers. The most notable was when she was going so fast she just ploughed into the back of the wave in front. This caused her to slow dramatically and because the apparent wind shot up, the spinnaker just exploded under the load.

The start line incident seems to have been a case of someone failing to observe the race instructions. There are two lines in the Sydney Hobart; one for the big boats and one for small boats. I suspect the both have individual committee boats on them and one followed race rules while the other didn't. As I understand it, if a boat was over, the committee would wait 5 minutes before informing them over the radio and they would then restart. I the rumour in Hobart was that Ragamuffin-Loyal had crossed the line 2 seconds early and the committee had informed them immediately but had not followed up 5 minutes later as agreed.

Turning a super maxi around in Sydney Harbour is just not an option so I think this is why the sailing instructions are written that way.

My belief about the difference between the two start lines is based on the fact the the TP52 Quest went back to exonerate herself and was last out of the Harbour.

My friends aboard the Farr 52 Goldfinger broke their own race record for the Melbourne Hobart East Coaster, getting there in 2 days 8 minutes and 7 seconds and just missing out on breaking the two day barrier.

* By the way, if any of you was watching the Today Show that morning on Nine, the "Nine producer" broadcasting by phone from the media boat was me.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by wobblysauce »

Nice rundown JD. Do you think more of the "code zero headsails" will be used next year? depending on weather.


*Nice footage by the way.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

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The Wild Thing dsq was a bit of a drama.

What I got from around the traps was that Wharington had not submitted his scantling report - the equivalent of an engineer's certificate - in time for the race. No scantlings, no insurance. No insurance, no race. End of story. The race committee were criticised for not telling him until the last minute but to be fair to them, it was entirely his responsibility and all they did was give him the maximum amount of time. Wharington seems to trade on this sort of thing.

Anyone who thinks this is just red tape should probably remember what happened to Wild Thing in 2004, when his race ended upside down in the Tasman Sea.

A couple of years ago he had to borrow Alfa Romeo's spare mast at the last minute and raced that without it being measured. Neville Creighton offered to loan him some sails which were cut to suit that mast but he turned him down. I think this was because he would not have been able to get away with using different sails because his rating would then have to be re-calculated. So he used his own sails with Alfa's mast - rather like driving around Monaco in a car geared for Monza. As it was, the boat should have been re-measured anyway but they waived it. It didn't matter much; he barely got out of Sydney Heads before retiring.

This time he went one step too far.

Code Zeros? They're standard equipment on most boats these days and those with bowsprits also carry up to code 6, the even numbers being reaching sails and the odd numbers being for running. You pretty much have to have them on a racing yacht and they are useful sails for cruising.

http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/the-ya ... d-oats-xi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

* I didn't shoot anything myself - not that went to air anyway. I was there as a producer.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

What are you thinking Wharro?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/i ... 6546324953" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If he really wanted to make a point, the smart thing would have been to do what Rolly Tasker did with Siska in the 1978 race. He didn't get his paperwork in on time so he started five minutes before the rest of the fleet and beat them handsomely to Hobart.
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by wobblysauce »

Would of been good if he tried that.. but i like this bit.

"There's a lot of options there for us to optimise the boat further and make it even more competitive than it already is," Wharington said.
Like getting the paperwork done..
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Re: 2012 Sydney - Hobart

Post by J.D. »

mrleisure wrote:Go Loki :) , not much chance though :rolleyes: .

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Richie Benaud voice: "Lovely photo that..."

Actually, Loki did very well and ended up 2nd on IMS after winning last year:

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/standings/ ... &raceTime=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

She is a very well sailed boat.

Line Honours can only fall to a very small number of boats but everyone is eligible for handicap, depending on what division they're in. IRC is the premier division. The majority of sailors are far more interested in their corrected time than who gets there first, hence the reason why the Tattersalls Cup is considered the real race.

While not the most beautiful boat, she is photogenic. Take a look at the last five by Carlo Borlenghi on this page:

http://www.outimage.net/yachting/carlo/ ... s2h_08.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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