Sydney Hobart retirements - with updates
by John Curnow 26 Dec 2018 03:58 PST
Gordon Ketelbey's TP52 Zen training on the Harbour © Crosbie Lorimer
One of the great rules of the Sydney to Hobart Race is that you get reset at the Heads, once more at Tasman Island, and then for the last time at the Iron Pot, as you enter the River Derwent for the final battle home.
As the fleet barrels on down the NSW coast, and night has very much taken hold, they will soon get set up for another potential reset, or re-start, off about Gabo Island, when the transition from mainland Australia to Tasmania does not have a clear, or strong weather pattern, under the influence of a very significant high pressure system moving off into the Tasman Sea.
The leading supermaxis, which as we write is Wild Oats XI, is some two nautical miles ahead of InfoTrack and Black Jack, will get the best of the chances. There are another three nm to Comanche, and then all the 60-somethings, with the R/P66 Alive, in charge of that group. These and the quickest of the 50-somethings could well be where the Overall Winner will come from, but it is really early days yet, so we’ll keep our powder dry on that one.
Given the fast running conditions to date, it is not surprising to see Bruce Taylor’s 40-footer penned by Reichel/Pugh leading the IRC standings. Taylor has been a long-standing competitor, but is keen to get an overall win to add to his many class wins. Speaking this morning, Taylor said, “We have not quite got everybody past 25 Hobarts yet! We have one crewmember at 17, and then there is Blake Anderson (Col Anderson’s son), who is in the low teens. So nearly almost there, and the rest of us are well over, of course. We’ll keep going whilst we can, but almost had enough”, said Taylor who is always great to talk with.
“It’ll be good running tonight, but light after that, so that’s not ideal. We’ll take what we get…”
The supermaxi Scallywag, that had shown some great pace inside Sydney Harbour, and then offshore as the beamy boat got to deploy some power, was forced to retire with a broken bowsprit. She’s still listed as being at sea. Gordon Ketelbey’s TP52, Zen, had rig issues, and is listed as being in port, which was Wollongong.
The latest retirement as we started writing was Jason Close’s J/133, Patriot. The former Sail Captain of the Sandringham Yacht Club has an experienced crew on board, some of whom were looking to complete their first Sydney to Hobart, so it looks like they just booked a slot for next year, as the boat has broken its rudder.
We are not entirely sure of the extent of the issue, but often in hard charging downhill, the bearings can fail, and water can egress easily, so we hope all stays well on board there.
Update: 0824 AEDT 28/12/18
A lot went into the Patriot program. The owner/skipper is known for looking after his boats, and she had a thorough go over, that included new halyards, and the rod rigging was only 2 years old. She also had new rudder bearings only a year ago. In speaking with Chris Furey, who is Logistic Management Unit One for the campaign, we learned that the whole rudder is gone, someone has been over the side this morning to confirm it. They are due in the very picturesque Ulladulla later tonight, AEDT. Patriot is steaming on her own, as there is no rescue craft suitable for towing a boat of their size the area. Furey is off to Ulladulla with the rum and Champagne to attempt to placate the devastated crew.
They were doing 15 knots when it happened, so a Chinese Gybe would have been quite likely. So they could be really shaken up, in addition to the disappointment. Mercifully, rverybody is OK, so no evac is required.
End Update
Then when finalising this piece came one of the craft from the Village that is the Teepees (TP52), M3. It is on charter to a group from Hungary, and it has lost its rig and is motoring back to Jervis Bay, due there at daybreak, 0600hrs and you can hear the HF traffic for yourself on this link!.
In the hectic traffic immediately prior to the 0005hrs shed (and leaving the top of the hour clear for emergency traffic), this was amended to 0700hrs and Ulladulla.
Part of the rest of the traffic was Wild Oats XI declaring all clear to jump from Green Cape, then Comanche. InfoTrack also tried, but was unable to get through, and several boats tried to inform her that she had not officially declared. Enterprise, the Farr 40 (modified) out of WA had a PLB go off, so Race Control was trying to ensure they turned it off. They said that nothing should be transmitting...