America's Cup - Oracle Team USA hunkers down ahead of Nicole

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 13 Oct 2016 Oracle Team USA is hunkering down ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Nicole around midday on Thursday local time.

Winds are not expected to reach the heights of Hurricane Fabian which hit in the 2003 Hurricane Season causing one death and considerable damage, however forecasters are emphasising the unpredictability of the storm, and note that water temperatures just south of Bermuda are similar to that at the time of Fabian which hit in early September 2003..

Fabian was the strongest hurricane to hit Bermuda since Hurricane Arlene in 1926 which caused four deaths.

Authorities in Bermuda are warning that Hurricane Nicole will be more serious than the tropical storm which hit in the third week of September in which the expected strong winds did not really eventuate.

Storm surge is predicted to be 6-8ft, compared to the 11ft which occurred in USA coast for Hurricane Matthew, however unlike Matthew which peaked at low tide, Nicole's surge is expected to co-incide with high tide in Bermuda at around 7.00am Thursday morning.