Sydney Hobart – Morning after
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 28 Dec 2022 09:11 AEDT
URM Group during the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge © Andrea Francolini
Nine craft (No Limit is very close at the time of writing) have arrived as the 60-somethings and mini-maxis join the big girls at Constitution Dock, with 93 still at sea, but it is the boats immediately after them that will yield an overall winner. Should that prove to be Celestial, then it will be a case of very, very just rewards, for sure.
Elsewhere, Navy One has retired this morning with a broken boom, taking the tally to seven craft thus far, and with the breeze increasing, and the toll of hard charging coming out, you can expect this number to rise today. Sail Exchange has a broken rudder, Mondo a broken gooseneck (where boom meets mast), and then Huntress with rudder damage, as well. Currawong, carrying the two-handed female crew, is reported as resting at Eden, and checking the impending weather before rejoining race (or not).
As for weather, well the East Coast of Tasmania is going to see a lot of things happening, and Storm Bay could well live up to its name, as well. What arrives does so swiftly and brings behind it the more traditional Sou’westers. So it will be slower going from later on today. The upshot is that if you can get there, there will be squirt to get you home (read 'plenty of it at times'). What it looks like and how wet you'll be remains the question. This sequence shows it all -
Crosbie Lorimer reports, "Absolutely howling here! Big Nor’wester with 45 knot gusts. Mini Maxis all home, TPs in Storm Bay. Live update at 14.05 just like yesterday, but two hours later."
December 27 looked like this -
December 28, 2022 is as per this -
Stay safe, thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com, and all the best for 2023.
Just in relative to most recent finisher (at time of writing), Moneypenny, "Injured crew, David Blanchfield, Washed from the bow to the mast, cut his right leg, ambulance arrived and is attending to him."