Thread: 2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - I'm going south again.

Does anyone get the dreaded sealegs on land?I would only need one days sailing then back on shore wobbling about for a while.Bloody annoying!

Good luck TCOS,,,

will be listening for reports,,
and watching the tracker

Originally Posted by The Cone of Silence

Too true!

I've tried all the seasickness meds out there. Most are antihistamines which make me really drowsy - not good for racing….so I just have a spew and get on with it….hope for the sea legs to come and find me quickly!

Crystallised ginger, 21 years in the RAN, the last few on patrol boats bouncing around off the W.A. coast, worked for me, Bob

When I'm able to, I like to get down and watch a few of the yacht's coming in.

Now I know the name of the one you are on ( Minerva ), I'll keep a eye open --- you never know!

Have fun and I hope the tummy stays good.
.

Originally Posted by rangietragic

Does anyone get the dreaded sealegs on land?I would only need one days sailing then back on shore wobbling about for a while.Bloody annoying!

Spent a week on a 35' launch once,,, one of the best weeks of my life,,,, got off the boat to get back in the car and head home,,, woah,,, felt like I was drunk

Originally Posted by bob10

Crystallised ginger, 21 years in the RAN, the last few on patrol boats bouncing around off the W.A. coast, worked for me, Bob

This is what we were given for the ride down around Bruny Is, Tassie. Seemed to work well for most of the people.

Once again Bobby,, good luck with the trip.

Thanks folks.

Current long range forecast is looking like a race for the big boats….a nice nor'easter to start (YES!) and then building to 30 knots so the 70+ foot carbon downwind weapons will be off like a dog shot up the bum, leaving us 40-footers in their wake. Depending on the wind angle it'll either be Beau Geste, Wild Oats or Loyal for line Honours - each of them has their perfect conditions.

A couple of days later in the Bass Strait and down the coast of Tassie it looks like we'll experience a westerly change and maybe even a southerly buster, which will be unpleasant….but if it wasn't unpleasant at some point, it wouldn't be the Sydney to Hobart!

Bobby

I enjoy watching the race, I did the '96 on a yacht I had recently delivered to Sydney from Fort Lauderdale (Florida). The owner and a lot of his friends were on board for the race, to me it was just like another leg having just done 10 thousand odd miles in that boat. That year the conditions were good for us and it was pretty easy sailing for the most part. We left on the first to return the boat to Sydney. That was a bit rougher and not helped by being full of happy new year cheer.

In those days I was a yacht delivery skipper and got around a fair bit.
The best memory for me was the welcome as we came into Hobart. We were no where near the front but still got an amazing crowd, PA system announced our arrival, people waiting to catch our lines as we docked. A case of apples and beer delivered to us.
Hobart really put on a good show.

Will enjoy having a beer and watching you all on the TV.
Good winds
Kenley

Weather models all seem to be agreeing with each other now which is a good sign…so we can predict what sails we'll need for optimum speed at given wind angles and speeds.

Start of the race will be upwind then out of the heads, pop a spinnaker and enjoy a nice run down the coast. Wind will build over the next 24 hours to a 30 knot N/NE….perfect, although when it gusts up to 40 knots offshore at night, it can get a bit hairy. Tearing a kite isn't something we want to do at all as it puts the boat on its side and in waves in the dark, that's not nice, so everyone will have to be on top of their game.

At some point there'll be a nasty patch of light wind and then it'll clock around to the west then south west and then south, which sucks as we're trying to go south west so this will be heading straight upwind. Pass the bucket!

Doesn't look like it'll last too long though before it goes back to northerly conditions and then if we can get across Bass Strait quickly enough, we could be heading up the Derwent before it gets too nasty.

I just went down to check out the Clipper RTW boats. Fast off the breeze but they look too heavy. If WOXI or Loyal can get there in one piece, we could see the record broken again. If Beau Geste gets the right angle of wind, she could be in for a great time….despite being 30' shorter.

On board, I reckon I'm a shoe-in for the Golden Bucket award (as usual) but I might go for Golden Pillow too (the person who sleeps the most during the race).

We'll see what Mother Nature and Neptune can conjure up between them and hope we get a lot of luck and no breakages.

Bobby