Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel - Unstable weather to test tacticians

by Ian Grant on 6 Aug 2010 An unstable winter weather pattern promises to present a tactical nightmare when 35 ocean racing tacticians test their strategy in the 348 n/ml Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Bay race starting on Moreton Bay this afternoon.

There is a forecast in place promising fast spinnaker sailing South West winds to blow later this afternoon but a question mark hovers over any likely challenge by the joint line honours favourites Black Jack and Wild Oats X to experience enough reliable grunt in the wind to challenge the race record.

Both the current record holder the Mark Bradford skippered Brisbane pocket maxi Black Jack and her almost identical New South Wales challenger the Mark Richards helmed Wild Oats X possess the crew skill and speed potential but face a supreme challenge to maintain the required 11.8 knot average to complete the course inside 29 hours and 24 minutes.

When dawn broke over Cape Moreton this morning the lighthouse wind recorder indicated that the forecast South West breeze was in place while further north the Double Island Point Lighthouse wind recorder suggested the skippers and tacticians will experience a high degree of uncertainty as they race north.

Gaining fleet position over the initial 45 n/ml leg to exit Moreton Bay via the Caloundra Fairway buoy will be crucial but the crews can expect to face a high workload of sailing changing to protect the places when they enter the more important stage of the race in the hours between dusk and dawn.

Based on coastal wind recordings overnight the weather looks far from being stable which will force the crews to continually revise their strategy.

However while nature adds some ‘spice’ to the contest both Black Jack and Wild Oats X remain poised to stage a tactical dog-fight for line honours while the high performance smaller yachts in the fleet including the Bill Wild skippered Brisbane to Gladstone race champion Wedgetail is expected to become engaged in a similar dual against the dual Audi Australian IRC ocean racing champion Rod Jones in his exciting new sloop Alegria IV.