ahead of the change then clearing tomorrow.
OUTLOOK FOR NEXT 48 HOURS: Winds moderating north of Jervis Bay Sunday night. Gale to storm force W winds south of Jervis Bay expected to moderate Monday evening.
The Bass Strait forecast issued from Victorian Bureau of Meteorology Office at 1646hrs read:
EASTERN BASS STRAIT: North-easterly wind 20/30 knots in the far east at first. A west/south-west change at 20/30 knots extending throughout this evening and increasing to 30/40 knots tomorrow morning and to 45/55 knots during the afternoon. Seas/swell 2 to 4 metres increasing 3 to 5 metres during the morning and 4 to 6 metres during the afternoon.
According to that forecast there was going to be one hell of a battle in Bass Strait.
At that point the crews hadn’t heard the latest reports, but already the experienced sailors suspected something big was brewing. The north-easterly wind was strengthening all the time and was now well above the predicted velocity of around 25 knots. The sea breeze and favourable current remained so strong throughout the afternoon and evening that the entire fleet was ahead of the race-record pace set by the state-of-the-art German maxi, Morning Glory , two years earlier. Lew Carter, Michael Brown and the Young Endeavour skipper, Lieutenant Commander Neil Galletly, noted the fleet was flying. They were twice as far from Sydney as they were most years.
“We discussed with the skipper what we would do,” recalls Carter. “We always talk our own tactics throughout the race because it’s important for us to be in a position where we can be of assistance if needed, even though that’s not our primary role. We always try and keep ourselves about mid-fleet, maybe with a leaning towards the back. We were up on the bridge and had a bit of a chat about the weather patterns and the current. We’d had a look at the chart and were talking about the problems that we might experience down the bottom, off the south-east corner of the mainland. The depth of the water drops dramatically as soon as you get beyond the 100 fathom line down there. We were thinking about the convergence of three to four knots of very warm current against waves from a south-westerly change. We decided if we were going to have any problems it would be in that area.”
They were right.
By mid-afternoon Gary Ticehurst had reconfigured the ABC helicopter so that it was ready to cover the race and he and his two passengers, Scott Alle, a producer forthe ABC and cameraman Peter Sinclair, began their chase of the yachts down the coast.
“The plan was, as in most years, to position at Merimbula for the night,” recalls Ticehurst. “We usually leave so we can arrive in Merimbula about half an hour before last light – it’s 185 nautical miles south of Sydney. With such a strong following wind I was hoping we could cover the lead yachts and then come back in. On the way to them, and while going through the smaller yachts, we were listening to the weather forecasts. They were predicting 40 to 50 knots. They said the change would come around about midnight with local thunderstorms all the way down to the coast.
“Sure enough, they were spot on with the latter part. You could see the lightning. It was that typical sultry grey afternoon and you could feel that it was going to happen. One thing that was pretty impressive was the speed at which the entire fleet was travelling south. The forecast for 40 to 50 knots the next day didn’t concern us. In fact
it excited us. I thought, this is going to be a little bit tougher than just a southerly buster. This is going to last a day or two. We’re going to get some action – great vision.
“When we arrived at Merimbula that evening we literally had to poke our way around the thunderstorms just to get to the airport. There were so many of them. It was pouring with rain, torrential rain. We were certain then that the fleet was going to cop it overnight – there’d be a few things going
OUTLOOK FOR NEXT 48 HOURS: Winds moderating north of Jervis Bay Sunday night. Gale to storm force W winds south of Jervis Bay expected to moderate Monday evening.
The Bass Strait forecast issued from Victorian Bureau of Meteorology Office at 1646hrs read:
EASTERN BASS STRAIT: North-easterly wind 20/30 knots in the far east at first. A west/south-west change at 20/30 knots extending throughout this evening and increasing to 30/40 knots tomorrow morning and to 45/55 knots during the afternoon. Seas/swell 2 to 4 metres increasing 3 to 5 metres during the morning and 4 to 6 metres during the afternoon.
According to that forecast there was going to be one hell of a battle in Bass Strait.
At that point the crews hadn’t heard the latest reports, but already the experienced sailors suspected something big was brewing. The north-easterly wind was strengthening all the time and was now well above the predicted velocity of around 25 knots. The sea breeze and favourable current remained so strong throughout the afternoon and evening that the entire fleet was ahead of the race-record pace set by the state-of-the-art German maxi, Morning Glory , two years earlier. Lew Carter, Michael Brown and the Young Endeavour skipper, Lieutenant Commander Neil Galletly, noted the fleet was flying. They were twice as far from Sydney as they were most years.
“We discussed with the skipper what we would do,” recalls Carter. “We always talk our own tactics throughout the race because it’s important for us to be in a position where we can be of assistance if needed, even though that’s not our primary role. We always try and keep ourselves about mid-fleet, maybe with a leaning towards the back. We were up on the bridge and had a bit of a chat about the weather patterns and the current. We’d had a look at the chart and were talking about the problems that we might experience down the bottom, off the south-east corner of the mainland. The depth of the water drops dramatically as soon as you get beyond the 100 fathom line down there. We were thinking about the convergence of three to four knots of very warm current against waves from a south-westerly change. We decided if we were going to have any problems it would be in that area.”
They were right.
By mid-afternoon Gary Ticehurst had reconfigured the ABC helicopter so that it was ready to cover the race and he and his two passengers, Scott Alle, a producer forthe ABC and cameraman Peter Sinclair, began their chase of the yachts down the coast.
“The plan was, as in most years, to position at Merimbula for the night,” recalls Ticehurst. “We usually leave so we can arrive in Merimbula about half an hour before last light – it’s 185 nautical miles south of Sydney. With such a strong following wind I was hoping we could cover the lead yachts and then come back in. On the way to them, and while going through the smaller yachts, we were listening to the weather forecasts. They were predicting 40 to 50 knots. They said the change would come around about midnight with local thunderstorms all the way down to the coast.
“Sure enough, they were spot on with the latter part. You could see the lightning. It was that typical sultry grey afternoon and you could feel that it was going to happen. One thing that was pretty impressive was the speed at which the entire fleet was travelling south. The forecast for 40 to 50 knots the next day didn’t concern us. In fact
it excited us. I thought, this is going to be a little bit tougher than just a southerly buster. This is going to last a day or two. We’re going to get some action – great vision.
“When we arrived at Merimbula that evening we literally had to poke our way around the thunderstorms just to get to the airport. There were so many of them. It was pouring with rain, torrential rain. We were certain then that the fleet was going to cop it overnight – there’d be a few things going
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