Category Archives: Races

Posts about one race in specific

Race reports

Sailing to Tasmania

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tasman_startI’m ending my SOL year with the Boxing Day Classic, the first half of the Tasman Double. A night start in Sydney, across Bass Strait and round Tasman Island, before steering into Hobart. Tasman Island is of course the relevant routing goal.

As a rule for the Southern Ocean in general, and the whole Tasman Sea / NZL area in particular, forecasts tend to be less then reliable. In last year’s edition I split from the main group in Bass Strait, and by sheer luck won the light air lottery. And then there’s my favorite, Sail Fiji. This year’s forecast was soooo bad. Anyway the forecast for this race is… amazingly stable. Ok.

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Race reports

Sailonline World Race – Leg 2

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WOW! this was one of the best sailing I ever done in SOL.

And this thanks to the challenging and changing wx along the route and to all the person that enter in this crazy long leg with a boat.
And of course to the hard fight with Lolla, to nominate the biggest opponent.
Lolla sailed a superb legs, applying the sailing strategic manual to the letter, and giving me only one risky chance that turned well at the end.
So as I pick up him as my reference opponent I will mention him more than others.

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Races, Weather reports

SSANZ 100 — pre race

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At start time, a Low Pressure system is moving east across North Island − crossing the coast at Hokianga Harbour, about 100nm NW of Auckland.
SSANZ100StartWeather00Zpct67This weather system will determine the winds (TWS and TWD) for the fleet throughout the race.

An initial wind forecast of 6 kts out of the east dictates an on-the-wind start.  The sail remains a beat to wind’ard until past the initial Motutapu S mark and into the Motuihe Channel.

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Races, Sailing by the numbers

A Bee Line to the Finish!

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BeeLineFinish
The Vineyard Finish #1 – “Shortest” route in yellow, WINSTON and javakeda routes in red.

When WINSTON rounded The Cows and headed for the finish line at the end of The Vineyard race I smiled.

WINSTON was headed for the line at an angle.
I was going to do the same thing.
Instead of taking the shortest route to the finish, we were taking the quickest route.

It’s all about VMC

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Races, Routing, Weather reports

RTW6 — pre-race

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RTW6 Rhumb and GC routes
Chart #1 — Rhumb Line and Great Circle Route comparison.

In this race, there are three reasons to head up the east coast of the United States and Canada.

First,  the Great Circle Route goes that way. Despite appearances, the Rhumb Line on Chart #1 is about 165 nm longer than the Great Circle Route arcing to the north side of the rhumb.

But second, and more important, is the Bermuda High.

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Races

Plum Gut

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Plum Gut
Looking past Orient Point Light, across Plum Gut.  Plum Island Light is in the background. — photo by SOL skipper Jlink58

At the north-east end of Long Island Sound a string of small islands extends from Point Orient on Long Island, past Race Point on Fishers Island, to Watch Hill Point above Little Narragansett Bay on the Rhode Island shore. Any skipper exiting LI Sound must decide how to pass through these islands. Often, the choice is to go through Plum Gut.

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