After what has been the toughest leg of the race so far, we have safely arrived in Sydney on December 15th, 2015. Even though, the leg has been a shorter one – just 14 days ;) – the weather conditions have made the difference this time. On the start day of the overall fourth race, the usual parade of sail took place and all twelve boats prepared for the start procedure in King George Sound, Albany, where the first three race marks were located. With perfect sailing conditions – constant breeze, sun and warm temperatures – the fleet delivered some intense and exciting racing, before leaving the sound and heading towards Tasmania.
During the first night the wind increased and shifted to a southeasterly, meaning that it hit us “right on the nose”. The constant smashing into the weather and waves rolling over the deck made the life onboard a real challenge. Being clipped onto the safety lines on deck was essential, as the sheer force of the water would knock you off your feet. This went on for about three days and consumed a great deal of each person’s strength, as the weather also did not allow for much rest below deck. Furthermore, we unfortunately caught a virus onboard, which put more than half of the crew out of action in the course of the first week. I spent two days below deck and can tell you that this was extremely hard for me, as you know that your crew would need you on deck, but you cannot do much about it. During these days, the whole boat was disinfected numerous times, in order to avoid it to spread further. This definitively helped, as all of us were back on their feet when we came closer to Tasmania.
As we rounded the bottom of Tasmania, the weather was still quite cold and rainy and a look at the weather forecast confirmed that it would not improve soon. One these days, we wished for the heat we had experienced in Rio or Cape Town. In addition, the thought of arriving in Sydney with sight of the iconic Opera House and the famous Harbour Bridge motivated us. Another comfort and distraction from the weather was the visit of several dolphin pods at once. One morning, just after sun dawn, after a tough night watch, we suddenly were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins that happily swam and jumped out of the water next to us. One could even think that they were competing against each other, as they kept jumping higher and also at the same time. No matter how miserable, cold and wet we felt, each of us had a big smile on our face, leaned over the side of the boat trying to spot the next jump and when a dolphin jumped again you could just here laughter on the deck. This was a magical moment for us!
Our crossing of the famous Bass Strait, dividing Tasmania from Australia, was not as tough as we had expected it to be and thus could make good progress in the race. As we approached Australia, the wind conditions challenged us once more, as it directly came on to our nose (tacking angle of 130 degrees) and eventually died off completely. Our estimated time of arrival was postponed on a regular basis. At some point we only had three knots of wind, yet making no progress north, as the Eastern Australian current was sending us back south with four knots. By then the weather had completely changed, making it once again hard to stay below deck, but this time it was the heat that guided the people up on deck. One morning our skipper even allowed us for a quick swim that most of us gratefully accepted (video to follow J). Eventually, the race director allowed us to motor-sail the last 200 nautical miles to Sydney. This had two reasons: Firstly, because all yachts had to be lifted in Sydney for maintenance reasons, which would of course take some time. And secondly, so that we would arrive before a huge low-pressure system with winds of Tornado strength would hit the coast of New South Wales.
We entered Sydney harbour through ‘the Heads’ in the afternoon hours of December 15th and had a beautiful view on the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Currently we are berthed at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, which also hosts the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with which we will again leave the city on boxing day.
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