Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Everything old is new again
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 27 Dec 2019 18:15 GMT
Comanche on her way up the River Derwent to claim Line Honours in the 2019 Sydney Hobart race © Tony Lathouras
Despite some of the newest tech going around, the 2019 Sydney Hobart is almost like the old days (say 1999) with two nights involved in finding out who will take Line Honours.
Mid-afternoon on the second day (27th) the next reshuffle took place. Scallywag lost her lead as strong winds arrived to get Comanche back in front, with InfoTrack also seeing the best of it. Black Jack was well in the mix, and Wild Oats began her inexorable climb back from 10th to fourth place.
Stan Honey’s pre-eminence was questioned by a few less knowledgeable souls, but he had positioned the boat that needs breeze, and not on the nose, exceptionally well. Comanche set about building a buffer, almost as if they knew it was going to be light in the River Derwent the next morning, and every mile up their sleeve was going to be precious.
At 0340hrs AEDT Comanche rounded Tasman Island and listed her ETA Battery Point as 0845hrs. Given this means there is only 43 of the 628nm left to travel, you reckon they were onto the issues ahead. Black Jack radioed in for the Tasman Light at around 0513hrs listing ETA as 1000! BTW. Juan Vila on Wild Oats XI radioed in at 0519 listing their ETA as 0930hrs, and always foxing, Scallywag came in at 0523hrs, listing 0900hrs as their ETA. Seems David Witt need not have worried about smoke interfering with the HF signals, as it has been the best year of reception for a long time.
There would be no more flying in the mid-20s. Indeed even getting to Cape Rauol was hard with one to three knots SOG recorded at various points in the pre-dawn ‘light’. Thankfully once round, this returned to double digits. The 11nm up the River from the Iron Pot could also be challenging with less than five knots on offer from the Nor’nor’west for that particular section of the trip. By 0530hrs, it seemed the River wanted to welcome all, offering 8-10 from the Nor'East no less! The hints of dawn give promise... That was delivered. with a 0700hrs revised ETA based on Comanche being 7nm from the Iron Pot at 0542. (18nm to run) and still blasting away in the low 20s.
Invariably, as the boats barrel down the east coast of Tassie the speculation begins. Who and when for Line Honours, and shortly thereafter, for the coveted overall win. In regards to the latter the Myilius 50, Daguet, holds sway over Ichi Ban dor now, with more quicks in behind them, as they all enjoy the sleigh ride South. It would seem Agony Bight might be the next stage.