2011 Sydney - Hobart
Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 8:15 pm
Started at 1:00PM today amid some drama on board the favourite, Wild Oats XI.
In pre-start manoeuvring, she suffered a failure of some of her hydraulic services, meaning she had no power to operate her primary winches. Since everything on this boat is to a greater or lesser degree controlled by hydraulic motors, including her canting keel, her chances for another line honours win must be under question.
Skipper Mark Richards was pretty vocal in his post-start instructions, dropping numerous F bombs on live TV (not that I think anyone cares much but you could tell how stressed he was).
Anyhow, the lead boats were last seen planing down the NSW coast, doing around 20kts in a 15kt Nor-Easter. Anyone who thinks things can't be exciting at that speed ought to try it.
A few of my fellow club members are in it again this year: Scarlet Runner, Cougar and Calm - TP52 type yachts and Bacardi, a 33 year old veteran with 27 Hobarts under her belt. She's probably the hardest raced boat in Victoria, if not Australia. She lost her rig last year and spent 8 months out of the water while they reconditioned her. She's now virtually a new boat. Her owner/skipper Martin Power has also driven a Commodore in the Bathurst 1000 back in the 80s.
A few boats to watch out for are Hugo Boss, a radical off-wind 60 footer designed for the Vendee Globe, Ichi Ban, a former Volvo Open racer from a few years back and Loki, a likely favourite for handicap honours. But with the wind on the snotter most of the way, I'm tipping some of the older boats - like Bacardi - will do well.
Anyone who's interested can follow their progress here:
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_tracker.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
In pre-start manoeuvring, she suffered a failure of some of her hydraulic services, meaning she had no power to operate her primary winches. Since everything on this boat is to a greater or lesser degree controlled by hydraulic motors, including her canting keel, her chances for another line honours win must be under question.
Skipper Mark Richards was pretty vocal in his post-start instructions, dropping numerous F bombs on live TV (not that I think anyone cares much but you could tell how stressed he was).
Anyhow, the lead boats were last seen planing down the NSW coast, doing around 20kts in a 15kt Nor-Easter. Anyone who thinks things can't be exciting at that speed ought to try it.
A few of my fellow club members are in it again this year: Scarlet Runner, Cougar and Calm - TP52 type yachts and Bacardi, a 33 year old veteran with 27 Hobarts under her belt. She's probably the hardest raced boat in Victoria, if not Australia. She lost her rig last year and spent 8 months out of the water while they reconditioned her. She's now virtually a new boat. Her owner/skipper Martin Power has also driven a Commodore in the Bathurst 1000 back in the 80s.
A few boats to watch out for are Hugo Boss, a radical off-wind 60 footer designed for the Vendee Globe, Ichi Ban, a former Volvo Open racer from a few years back and Loki, a likely favourite for handicap honours. But with the wind on the snotter most of the way, I'm tipping some of the older boats - like Bacardi - will do well.
Anyone who's interested can follow their progress here:
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_tracker.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;