Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - Wet time for the crews

by Jennifer Crooks on 26 Jul 2014 2014 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - Tim Constable from the Bureau of Meteorology delivered entrants in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race their final weather forecast this morning, and while crews on the 55 yachts are in for a wet time, a few were rubbing their hands in glee at the prophesized wind direction and speed.

Competitors are under no illusion that to win the 29th edition of the 384 nautical mile race means staying ahead, or at least up with the storm fronts and changes in breeze. All know that to miss even one means going from a possible win to the middle and back of the fleet.

North-westerly winds of 15 to 20 knots predicted for the race start at 1.00pm are expected to veer south-west at around 4.00pm and ease to 10-15 knots by 10.00pm. These winds should continue throughout the night and into the following day.

By Sunday late evening, the wind should ease to 10 knots. The many boats still on the course on Monday are likely to face the trickiest part of the race, with variable winds of 10 knots expected. Conditions will be punctuated by the odd thunderstorm and continuing rain showers. This morning it is looking grey and gloomy and hot tea and coffee were on the agenda ahead of the start.

What all of this means is that the bigger boats should benefit, provided they stay in touch with and ahead of the storm cells and lightening breezes. Whether you win, lose or draw, navigating and tactical decisions through the mire of weather will be crucial, navigators maintain.

Adrienne Cahalan is navigating Matt Allen’s new Carkeek 60, Ichi Ban. She says: 'It’ll suit us if we hang on to the weather,' musing that it will be an interesting race for the two super maxis, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards and Anthony Bell’s Perpetual Loyal. 'It could go either way – that’s the beauty of the forecast we’ve been given – at any rate, it’ll be an interesting battle,' she said.

On the V70 Black Jack, Peter Harburg’s skipper, Mark Bradford was a happy man: 'It absolutely suits us,' he said. 'The wind speed is a little down on what we’d like, but the direction is just right; we can sail the angles and clock up a lot of miles if we play it right, stay in front of the storm clouds and our crew work is good.

'The weather is looking good for us and Loyal – she’s just a bigger version of Black Jack really,' Queenslander Bradford said of the two boats that share the same designer in Argentinean, Juan Kouyoumdjian.

Perpetual Loyal’s navigator, Tom Addis, claims otherwise: 'I think the conditions will suit Wild Oats better later when it will be full-on downwind sailing,' he said of the yacht he navigated to line honours victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart in December.

'We might get a bit of fast stuff early on, but later it’ll be full-on downwind, and the boat doesn't like sailing square, so we’ll have to make the most of the angles while we can.'

Perpetual Loyal will carry a special passenger in the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race. Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke will sail his maiden ocean race on and was nervously, but excitedly, preparing this morning at Rose Bay where the 100 foot yacht lives.

Some mid-size yacht owners were also rubbing their hands hoping the BOM had got the weather spot on. Among them was Victorian stalwart, Bruce Taylor who will skipper his Reichel/Pugh Caprice 40, Chutzpah, to a hopeful victory after past divisional wins in the race. Last year he finish 12th overall, but the current moderate reaching conditions are made to order.

'If it stays light to moderate and reaching, it will be great for us – I hope the weather holds true to the forecast,' said Taylor, a veteran of 33 Sydney Hobarts.

On Patrice, the new Ker 46, owner Tony Kirby and Ian ‘Barney’ Walker, who will helm and call tactics, remained hopeful. 'I think it’s wide open – it’s anyone’s – it’s there for the taking,' Walker said.

'Sunday night will be crucial,' Kirby warned. 'If we’re still in pressure, we’ll be OK. But I’m confident with the weather we’re getting; we can do 10 knots in five knots of breeze.'

Walker added: 'We’ll probably sail a bit wide of the rhumbline (most direct course) early on, but Sunday at some stage the current (north-easterly) will play a big part and we’ll be back closer to the coast.'

The smaller yachts such as James Cameron’s Hick 35, Luna Sea and heavier, older yachts, such as Tasmanian Rob Fisher and Paul Mara’s Helsal 3, along with the Beneteau designs are the ones likely to be robbed by the current weather situation.

The CYCA’s proven yacht tacker system will allow family, friends and yachting enthusiasts to follow the race and their favourite yachts for its duration. Each yacht is fitted with a Yellowbrick tracker that will obtain a position using the GPS satellite network, and then transmit the position back to Yellowbrick HQ using the Iridium satellite network.

Each yacht’s position is then visualised on the race yacht tracker map, or overlaid on Google Earth. In addition, the yacht tracker system also shows distance to finish line and progressive corrected time positions under the IRC, ORCi and PHS handicap divisions.

For more information visit website.