ORCV Melbourne to King Island

Warming.

It's a favourite subject for conjecture and debate in recent times. Have the weather patterns slipped South in the last few years?

Global warming is either scientific smoke and mirrors or real and absolute, depending on which camp you belong to. One thing that has been observed, however, is that Bass Strait is not really Bass Strait much these days. I was speaking with Andrew Warner very recently, who reminded me that the 2007 Rudder Cup Centennary race, which he did on Independent Endeavour, incorporated two days of drifting in the Paddock and the same occurred in the 2010 Melbourne to Vanuatu race... He felt that 42S was the new 38th parallel.

Down at our beloved King Island, Frank Hammond, who got there (eventually) on Spirit of Downunder, commented about that being the most benign he had ever experienced Bass Strait and I cannot remember a single race in the Paddock that did not involve large amounts of cold, wind, rain and swell. For sure there have been some mild crossings, but never during racing.

Sam Chandler from Scarlet Runner reflected that she had never been in a race yet, where Bass Strait really was, Bass Strait, either...

So here we are departing KI at about 1600hrs on the Sunday and I love this, because the clouds are the lines of corduroy, whereas usually, it is the sea that has those delightful lines in it...

A smidgeon further North and well into the top of Bass Strait, this is a completely un-retouched image of the Paddock. Look closely and you can see a couple of white specks directly behind the turbine's exhaust. That's you guys who departed Grassy, just after the Presentation on the Sunday, running with about 10-15knots from the Sou'west.

I showed this image to Jeff Dusting from SYC a couple of days later and he commented that it could not be the Med or Nth Qld, because of the colours, so had to be the Paddock....

Anyway, miscellaneous ramblings perhaps, but bound to be a discussion point...

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

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	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!