America's Cup - Bermuda 'survives' first onslaught of Nicole

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 13 Oct 2016 Bermuda, the 2017 America's Cup venue, appears to have survived the first onslaught from Hurricane Nicole which hit around noon on Thursday, October 13, local time.

Much of the power is out on the island with power company BELCO reporting that 90% or 26,000 of its clients have no power.

Conditions are not expected to improve sufficiently until early evening before damage can be properly assessed and repairs begun. Wind conditions will need to ease further before linesmen can use the overhead buckets to access lines and poles.

The winds increased rapidly in strength with the observation point at the airport being stopping recording at 90kts.

While some damage is evident from the images below, there are no reports yet to hand of major damage of the type seen in Cyclone Matthew which was also rated at a Category 4 hurricane.

The island is now taking the the tail of Hurricane Denise, as the wind comes from the opposite direction (NW) and areas in the leeward side on the approach of Nicole, will take the full brunt of her tail. But winds are expected to be of a lesser peak strength and will ease as the hurricane departs into the Atlantic.

As of 6pm update, Hurricane Nicole has passed over Bermuda and is now over 100nm past the island.

A hurricane warning was officially dropped at 6pm. A tropical storm warning remains until 9pm.

Local media report that 'while the general consensus is that the impact is less than feared, Nicole leaves behind some serious damage to the island’s infrastructure.'

There have been no reports from America's Cup Team bases, however all were well secured prior to the arrival of Nicole.