the tide is flooding for the next 4.5 hours down there , don't know if that will help , not sure how much current speed is associated with that ? . Ive never sailed down there .

its looking pretty light, wind wise on the BOM site !

www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/standings/?raceId=105&categoryId=462&raceTime=

They can see the finish, working the eastern shore to keep out of the tide.

sorry about the pics, but I've only got the phone.

Great result, but from some points of view the race is not anywhere near as relevant as it used to be for the small boat sailors. If you like a boat-on-boat competition with similar boats, it's not relevant to small-boat sailors at all anymore (as far as I can see). Azzuro had no boat anywhere near her on the water to race on corrected time, and racing boats that should be hours ahead of you is not the same sort of thing (for me and others like me, anyway). Even in her own class she was racing boats that were 13 hours ahead of her on the water, which means that it's really down to the luck of the weather. Back In The Day you could normally see your class opposition a lot of the time.

In the Fastnet there's a 6% spread of ratings in the small-boat class; in the Hobart there's a 17% spread of ratings in the small-boat class. Boats that fit into the small-boat class in the Hobart are in the 5th-fastest of the 10 classes in the Fastnet, which shows how far the Hobart has become a big-boat race compared to the Fastnet. A First 40 fits into the small class here; in Spi Ouest, one of France's biggest regattas, it's at the big-boat end of the big-boat class.

Oz has really become an outlier in terms of being all about big boats. I did the sums a couple of years ago and it was apparent that the Hobart's drop in numbers, compared to its own earlier years and to the Fastnet, was due to the drop in the numbers of small boats. I used to love the race, now it's become very exclusive in many ways.

I suppose the consolations for Azzuro's loss is that Teasing Machine arguably sailed a much better race than anyone else, but got shafted even more in the Bay and River, so Azzuro themselves only had a chance because another boat suffered even worse in the light stuff at the end. And on the upside, perhaps the brilliant race by Courier Leon will highlight the strengths of these little modern IRC boats.

Chris 249 said..
Great result, but from some points of view the race is not anywhere near as relevant as it used to be for the small boat sailors. If you like a boat-on-boat competition with similar boats, it's not relevant to small-boat sailors at all anymore (as far as I can see). Azzuro had no boat anywhere near her on the water to race on corrected time, and racing boats that should be hours ahead of you is not the same sort of thing (for me and others like me, anyway). Even in her own class she was racing boats that were 13 hours ahead of her on the water, which means that it's really down to the luck of the weather. Back In The Day you could normally see your class opposition a lot of the time.

In the Fastnet there's a 6% spread of ratings in the small-boat class; in the Hobart there's a 17% spread of ratings in the small-boat class. Boats that fit into the small-boat class in the Hobart are in the 5th-fastest of the 10 classes in the Fastnet, which shows how far the Hobart has become a big-boat race compared to the Fastnet. A First 40 fits into the small class here; in Spi Ouest, one of France's biggest regattas, it's at the big-boat end of the big-boat class.

Oz has really become an outlier in terms of being all about big boats. I did the sums a couple of years ago and it was apparent that the Hobart's drop in numbers, compared to its own earlier years and to the Fastnet, was due to the drop in the numbers of small boats. I used to love the race, now it's become very exclusive in many ways.

I suppose the consolations for Azzuro's loss is that Teasing Machine arguably sailed a much better race than anyone else, but got shafted even more in the Bay and River, so Azzuro themselves only had a chance because another boat suffered even worse in the light stuff at the end. And on the upside, perhaps the brilliant race by Courier Leon will highlight the strengths of these little modern IRC boats.

In regard to the SH these days are the entry conditions more restrictive in regard to safety ,equipment etc. compared to say 10 years ago. I know that since 98' the conditions were tightened but are they now beyond the reach / not worth the expense of smaller boat owners.
In the 70/80's the MH entry conditions were tougher than the SH in regard the LOA etc. and a couple of members used to do the SH or MD because they could not enter the MH . I had a look at the MH this year ,omg only 10 or so entrants and smallest 39 feet .
Any idea why the rating is different between the IRC and the ORC?

This was probably the last year the small boats had a chance and even then she came in well after the bulk of the fleet. Owner at the time was a school teacher.

Ramona said..
This was probably the last year the small boats had a chance and even then she came in well after the bulk of the fleet. Owner at the time was a school teacher.

The little boats had a couple more years. In '97 there were still 11 old 3/4 and 1/2 tonners and similar boats, with Suraya (S & S 36, similar to an S&S 34) second in class ahead of Maris (Tasman Seabird). In 2000 there were Berrimilla, Boomaroo (S&S 34), Breakaway (Swanson 36), Grasshopper (Cole 31), Not Negotiable (UFO 34), Southerly (1938 vintage Peel 35), Take Time (Brolga 33) and Zeus II (Currawong 30), and of course a year or two after that Zeus almost won overall again. The small class was won by Sunstone, which is 39' long but a liveaboard boat designed in 1965, and close to a newish 3/4 tonner in speed and rating.

I'd forgotten which Currawong you had. We raced her in the Batemans Bay regatta, when the half ton fleet consisted of a Farr 920, my ancient modified Spencer, two Petersons, a couple of Cavalier 32s, an Endeavour 30, one or two Currawongs and (I think) a couple of others. We spent our time fighting for second with one of the Petersons; classic half ton racing with the two boats almost perfectly matched for speed overall, but very different designs that each had strong and weak points.

Looks like she's all over for another year !
Great race this year I reckon, it was a good chat going on here as well !