Vanuatu - ORCV

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Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Ocean Race of 1885 nautical miles

Race Start is off Portsea Pier at Slack Water, Port Phillip Heads.

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Description:

Held every four years from 2006, this is Australia's longest Category One race and starts on the first Sunday in July. It was conceived as an idyllic way to escape the Southern Winter and often attracts a strong two-handed division of racers. The race always has a Humanitarian Aid component attached to it and there is a container with medical, school and apparel supplies that accompanies the fleet to Vila. Please see the Notice of Race on this website for the specific starting time.

2014 MELBOURNE TO VANUATU RACE/RALLY

Well, finally the 2014 race/rally to Vanuatu is underway! After a 25 hour delay due to bad weather (for which everyone was glad!), the crews at Blairgowrie woke up to what The Secretary called an “icy start “ and Robin was glad to be able get below to send off an email.

That wasn’t the only challenge to get the race underway. Around start time, there were two large boats entering Port Phillip and a number heading down the Bay on their way out the Heads. Look at the AIS plot showing all the M2V fleet hovered around Portsea, two exiting and two entering ships and throw in the two Queenscliff-Sorrento ferries for good measure too!

Isn’t AIS great and you wouldn’t go to sea without one these days! Geomatic’s did not seem to be reporting and Myuna is without an AIS transmitter (allowed in the Rally!). First out the Head’s honours goes to Alive, followed by Cartouche, Jazz Player, Escapade, The Secretary, Trybooking and Ariel according to their AIS positions

The trackers have not quite settled down yet (hope they will soon!) with a couple of boats reporting erratically and some showing unusual directions which hopefully will sort themselves out at the next update.

2014 Vanuatu Race - Weather Outlook Sunday 29 June 2014

ORCV resident weather gurus Robin Hewitt and Andrew Roberts provide the following outlook (scroll to the bottom to see all 5 weather maps with comments).

	Sunday and we are now seeing moderation in the westerlies that peaked overnight ahead of the southwest change, which also saw thunderstorms and plenty of rain dumping on southern Port Phillip and the Peninsula. The Nepean wave buoy peaked Sunday morning with Sig Wx of 4m, Max Wx of 7m, and is now trending downwards along with the winds for the start on Monday. The strong High of 1035 over the continent which is moderating the current weather is shown on the 4-day map as slowly weakening to 1030 by late Wednesday as it approaches the NSW coast and into the Tasman Sea. Further to the west and we see another the low forming off the WA coast and vacillating up and down before deepening and sliding SE to join the familiar progression of deep lows and strong fronts on their march eastwards. This suggests the system drivers are still active. Keeping an eye on this next front and the system with it in order to see if the high is strong enough to tempt the lows further south will be an informative indicator. Hopefully all entrants will be at or around Gabo by this time with options to progress further north. The previous wild weather Vic experienced also gave Sydney a pasting. In the Tasman Sea and the ACCES BOM model suggests a weak low forming just off the NSW coast Thursday AM as the high weakens with lighter winds and the front Friday about noon, perhaps not too strong. SW tending NW 20kts off Sydney and I doubt if anyone will be around Gabo by then, but 30Kts S-SW behind the front which at present gives up further north.
	BoM Win Forecast 4pm Friday 04-Jul-14.
	The southwards wave and large amplitude of the jet at 35000 ft would appear to me as responsible as a driver west of Perth and seems to have persisted for some time remembering it is the boundary between cold air and more northerly warmer air. The next southerly wave and velocity of 180 kts over NZ confirms Vanuatu as more desirable.
	This ACCESS model for Monday 7 July shows the low off the NSW coast moving into mid-Tasman and persisting with some tighter isobars on the system’s west side, along with rotating winds of south-southeasterlies on the western side, north- northeasterlies on the eastern side. Note the colours represent rainfall not wind.
	This next map is for wind. These maps will undoubtedly change closer to actual time but nonetheless are in order of 70-80% confidence. With the European EC model also showing formation of a low in the Tasman Sea next weekend, this potential development should be a key focus of the fleet looking further ahead on the race course. Maps show the usual temperature increase northwards of Gabo and Eden. The low should be a high for usual weather patterns, but when has weather ever been usual?

By Robin Hewitt and Andrew Roberts

2014 ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu Race/Rally

Notice To Competitors

Changes to Sailing Instructions

Racing

1. 7.1 0855 on 29 June 2014 becomes 0955 on 30 June 2014.
2. 7.4 0855 becomes 0955
           0856 becomes 0956
           0859 becomes 0959
          0900 becomes 1000
3. A4 0735 AEST becomes 0835 AEST
          0845 becomes 0945 on 30 June
4. A5.1 0845 becomes 0945
5. A7.6 29 June becomes 30 June
6. A14 Times and dates updated in accordance with the above changes

Rally
1. 6.1 0905 Sunday 29 June becomes 1005 Monday 30 June
2. 6.2 0905 29 June becomes 1005 30 June
3. 6.4 0855 becomes 0955
         0856 becomes 0956
          0859 becomes 0959
          0900 becomes 1000
4. 6.5 0905 becomes 1005
5. A4.1 0735 becomes 0835 on 30 June 2014
6. A5.1 0845 AEST becomes 0945 AEST
7. A6.6 29 June 2014 becomes 30 June 2014
8. A12 Times and dates updated in accordance with the above changes

28 June 2014 M2V Race Committee

2014 Melbourne to Vanuatu - START DELAYED

Vanuatu statue-Start Delayed The Start time for the 2014 Melbourne to Vanuatu Ocean Yacht Race has been delayed to 1000 hours on Monday 30 June, 2014 with the Rally Start time 5 minutes later at 1005.

This will not come to the surprise of anyone who has been monitoring Melbourne's weather this week. With wild weather battering Victoria this week and more on the way, the ORCV Race Management Team has been monitoring weather developments very closely. With another frontal system due to pass through on Sunday, the original scheduled start time of 0900 Sunday 29 June, 2014 is no longer feasible. Fortunately the front due on Sunday will be little less intense than the front that came through on Tuesday which caused widespread damage and flooding.

Skippers of all entrants were notified of delayed start this afternoon. Changing a scheduled start time for a major blue water classic like the 1,885 nautical mile Melbourne to Vanuatu ocean yacht race involves notifying numerous authorities, including Port of Melbourne, Kordia (who perform Radio Position reporting schedules), AMSA, Coast Guard, ORCV Incident Management Team and the list goes on.

SailOnline.org have also been notified for anyone intending to participate in the Virtual race.

Other arrangements for competitors including Customs Clearance at Docklands at 0900 Saturday 28 June, 2014 and the send-off dinner/party at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron on Saturday night remain unchanged.

Entrants at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay are likely to take advantage of a favourable y weather window on Saturday to head down the Bay to Blairgowrie after clearing Customs on Saturday morning.

Our very good friends at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron have also arranged to accommodate entrants in pens in their marina rather than rafting up in the designated visitor areas - thanks again BYS, your efforts are again very much appreciated!

An official Notice to Competitors will be issued in due course, including revised Pre-Race Sign on sched times etc.

With the weather forecast from Monday onwards, it looks like very fast running conditions will be enjoyed by the fleet. The race record could be under threat.

ORCV Race Management.

Friday 27 June, 2014

Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Tracker

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