Sydney-Hobart-Race 2006 Übersicht 22.12.2006 Sydney To Hobart Race - Why do they do it? Is the biggest question many Asian's have asked me during my time here. Already during the build-up, the race has claimed its first victim. This week Ludde Ingvall's 90 foot maxi, named Diabetes after a worthy cause, was dealt a cruel blow when they broke the mast during a training sail off Sydney Heads. Sailors boast about the number of Hobart's they have done to improve their racing credentials but as the race starts on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day) most sailors have to forgo any family duties to compete or rush down a Christmas dinner, then hi-tail it off to Sydney to join the boat. Talk about wasting Chrissy dinner, as the turkey lunch and rich pudding usually ends up being barfed up over the side. My first encounter was spent alone on deck steering the boat through the first night as a nurse onboard injected all the sea sick crew including the boats owner down below. Historically the yachts have encountered a strong southerly wind somewhere along the 600+nm course and when confronted with a south flowing current builds up a nasty, steep, choppy and confused sea which often produces boat breaking conditions and over the years has taken its toll on man and machine. One year I caught a tough ex-motorcycle gang member, turned yacht crew bent over inside the boat praying that the mast not break as we crashed through the mountainous seas. The Bureau of Meteorology’s updated forecast released Friday morning shows the weather leading up to race start is still very dynamic. The forecast predicted a strong low to form over eastern Bass Strait on Christmas Day with gale force south-westerly winds. However, this low is expected to have moved to the east by the time the race frontrunner's reach this area. This will result in a more westerly, rather than southwest to southerly flow during the early part of the race. The low is expected to move away on a southeast path into the Tasman Sea during Tuesday and Wednesday and the gales near the center will move out of Bass Strait. “The Bureau’s latest forecast has the worst conditions moving east before the fleet reaches Bass Strait, however the seas will still be steep,” said CYCA Commodore Lavis. “It will be a tough race and the fleet is always warned to prepare for and expect to worst of conditions,” he added. Fotos: Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex As most the 78 yachts competing (except for the maxi classes) are mostly production boats with club racers onboard, it must also be mentioned that campaigning a yacht not only requires a hugh sacrifice of time and preparation but comes with astronomical costs at this level. So the question still remains "Why do they do it?" The best answer I can come up with is "Because it is there to do". Some owners have become so obsessed that they will turn up every year until they win it. Take Ray Roberts as a good example. For crew members it is very character building and "must have" at least one Hobart in their CV to be considered for any top class racing boats and future offshore events. Families, friends, devout yachties and spectators can watch the real-time progress of yachts in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race for the first time on 3G enabled mobile phones and by visiting the new look ‘Yacht Tracker’ page on the race web site http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com Special transmitters fitted to each boat send out latitude and longitude readings which are then beamed back to earth and automatically plotted on the web map. The irrepressible Rob Kothe and his Sail-World team have combined with the Sailors Radio crew to produce a three hour live broadcast of the start commencing 11:00 am through to 2:00pm Sydney Summer Time on 26 January 2006. This entire broadcast will beam around Australia from the studios of radio station 2SERr on 107.3fm over the community radio satellite network and made available by following the links at: http://www.sail-world.com For the rest of us mere mortals have a Merry Christmas and enjoyable festive break before tackling the New Year... Make it blue skies, fair wind and warm sailing conditions for me. Capt Marty Rijkuris Welcome to the Wonderful World of Yachting at http://AsianYachting.com Updated Hobart weather forecast The Bureau's latest computer model guidance has the low slightly further south, this will result in a more westerly, rather than southwest to southerly flow during the early part of the race.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29740&ntid=10 Sailor's Radio to broadcast the Hobart start A three hour live broadcast of the start for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Australia's premier Ocean Race commencing 11:00 am through to 2:00pm Sydney Summer Time, 26 January 2006 will stream on Sail-World.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29742&ntid=10 Report from the water - Register now With rapid advances in technology, Sail-World's racing coverage is getting better than ever with boats delivering news by satellite, 3G, Ner-G and CDMA phones, as SMS, voice reports, images and text and with HF email and via Skype.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29741&ntid=10 Huge Laser fleet on Hobart's Derwent River Yachts sailing up the Derwent River in daylight hours late next week towards the finish line of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will have to keep an extra lookout for other sailing craft, including more than 250 dinghies contesting national championships.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29737&ntid=10 Huge Fleet for Boxing Day Plenty of onwater action on Boxing Day and its not just the Rolex Sydney to Hobart race. The waters around Station Pier, Port Melbourne, will come alive on Boxing Day morning with the amassing of the fleet for the Entire C*ck of the Bay race.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29733&ntid=10 Diabetes out of Hobart- Ingvall rises to challenge Only ten days ago Ingvall announced his return to the Rolex Sydney to Hobart race aboard Diabetes, the 90-footer, to raise awareness of the disease diabetes and the need for at risk groups to partcipate in regular screening programmes. With the boat dismasted Ingvall is out of the Hobart race, but he will be back soon.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29732&ntid=10 Christmas inspiration needed now??? Go to Nauticalia in the Rocks. 10am to 6pm 7 days a week. Shop 8 & 9 Clock Tower Square, Cnr Argyle & Harrington St.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29743&ntid=10 Santa's Helpers busy in Nowra A team that would make Santa proud have been toiling away in Nowra, on Australia's east coast, preparing special Christmas arrivals for several new owners looking forward to their new present arriving.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29731&ntid=10 RTA Proposal to reduce Spit Bridge Openings The Roads and Traffic Authority in Sydney is proposing to reduce the number of Spit Bridge Openings on the weekend and public holidays from 11 to 8 and more importantly will remove the two most used openings of 1130 and 1630 hours.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29730&ntid=10 Maximus fine tuning for Rolex Sydney Hobart At the end of their first day back in the water, Charles St Clair Brown, co-owner of the New Zealand 30m maxi Maximus said that there was still a lot of fine tuning to do on the boat before Boxing Day, and he anticipated the boat will spend the next three days out on the water.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29728&ntid=10 Fidelis celebrates forty years of Hobarts In fading light on the evening of 30 December 1966, a rather brash young New Zealander named James Davern steered his little-known and skinny-shaped 61-footer Fidelis up the Derwent River to an historic line honours victory in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29726&ntid=10 Boettcher and experienced crew ready for Hobart Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race veteran Geoff Boettcher has assembled his most experienced crew in his 19 campaigns in an endeavour to claim victory (IRC Handicap) this year.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29724&ntid=10 Gale chases Saga Insurance to Fremantle The good news is that we have a favourable wind I suppose. The swell has not been great but the seas became very rough and we got thrown around a lot. We also did some almost alarming surges, 27.6 knots on one occasion. That's very exciting, but its alarming because you are totally out of control and have to rely on the common sense of the boat to keep hurtling in a straight line and not decide to sheer off... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29722&ntid=10 Diabetes dismasted off Sydney Heads At around 2.45pm this afternoon, Wednesday 20 December, the mast on Ludde Ingvall's 90 foot maxi Diabetes, an entrant in the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart, allegedly compressed and fell down during a training sail off Sydney Heads... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29720&ntid=10 Heavy weather forecast for Rolex Sydney Hobart The Australian Bureau of Meteorology today forecast the first day of the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race could be a hard one for boats and crews alike. A low pressure system to the east of Bass Strait on Christmas Day, causing strong southwest to southerly winds for Christmas and the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart race on Boxing Day at 1.00pm.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29715&ntid=10 OAMPS Australian Youth Championships 2007 More than 150 under 19 sailors from around Australia, Singapore and Noumea will compete in the OAMPS Australian Youth Championships 2007 at the Sandy Bay Sailing Club in the New Year (6 to 10 January).... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29714&ntid=10 Top young squad practices on Sydney Harbour Some of our top young sailors were out on Sydney Harbour Monday practicing for next month's Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) where they will compete against the best from the USA, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.... http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=29712&ntid=10 Home:http://www.sail-world.com/home.cfm Weather:http://www.sail-world.com/weather/ Events:http://www.sail-world.com/events/ Photos:http://www.sail-world.com/photos/ Directories:http://www.sail-world.com/sw_directories.cfm Copyright © 1996-2006 - SEGEL.DE