Ocean Racing Club of Victoria
Steb Fisher

Apollo Bay Weather Update

What a great time the sailors in this year’s Apollo Bay race are going to have. A cloudy start to the day with a sunny afternoon and a maximum of 21 degrees. The weather looks perfect for those who would like to stop in Apollo bay and enjoy the hospitality.

The Synoptic Situation

A high pressure system is moving across Australia centered to the north of Sydney. This will give us Northwesterly wind across the race course, moving more Westerly on Sunday.

The Race

The fleet will start in 10 to  15 knot Northerlies which will shift more Northwesterly as the day progresses at similar strength. The major different from Wednesday's forecast is the wind skip that existed from Lorne has now reduced so the boats will have the opportunity to sail the rhumb line.

One of the PredictWind models is suggesting that sailing south of the rhumb line could be an option. The PredictWind model suggests that a Beneteau 40 will finish by lunchtime, so the faster boats might have an opportunity to break the race record but the chances are fading unless the wind increases.

So sailors have a great race and your race management team of Martin , Bruce and Simon will be on hand to welcome you into Apollo Bay

 

WeatherMap

WeatherMapSunday

MeteyeSat07

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MaetEye Sat16

PredictwindMap

PredictwindSummary

2016 Apollo Bay Weather Outlook

Well it looks like the weather God’s are looking after us this weekend. The fleet of 29 yachts are looking at an easy race in warm conditions and if the weather holds there is a chance that Kaos’s 1999 race record of 5 hours and 24 minutes could be broken. The fleet will enjoy a very comfortable run down the bay on Friday night in warm northerlies

Looking at the race forecast we can see from the weather maps that there is a fairly stable weather outlook for the weekend. The Meteye shows a bit of a different outlook to Predictwind as it takes the topography into account, so there will some wind skip, as the fleet approaches Apollo bay. The fleet should have a comfortable reach for the race with the wind forward of the beam so boats with code zeros could shine.

So tacticians watch the weather closely, be wary of Predictwind, and the approach to the finish could tell all.

Weathermap 1000

WeathermapSun 10

meteye 0700

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meteye1300

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The Predict wind model below is based on the polars of a Beneteau First 40

PredictWindMap

PredictwindSummary

 

At the 2100 Schedule in the Apollo Bay Race

Three boat have finished Simply Fun, Hartbreaker  and Spirit of Downunder two boats are on approach to the finish line White Noise and Mille Sabords

Yoko, Turbulence, Addiction and Halcyon still have a way to go. Yoko and Turbulence both gave the same positions so they are both at no 4

The fleet is reduced to 10 in the Apollo Bay Race

The retirement since the last schedule are Magazan53, Wildside, Alien, Allegro, Bandit, Blue Chip, TryBooking.com, the remaining 9 boats are pushing on and the leading bunch of Hartbreaker, Simply Fun and Mille Sabords follow by the Spirit of Downunder and White Noise. Yoko, Halcyon, Addiction and Turbulence.

The leaders have thirteen miles to go and the rear of the fleet have 20 miles to go so hopefully we should have all the fleet in by midnight.

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3 Aquatic Drive, Albert Park VIC 3206 Ph. 0493 102 744 E. orcv@orcv.org.au