Hobart Homework with Roger 'Clouds' Badham

by Tracey Johnstone on 21 Dec 2008 Thirty years of forecasting the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has taught straight-talking yachting meteorologist Dr Roger Badham that the best navigators spend the time and effort doing their homework before the event, not during it.

Badham should know. He has worked with some of world’s best in events ranging from Admiral’s Cup, America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Transpac, Olympic Games, single-handed round-the-world challenges, local offshore events and of course, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Since 1990 he has been located offshore. His last project found him living in Valencia for four years with only five months of that time spent on home soil.

He does however ensure that each December he is back home in time to work with his clients for the 628 nautical mile race to Hobart.

Under the banner of his company Marine Weather Services, 59-year-old Badham, who is more often referred to by his clients and mates as ‘Clouds’, provides an intensive weather forecasting service utilising his intimate knowledge of weather systems to assist his clients to achieve the best possible results.

He works with a large number of boats both big and small.

'I provide a service in the lead up to the Sydney Hobart race. I do a daily forecast – really a daily email – for seven to nine days before the start.

'Basically, I run through the most likely situation on the day - what is the most likely forecast on a day to day basis going 26, 27, 28 and 29 December. Obviously as you get closer to the event you get more accurate. And then I pick a topic each day – any in-depth thing about currents or grid files for currents or winds, or satellite picture, or Quik Scat winds, and give them a short lesson on each of those. Then as you get really close and you look at it as if I was doing the race and what I would do, what information I would want,' Badham says.

This approach to forecasting has engendered within the international sailing community a high level of trust and respect for his work.

Quantum Racing’s navigator Carl Crafoord describes Badham as 'a bit of local talent in Australia'. He says Badham specialises in knowing what is required by the offshore navigator. And after 17 years of working together on a variety of long distance races, Crafoord says Badham has earned his respect.

On the three occasions Crafoord has been navigator on board the winning Sydney Hobart yacht, Badham has been his weatherman. 'We both understand what result I desire. We have a mutual respect.'

A proliferation of weather information on the internet can make it tough on navigators doing their pre-race preparations. Badham believes the key to managing the internet is being able to filter out irrelevant information.

'There is an overload. You have got to distill it down to just the key things. That is, I look at what I would use. I tell my clients; don’t worry about this and don’t worry about that, really watch this or watch that. This is really my job for my clients.'

The key to the internet is to decipher what is useful and what is not.

Badham’s advice to navigators; try to look at the race and determine what are the main three or four factors which they should take into account in planning their race. Using probably half a dozen key web sites the navigator needs to consider what sort of race is it likely to be – one where you are going to meet a front or you are going downhill and you are looking for the best angle or is it a current affected race?

Those navigators using Badham’s services are likely to be one step ahead of the rest of the fleet. Not only does Badham work hard to prepare them in the week preceding the race start, he then conducts an intensive briefing session on the morning of December 26.

Sitting on the sea-wall outside the Cruising Yacht Club clad in his usual floppy hat and clutching his paperwork, radio and computer, Badham is ready for the few remaining demanding hours of interrogation by his navigators.

'The main briefing is over by about 9am. They all tumble out of that and come straight out to pick up a hard-copy of my notes. Then we all have a talk.

'This is often where the real cut and thrust of it is. You find about 20 people (his clients) hanging around for up two hours. If you just sit there and listen to all the discussions between me and all these top-notch navigator types that know a lot more than me, you can usually learn quite a bit,' Badham says.

He takes pride in the success of the teams that he works with. In the last 15 years of Hobart races Badham has provided forecasting for line honours and/or handicap winners in 14 of those races.

'I have got a lot of regular customers. I provide them with support over and over again.'

Perhaps his longest standing client is America’s Cup, Sydney Hobart and Olympic sailor Iain Murray. 'In his different disguises I have worked with Iain since 1977 in his 18 footer days,' Badham says.

Badham admits one of the happiest moments in his year is when he hands up from his last phone call in the minutes leading up to the gun at 1pm on December 26 – then his group of navigators is off racing and his is free.

'They can’t talk to me anymore,' he jokes.

But, perhaps not as free as you would think. Straight after the Sydney Hobart race starts Badham is on the job of working again with his Pittwater to Coffs race clients. Then, this year it will be the America’s Cup syndicates preparing to race the Louis Vuitton series in Auckland. .

http://www.clouds.com.au/?page_id=2