PredictWind- Rolex Sydney to Hobart complete weather information

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World on 26 Dec 2008
Using the www.predictwind.com!PredictWind wind forecasting package Sail-World.com has been able to produce a complete set of wind strength and direction charts for the 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

The first chart shows a nice building seabreeze for the race start and run down the New South Wales Coast

These charts are built using two weather feeds from Canada (CMS) and USA (GFC) where the two lines are close together there is a high probability of the predicted outcome occurring - where the is a significant gap there is some uncertainty about the prognosis. Obviouly there should be a higher degree of certainty in the immediate 24 hour period with there being less certainty about the prognosis from Day 3 to Day 5

The next two charts show wind strength and direction taken at a point close to the entrance of Bass Strait. These are five day forecasts with the upper chart showing wind speed which can be read against the direction on the lower chart.

The final two charts show wind strength and direction taken at a point close to the Tasman Light on the final approach to the race finish at Hobart. These are five day forecasts with the upper chart showing wind speed which can be read against the direction on the lower chart.