Audi Hamilton Island Race Week day 1 start delayed

by Lisa Ratcliff on 18 Aug 2012 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week competitors are champing at the bit to crack the top off the annual winter regatta, however a slow moving high pressure system has cast a shadow of soft and unstable winds onto the tropical coast.

Regatta forecaster Kenn Batt says of today’s forecast, ‘a complicated day wind-wise by the look of it’. He's not wrong.

Crews were due to leave the dock around 8am this morning for the scheduled 9am start of the Lindeman Island Race. Instead they are basking in the warm winter sunshine, enjoying the local eateries and using the time for some last minute boat tinkering.

Principal race officer Denis Thompson describes the conditions as ‘beautiful resort weather’. While he’s super busy with the rest of the race committee, knowing there’s a couple of thousand sailors waiting to be let loose, he’s still in good humour, joking with yachties about winds ‘gusting to three knots’.

Advice on the postponement has been regular this morning, the next update is due at 10.45am.

Crews are not too phased given they were expecting a light opening day – and know there’s breeze on the way with tomorrow’s forecast for south to south east winds 14-17 knots increasing to 15-22 knots promising plenty of action in the coming days.

All information relating to Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2012 is on the regatta website