Rolex Sydney Hobart 2009 - Won and Lost on First Night

by Penny Haire on 8 Jan 2010

Expedition Pre Race routing for Two True - Track matched predictions almost perfectly. - Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race Tidetech http://www.tidetech.org

Fickle winds and complex eddies in the East Australian Current mean that the 2009 Hobart Race will go down in the history books as a navigator's nightmare.

As the fleet departed Sydney Heads, the forecast showed a moderate Southerly breeze, backing slowly overnight to the South East. This meant that pretty much everyone headed offshore on starboard tack in anticipation of the shift.

But when to tack? Those who had Tidetech's current data from the CSIRO for the race knew that they would have to 'bang the corner' and go as much as 70 miles offshore to get into the best of the South flowing current. But as the night drew on and boats on the inside started to tack away, those who had elected to stay on starboard were feeling decidedly nervous. In the end it was the ones that stayed out wide, trusted the information and most importantly, held their nerve that came out on top.

Tidetech supplied Ocean Current and Sea Temperature data to 30% of the fleet. Of the top six boats on handicap, Two True, Next, Swish, Patrice Six and Ran were using Tidetech's service, which included a comprehensive pre-race analysis and briefing from Oceanographer Dr Roger Proctor and Nav software expert Penny Haire.

The most useful feature of the service was that Ocean Current data was supplied in GRIB format which allowed navigators to use it in their routing software.

Tidetech have used yacht tracking information supplied by the CYCA to analyse how much difference the current might have made to the results. The results are very revealing.

Big Boats

Ichi Ban and Ran in company with the 100 ft boats at Gabo Island - Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race © Tidetech http://www.tidetech.org

At the sharp end of the fleet 70 footers and Tidetech users Ichi Ban and Ran went wide and found themselves in the company of the 100 footers as they closed Green Cape. Conrad Humphries, navigator on Ichi Ban said 'We made best use of the current and found it better than predicted. Our track south closely followed the large eddies and at times we had in excess of 4 knots'

40 footers

40’s split tacks early in the morning of 27th Dec - Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race © Tidetech http://www.tidetech.org

Further back in the fleet the 40 footers were having their own battle and Two True, Wicked, Patrice Six, Charisma and Imagination all went wide early on.

By Gabo Island it was abundantly clear that the decision had paid off handsomely with the new Beneteau 40 Firsts ahead of their larger rivals both on the water and on handicap.

Sydney 38's

Analysis of the results of the highly competitive Sydney 38 Fleet is great way of measuring gains and losses due to smart tactics.

Sydney 38’s positions at Gabo. Swish and Next had previously gone wide - Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race © Tidetech http://www.tidetech.org

Next and Swish went wide, match racing the whole way to Hobart. By Gabo Is they were 70 miles ahead of Eleni and Shining Sea who had elected to take the inshore route. The overall result in the Sydney 38 Division perfectly reflects how each boat dealt with the current.

In the fickle winds of Bass Strait the current played much less of a part but there was no doubt that the boats that were ahead at Green Cape by correctly playing the current never lost their advantage. Ultimately it was the boats who dared to go the furthest offshore of all (Two True, Wicked, Next and Swish) who would go on to win overall.

A feature of the 2009 Hobart was an increasing use of Routeing Software by the smaller boats, by far the favourite being Expedition produced by veteran Volvo Ocean Race navigator and Whitbread winner, physicist Nick White.

Expedition's ability to perform routing that can compare different scenarios of wind and current gives the navigator an extremely clear view of the available tactical options and enables him to balance risk against reward.

The winning boat, Two True, had their routing worked out for them before the race by Brian Northcote (former navigator on Evolution Racing). Brian used Expedition with Tidetech Data for formulate a plan. Two True stuck to the plan and it paid.....

Tidetech provides Global information on Ocean currents, Tidal Streams and Sea Temperature, sourced from Institutes and Government agencies worldwide. Tidetech also produce their own operational tidal models. All the information is available in GRIB format.

For more information contact Tidetech at info@tidetech.org or call

+61 (0)7 3129 2183

www.tidetech.org