2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - Update 5
by Peter Campbell 28 Dec 2000 16:18 GMT
Nicorette battles gale in Storm Bay as she nears finish of Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race
Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race leader Nicorette is battling galeforce winds reaching 50 knots as she sails across Storm Bay this morning to claim line honours in the 630 nautical mile ocean classic.
The Swedish 80-footer, owned and skippered by Ludde Ingvall, rounded Tasman Island (41 miles from the finish) at 10.47pm last night and at 1.20 am today Ingvall estimated he would cross the line off Hobart’s historic Battery Point at 3am (Friday, 20 December 2000 AEST).
At midnight Nicorette was sailing across Storm Bay and heading for the finish in the Derwent River off Battery Point, Hobart, with Wild Thing some 30 nautical miles astern.
Winds were blowing from the south-west at 30 to 40 knots, reaching 50 knots with very rough seas and a heavy swell in Storm Bay.
Skipper Ingvall reported that the water-ballasted maxi yacht was averaging 14 knots as Nicorette raced the 30 nautical miles from Tasman Island to the Iron Pot at the entrance to the River Derwent, from where it is just over 11 miles to the finish.
Following Wild Thing came the first of the Volvo 60s, the Bermudan boat TYCO, skippered by Kiwi ace Kevin Shoebridge, with illbruck (John Kostecki) and News Corporation (Jez Fanstone) further astern.
Then came Assa Abloy, skippered by Olympic yachtsman Roy Heiner, with last year's record-slashing Nokia (Stefan Myralf) chasing the tight pack of V60s.
Southwest winds of 30-40 knots, locally reaching 50 knots near the southern Tasmanian coast and rough to very rough seas and a heavy swell have been forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Strong winds were also forecast for northern Tasmanian coastal waters and southern Bass Strait where the bulk of the 62 boats still racing were located.
The retirement list grew to 20 at 1.50am today when Shipping Central, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Michael Spies, reporting that their rudder had snapped off as they neared the Tasmanian East Coast.
Spies reported that the crew had rigged jury steering and were awaiting a tow from the Tasmanian Police boat Van Dieman based on the East Coast specially for the race,
OVERBOARD CREW MEMBER RECOVERED
At 1915 hours this evening the NSW yacht Ninety Seven (Graham Gibson) reported to Telstra Radio on Young Endeveour that a crew member had been recovered after falling overboard at 1840 hours off Flinders Island.
It's not known at this stage who the crew member is, but we can report that the recovery was rapid, the crew member is OK and the boat is proceeding south in the race.
At this afternoon's (1405 hours) position report, Ninety Seven was leading on IMS Overall.
More Information:
News Corp leads Volvo Ocean 60s to Flinders Island
HOBART, December 27th, 2000-News Corp, with just 260 miles to go to the finish of the 56th Telstra Sydney-Hobart Race, led the five Volvo Ocean 60s to Flinders Island, the north-easternmost point of Tasmania after a rugged Bass Strait crossing. Skippered by Jez Fanstone with Lachlan Murdoch, the
Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation on board, News Corp was two miles ahead of Tyco, skippered by Kevin Shoebridge.
There was a four mile gap back to John Kostecki's illbruck and a further eight miles to Assa Abloy, jointly skippered by Roy Heiner and Mark Rudiger. Rudiger had remarked as they cleared the Australian mainland, 'We entered the Bass Strait in 35 knots [of Southerly wind] with large and
uncomfortable seas. The boat is crashing off waves, everything is soaking and we are weary of being thrown about.'
The new safety regulations for the race, imposed after the issue of the Coroner's Report, includes a requirement for the yachts to assess their suitability to cross the Bass Strait when they reach Green Cape, the southernmost point of the New South Wales coastline. They must report by radio to the Race Director to confirm that the boat is seaworthy and that the engine and radio are serviceable and that the crew is in a fit state to continue.
All five Volvo Ocean 60s were able to make this report. They are designed and built to withstand the rigours of racing around the world, but 13 boats have retired from this race including the race leader, Neville Crichton's 80 foot Shockwave and the 75 foot Brindabella of George Snow.
All chances of beating Nokia's Race record of 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes 2 seconds, set last year, were sidelined when the weather front came through, bringing with it a southerly breeze. The leaders are expected to finish around midday on Friday, which should prove an adequate time for the three hour pit-stop, prior to the re-start for the second part of their race to Auckland, exactly as they will do in one year's time.
Most of the V.O.60s were beating across Bass Strait with two reefs and a number four headsail, fully ballasted up with water in their tanks. It was to prove a true test for the carbon fibre masts that are now allowed by the class rules.
Assa Abloy caused a minor furore soon after the start of the race when rounding the second mark one mile off Sydney Heads. Her crew hoisted a spinnaker which had been acquired as part of the boat's inventory, a sail originally made for Britain's Lawrie Smith whose previous Whitbread Race
sponsorship had been with Silk Cut. The crew, had made an effort to obliterate the tobacco company's name, but it still showed through. The Department of Health, which has banned all tobacco advertising in Australia, has made representation to the race organisers and have been
threatening possible prosecution. It has overtones of Lawrie Smith's Rothmans being disqualified from this race in 1988 for using a spinnaker with a logo on it miles offshore.
UPDATE DIRECT FROM NEWS CORPORATION IN THE TELSTRA SYDNEY TO HOBART RACE SKIPPER JEZ FANSTONE
"There's still 142 miles to go. illbruck are 2 miles ahead and TYCO are 5 miles ahead. We're still bashing upwind in 20kts in bad seas. Life above and below decks is pretty miserable. Last night was very hard with 40kt gusts and hail followed by 12kts and lumpy sea. illbruck got through us here, but we're not sure if they had a better ride or not. Everyone is working very hard and we're maxed out - especially after we hit something with the rudder last night.
Rest is hard to come by. We're hoping to get in range of the other boats at the Derwent river and close the gap."
Jez
Latest report from Mark Rudiger Co-Skipper ASSA ABLOY SEMCON R&D
Rudi report #2
1630 the 27th, Day two of the 2000 Sydney to Hobart slam dunk!
position 37-52 S, 150-18 E.
Just passing the SE tip of Australia. Wind speed 32 to 37 knots from the South (the way we're trying to go), heading 145, speed 9.5 knots. 300 miles sailed so far at an average speed of 11.3 knots. 330 miles to go.
After our last report, as predicted, the wind changed to the west and then around to the SE. We had been in quite a battle downwind with the other 60's and had just crossed ahead of Illbruck on
starboard. They actually had to luff up to miss us with their spinnaker missing our backstay by inches!
Unfortunately, a few hours later, we lost what we had worked so hard for when one of the spinnaker halyards jammed at the masthead and we had to send Jason aloft to trip it free, all the while running at great speed away from the mark. I was driving at the time and it required all my discipline not to come up and let Illbruck cross our bow to get ahead. This is all part of why we're out here, to learn how to overcome and recover from these incidents.
We have since gone through our entire headsail compliment and are now down to the #4 and double reefed. It was a little unnerving when some of the other boats ahead elected to turn back at the
entrance to the straights. We saw a few sailing back downwind and thought what a nicer direction to head than the way we were. But we were here for a purpose and we weren't going to turn around
unless unsafe to proceed.
We are pounding so hard it is difficult to type. Everyone is absolutely silent except for sail trim commands. You don't feel very sociable in these conditions. So now we tackle the infamous Bass straights where it has been blowing a gale all week and the seas build up nice sand steep in
shallowing waters with adverse currents.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's update and see how we faired with the competition and mother nature.
Cheers for now from the yacht ASSA ABLOY R&D
illbruck Challenge in Tight Battle with Volvo 60s in Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
HOBART, TASMANIA, December 28, 2000 --- With less than 24 hours to the finish, the illbruck Challenge team on illbruck is charging toward Hobart in a neck-and-neck battle with the other Volvo 60s competing in the 630-mile Telstra Sydney to Hobart Yact Race.
After almost two days of racing and more than 350 miles from the Sydney starting line, the Volvo 60s have only a few miles between them, according to the last official race position report issued at 3 am local time. The closest contest is between illbruck, Tyco and News Corp. At the 3 am report,
illbruck was 275.40 miles from the Hobart finish. Gale force winds and rough seas have forced 17 of the 82 racing yachts to reitre from the race. The fleet is now contending with strong west-southwesterly head winds of 20-30 knots and seas of two to three metres. Based on the 3 am report, skipper John Kostecki and his illbruck crew should cross the finish line in the early dawn of
December 29 local time.
illbruck meteorologist Chris Bedford reports that the wind appears to have been slightly more southwest than west than expected. "Sea conditions should improve now that they are in the lee of Tasmania," Bedford said this morning. "Winds will continue 20-25 knots with some higher gusts from the southwest.
When they get southeast of Tasmania, the wind will be strong from southwest, perhaps nearing gale force once again. Sea swells will be very heavy, perhaps even more than in the Bass Strait - although the deeper water will make the wave less steep and maybe not as severe."
At today's 3 am report, News Corp, Tyco and illbruck were within six miles of each other with Assa Abloy almost another eight miles behind. News Corp was recorded with 269.54 miles to go, Tyco 271.38 and Assa Abloy 283.12. Nokia, last year's record-breaking line honors winner, did not report its position for the 3 am schedule. Two maxi boats, Nicorette and Wild Thing, are about 40-50 miles ahead of the Volvo 60s and in contention for line honours.