Sydney Hobart – And so it begins
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 26 Dec 2023 14:48 UTC
Lightning strike illuminates Klingon Bird of Prey © John Curnow
Many things occur at night during the Hobart. Especially on the first night, when crews are getting used to the watch system, and invariably getting their first taste of dark, cold, and miserable. Still, you always remember that this was elective. You did sign up for it…
At 0128hrs AEDT on 27/12/23 Line Honours leader, andoo Comanche, made her Green Cape declaration. They called JBW and made it known that they comply with the rules of racing and elect to continue to Hobart.
It means they have about 440nm to travel. It also means they are about 46nm off record pace, set by LDV Comanche as she was then in 2017. It is also worth noting that in that race, Comanche was also right on top of the Rhumbline. This would be the drag race component we spoke about earlier in Cutting Grass.
LawConnect is some nine nautical miles astern, and both supermaxis were travelling in the 12-13 knot bracket. Both vessels are pretty much the most Easterly in terms of the Rhumbline, except for the mini maxi group headed by URM Group, with Alive and Moneypenny in firing distance, and Wild Thing 100 back inside their running.
At 0225hrs AEDT and URM Group has been trying to raise JBW. Comms are poor with static crashes on HF. Lightening aplenty around the fleet would be causing these issues. URM still traveling South, so may be relaying for another vessel.
"At 35000 feet the Jetstar flight to Auckland would perhaps not be feeling the same affects as those at sea level with the storm passing through," noted Tony, our HF Comms expert.
Sometime around 0135hrs, Bumblebee V accidentally activated their AIS alert, not EPIRB or PLB. All is well with them. As this is VHF based, they would be notifying race control (via JBW, so as not to cause distress to other vessels in the area).
Also interesting to note that at the time of writing Sebastian Bohm’s Judel/Vrolijk TP52, Smuggler, was the overall leader under IRC. There are a lot of seasoned competitors on board…
As the TPs begin to determine if they sat down to the correct bowl of porridge, it is wonderful to also see Bruce Taylor’s Chutzpah, the R/P40 using the conditions to get as far South as possible before any headwind conditions arrive.
At 0441hrs Alive finally got to announce their intention continue after struggling to reach JBW, then Hobart Race control. Moneypenny followed suit at 051hrs.
Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com