The Bureau Of Meteorology has forecasted a fast start for the 2024 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.
After they leave Sydney Harbour & begin the trek down the New South Wales coast, a brisk south westerly change is forecast to come through, which for Wild Thing 100 skipper, Carl Crafoord, could be a challenge according to him.
Photograph: Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race
For Master Lock Comanche co-skipper, James Mayo, he was happy with the overall forecast. His take from it was that their strategy would be key.
Meanwhile, LawConnect skipper, Christian Beck, was relishing the forecast.
Cruising Yacht Club Of Australia (CYCA) Commodore, Sam Haynes, who is also racing onboard Celestial V70, which isn’t a line honours contender, said he was expecting a fast race but no records.
Photograph: Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race
In other race news, the broadcast will also be hosted from North Head from 12:30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) before shifting to commentators, Gordon Bray, Peter Shipway & Lisa Darmanin on Sydney Harbour for the race start.
The vendors at the Hobart Race Village have also been had some changes. Brown Brothers Family Winemakers, Devil’s Corner, Dark Lab, Orlando Plenty & Monica’s Fairy Floss are no longer going to be there while Robbie’s Woodfire Pizzas & Fried and Loaded Tasmania have been added.
Also, another yacht, Unicoin, has withdrawn, bringing the fleet to now 104 yachts.
The 2024 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race (real & virtual) begins at 1pm AEDT on the 26th of December (Boxing Day) with a live-streamed final weather briefing at 8am AEDT.
We’ll see those winds strengthening & potentially getting gale force speeds, particularly along the southern parts of the New South Wales (NSW) coast on Thursday.
(Brisk south westerly change) This will push across Bass Strait & turn more southerly on the New South Wales coast on Friday morning.
The exact time is still yet to be determined, but the model’s consistency at the moment is pretty remarkable, noting that it’s still a few days away & as we see that change come through, we could be seeing some showers and maybe even the chance of a thunderstorm.
Gabrielle Woodhouse, Bureau Of Meteorology Senior NSW Meteorologist
I think from our point of view, the harder it is, the better it is. We’ve had a crew that’s been together for 6 years. We’ve got largely the same crew. We hope our crew is our main strength. The harder it is, the more that comes to our advantage so we’re pretty happy with the forecast overall.
Christian Beck, ‘LawConnect‘ skipper
Well, it’s definitely good conditions, better than waking up on Boxing Day knowing that you’re facing a southerly.
It’s about keeping the boat in 1 piece, you know, there’s going to be some good rides & getting there safely & working through those transitions as we enter Bass Strait and getting through those best as possible.
James Mayo, ‘Master Lock Comanche‘ Co-Skipper
The forecast is pretty clear & the (prediction) down in the path of the 1st 12 hours was fantastic. I think the tricky bit will be getting further down the coast. It depends if it’s southwest or west or northwest & depends how far away we can get from the land so, we believe that we can get a little bit further out & try and use the…boats ahead of us as flags to determine how close we can get back into Tassie.
Carl Crafoord, ‘Wild Thing 100’ Skipper
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