Sail-World.com : Strong headwinds hit Noumea race fleet off Cape Reinga
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Strong headwinds hit Noumea race fleet off Cape Reinga |
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'Alan Briety’s Limit seen here at Skandia race Week, is currently leading the Auckland to Noumea race'
Teri Dodds ©
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The Australian yacht Limit (Alan Brierty) is leading the Auckland Noumea fleet into strong headwinds off Cape Reinga at the top of New Zealand.
Winds in the area have peaked at 37kts and are easing slightly, but an advancing area of low pressure will be centred off the western side of the Cape around 0100hrs tomorrow morning 30 June. This low cause the winds to shift more to the west, allowing the fleet to ease sheets and sail directly to Noumea.
The second placed yacht V5 (Simon Hull) is taking a more westerly course to get some shelter from Cape Reinga before heading out into the Tasman Sea.
Seas in the area are not to bad at around 12 ft, and should not increase due to the wind swinging to the west, however the direction and steepness of the swell may cause some issues.
Fleet Positions as at 0900hrs on 28 June
 | Race fleet positions at 0900hrs on 28 June 2009 in the Auckland Noumea Race. Limit (AUS0 is leading with V5 taking a turn to the west. - Click Here to view large photo |
PredictWind's prognosis for the Cape Reinga and offshore area as at 1000hrs on 28 June 2009
 | PredictWind’s prognosis for Cape Reinga at 1000hrs on 28 June 2009 showing a strong co-relation with the actual readings at the same point - |
PredictWind's prognosis for the Cape Reinga and offshore area showing predicted wave heights and direction as at 1500hrs on 28 June 2009
 | Wave predictions for the Cape Reinga area at around 1500hrs on 28 June 2009 - PredictWind.com |
Actual wind readings at Cape Reinga at 1000hrs on 28 June 2009 showing average and peak recorded winds and the trend by wind.co.nz
 | Actual wind readings and the trend at Cape Reinga at 1000hrs on 28 June 2009, showing quite a modest average wind strength but with gusts of 37kts - Click Here to view large photo |
PredictWind's prognosis for the Tasman Sea area shown in Expedition routing application as at 1800hrs on 29 June 2009
 | Wind feed from PredictWind using in the routing application shows the strong winds and direction expected in the wider Tasman Sea area at 18800hrs tonight - 28 June at 1800hrs - Click Here to view large photo |
Predict Wind's prognosis for the Cape Reinga area at 0100hrs on 29 June showing the tight low pressure area (centre of winds) just to the west of Cape Reinga
 | PredictWind showing the low pressure system with its tight centre just to the west of the tip of Cape Reinga at 0100hrs on 30 June 2009 - |
The wind data and prognosis used to produce these images uses software developed by PredictWind, an application developed by Jon Bilger a top NZ youth and Olympic sailor who turned his hand to wind and weather prediction, and helped Alinghi to their outstanding victories in the last two America's Cups.
Now that same technology is available to the weekend sailing and club racers, the cruising fraternity or professional sailors around the world. Select any region in the world of interest to you and PredictWind will monitor the area for you and provide updated predictions on demand.
PredictWind is a subscription system, with a number of options. While some may feel the wind is free, the ability to get a five day detailed wind forecast for an area of interest creates great peace of mind, allowing forward planning and decision making to be made with some certainty. The time and money saved through being able to work with a high degree of confidence, is more than offset by the relatively small cost of the subscription.
But don't take our word for it, get PredictWind now and have a 30 day trial for free, and see for yourself.
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.Com
10:02 PM Sat 27 Jun 2009 GMT
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