America's Cup - Cyclone Nicole set to hit Bermuda on Thursday

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 12 Oct 2016 The on again, off again Nicole, has been upgraded from a Tropical Storm to a Category 2 Hurricane and is headed for the America's Cup bases in Bermuda.

The storm had her beginnings on the back of Hurricane Matthew which wrecked havoc, and caused over a thousand deaths, before hitting the US coastline late last week.

For a time Nicole was upgraded to a hurricane, but then stalled and for a time was expected to hook up with Matthew and then head up the eastern US seaboard before heading into the Atlantic.

But instead, Nicole has formed into a Cyclone and is headed for Bermuda. The two feeds produced by Predictwind developed by America's Cup meteorologist, Jon Bilger are in agreement with the path of the Hurricane and vary a little on its strength and time that it will hit.

Bermuda government authorities have begun shutting down schools and government services for two to three days with Nicole expected to hit early on Thursday afternoon.

Four America's Cup teams have facilities on the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, 650nm from the US coastline.

Winds are forecast by the local media to have a sustained strength of 95kts and gusts of over 110kts.

The Bermudian Weather Service issued a Hurricane Warning at 5:30 am Wednesday, October 12, 2016:

Hurricane Warning
A warning that one or both of the following dangerous effects of a hurricane are expected to affect Bermuda or the local marine area out to 25 nautical miles in 36 hours or less: (a) average winds 64 knots (118 km/h) (74 mph) or higher; (b) dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and exceptionally high waves, even though winds expected may be less than hurricane force.

The BWS estimates are close to that from Predictwind which forecasts average wind speeds of 75kts at the peak of the hurricane and gusts of 92kts. As evidenced by Hurricane Matthew the official forecasts were well short of the peak measured average sustained wind strength and gusts.

Only Softbank Team Japan have commented on their preparations for the arrival of Hurricane Nicole, posting images of the bases being secured.

Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing have fully operational bases in Bermuda. Land Rover BAR have a partially constructed base on the island.