Sydney Hobart 2015

[sarabande]

ooops, a bit of meteorological mayhem, and a lots of retirements.

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/


Here's the tracker

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

 

[dunedin]

Worth watching the start and initial legs - some impressive sailing by these big maxis, ducking round the spectator and film boats.
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/2015/pre-race/rolex-sydney-hobart-race-start/
Great first beat by Perpetual Loyal to lead round the first mark - but then a monumental public mess up with the code zero - oops

 

[Birdseye]

With both code zeros - same result with the second one.

Interesting to see the young female part owner of Commanche particularly with her husband.

 

[Gerry]

ooops, a bit of meteorological mayhem, and a lots of retirements.

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news/





Here's the tracker

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

Fifteen retired so far..............

 

[bitbaltic]

27 have retired now.

What is pretty disturbing is both Comanche and Rambler think they have hit submerged objects

 

[dunedin]

Interesting to see the young female part owner of Commanche particularly with her husband.

Husband = Jim Clark, Netscape et al. Brings to mind the old joke, "So what first attracted you to this elderly American billionaire super-yacht owner?"

Is he on board Commanche though? If so respect, as not a pleasure boat ride

 

[Gerry]

29 now retired...............satellite reporting system down..........can't help but be a little concerned as my daughter is onboard one of the Clipper boats!

 

[savageseadog]

One of the retirements is a hoot:

Trybooking.com - Retired-Damage to bow thruster

 

[usernamenotvalid]

Some of these boats have diesel generators running equipment non stop but didn't appreciate that a spare sail might have come in handy. This in a race where weather condition were likely to be less than ideal, 40 knot squall.
Really? A guy just completed a Pacific crossing in a rowboat ffs.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-...-to-solo-row-pacific-ocean-cairns-qld/7055426
HTF can they be taken seriously?

 

[dunedin]

One of the retirements is a hoot:

Trybooking.com - Retired-Damage to bow thruster

I guess this would be the retractable bow thruster housing being smashed by the pounding to windward, perhaps leading to risk of flooding / sinking had they not stepped off the gas and retired. Sounds amusing - perhaps less so mid Bass Straight

 

[savageseadog]

I guess this would be the retractable bow thruster housing being smashed by the pounding to windward, perhaps leading to risk of flooding / sinking had they not stepped off the gas and retired. Sounds amusing - perhaps less so mid Bass Straight

I agree it would be far from amusing on board, I guessed it would be something like a displacement of the bond of the tube and hull. I was only amused by the uses one might have for a bow thruster on a racing yacht.

Seriously, it makes one wonder how safe a bow thruster would be in extreme conditions, you are after all creating a weakness in the bow structure, a giant pair of holes.

 

[dunedin]

I agree it would be far from amusing on board, I guessed it would be something like a displacement of the bond of the tube and hull. I was only amused by the uses one might have for a bow thruster on a racing yacht.

Seriously, it makes one wonder how safe a bow thruster would be in extreme conditions, you are after all creating a weakness in the bow structure, a giant pair of holes.

I doubt that the bow thruster will have a "pair of holes", as in a tunnel type. Any performance boat will have retractable type. But still a potential point of weakness when slamming down after going through a wave

 

[dunedin]

Some of these boats have diesel generators running equipment non stop but didn't appreciate that a spare sail might have come in handy. This in a race where weather condition were likely to be less than ideal, 40 knot squall.
Really? A guy just completed a Pacific crossing in a rowboat ffs.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-...-to-solo-row-pacific-ocean-cairns-qld/7055426
HTF can they be taken seriously?

I suspect you are misunderstanding things. These super maxis are designed purely for speed - to set records and get line honours. They are extremely rigorously engineered - just watch the poundings they take going through waves at 30 knots under spinnaker, it is amazing that they last more than a couple of hours of this. But with a racing boat it must not be over engineered such that it is slow.

And the size of the mainsails on these boats is huge. Even if they carried a spare it would be a major task to swap mainsails underway, and a lot of dumb weight being carried "just in case". If they did manage to change sails would be way behind the leaders - and finishing second is irrelevant to a boat that has won so many times before, so once broken it is time to go home. (Commanche was a different case - as by then their main competition was out and speed impact was thought to be relatively minor, at last on one tack)

If you want a boat almost guaranteed to get you there through the Southern Ocean it would be designed like a British Steel yacht - solid but slow, not a racer. Even the current Clipper boats are in a different performance league. And I don't know for sure, but suspect even the Clipper RTW boats don't carry a spare mainsail, but a needle and thread!

 

[usernamenotvalid]

Given the information available to the crew and planners before and during the race they failed dismally. The last boat to cross the finish line, however humble it may be, will have prepared for the race and likely conditions. Previous wins mean nothing except that under certain, suitable, conditions Wild Oats is a competitive boat.

Certainly 40's. Not Southern Ocean.
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcsouthern.htm

 

[savageseadog]

I doubt that the bow thruster will have a "pair of holes", as in a tunnel type. Any performance boat will have retractable type. But still a potential point of weakness when slamming down after going through a wave

You're probably right, I wasn't thinking outside the box, but how liable are the retractable ones to damage?

 

[Woodlouse]

Given the information available to the crew and planners before and during the race they failed dismally. The last boat to cross the finish line, however humble it may be, will have prepared for the race and likely conditions. Previous wins mean nothing except that under certain, suitable, conditions Wild Oats is a competitive boat.

Certainly 40's. Not Southern Ocean.
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcsouthern.htm

The point remains that to effect a main sail switch mid race would be to throw it away regardless at that level. It would take too long. Wild Oats was out there looking for line honours and nothing else, so of something fails that will cost you that then it's time to go home.

You also I think don't appreciate the weight of one of those mains. Even made of 3Di it's still going to be in the region of 1000lbs or more for a sail that size. Carrying a spare is unrealistic. They'd have had the materials and expertise to effect some pretty major sail repairs but I suspect the damage was too much to do within an acceptable time frame.

 

[Yacht Yogi]

Under racing rules only one mainsail can be carried. So once it's ripped in half that's race over. They all have the option of changing down to a storm tri-sail but probably everyone was carrying on with 2nd or 3rd reef in the regular main plus a small jib. There's a lot of sail damage through the fleet but probably equally Dacron, Mylar laminate or 3Di materials involved.

As for the British Steel Challenge yachts; there's two of them out there. Adventure of Hornet was lying in 19th place last time I looked and Discoverer of Hornet in 39th.

 

[awol]

Under racing rules only one mainsail can be carried.

From the RSHYR N.O.R.

9 CHANGES TO CLASS RULES AND RRS 9.1
Changes to the IRC Rules
IRC Rule 21.1.5(e): A spare mainsail may be carried as a bona fide replacement for a mainsail damaged during the race.

Not that I am suggesting changing a mainsail on a maxi in 4m waves and 30+kts is a sensible idea, just that the rules do not prevent carrying a spare.

 

[Birdseye]

Normal ocean race with some casualties and all the armchair admirals appear out of the woodwork. I wonder how many of them have sailed in waters like those involved here. Precious few I imagine.

 

[savageseadog]

Normal ocean race with some casualties and all the armchair admirals appear out of the woodwork. I wonder how many of them have sailed in waters like those involved here. Precious few I imagine.

I have a tilting armchair so I know what it's all about.