Melbourne Latitude Series (MLS)
One thing that won't be going to 11.
Unlikely to get anywhere near that mark in a hurry, is the breeze. So make the boat light and leave ALL the unnecessaries behind.
0700hrs, Saturday 20/11/10 from our good friends at PredictWind
Still sort of Northerly @ 1000hrs, but starting to scatter, hopefully not too big a hole in between it and below....
1300hrs and returning breeze to build to seabreeze, which is kind of important as slack water is 1245hrs - see below for more information on that.
Nothing much that's close to 11 in this lot during the racing periods....
The 2010 MLS has a 0730hrs start from 2nm inside Port Phillip Heads, with slack water - flood @ 0812hrs. For the return voyage back in the Heads, there is slack water - ebb @ 1245hrs with the maximum stream of 3.8knots at 1617hrs!!! That's a lot when you won't have a much squirt to fill the sails and provide you with power to combat the current!!!
Good thing then, that there will be lots of Brass in attendance at the start and from then on, as there will be lots of decisions to be made, which will reflect in how far the fleet goes out and hence, how quickly they can come back in...
Race Director for the MLS is Rear Commodore, Neville Rose and assisting him is Vice Commodore, Simon Dryden. To ensure it does not get too top heavy, there will also be Rik Head and Annie Schaefer. The Brass have taken to being called, 'The Brass', exceptionally well and offer these comments for your consideration. "The Brass have been reviewing the weather forecasts and observations all week. Conditions are looking very light. Latitude Sets were calculated after the latest forecasts were issued yesterday afternoon. The Flag Officers will be reviewing the latest weather observations and forecasts in order to determine which Latitude Set the fleet will be making for." Editor's Note to local area at Arthurs Seat, there will be four POB in the van at start time!
"We need to be particularly careful this year, as the tides at Port Phillip Heads weren’t as desirable for our ideal scenario of starting the race at Slack Water turning to Ebb tide, so they can get some tide assistance heading out and getting them back during a Flood tide, which would provide some assistance on the way back in. The desirable return window time this year is significantly less because the tides will be going against the fleet. Slack Water turning to Ebb tide is at 1245 AEDT and Maximum Ebb tide (3.8 knots) at 1617 AEDT. With very light winds forecast we don’t want them fighting against a 3.8 knot tide on the way back in, so we need to get them back inside the Heads well before 1617."
Rik will be maintaining listening watch in the van at Arthurs Seat, for emergency purposes, whilst Annie and Nifty will go to Portsea for the Finish line. Rik will be getting familiar with the ORCV van comms etc, in preparation for the Assistant Race Director duties he’ll be performing for the M2L.
As for the review of the weather itself, The Brass offer these thoughts. "Well, well, well. You could simply look at the weather maps and say that it's going to be a light and frustrating race, but for those who are interested in strategy, there are multiple scenarios that need to be considered. On the outbound journey, traveling Sou'east could be the quickest route to your turning latitude and when the wind goes south east you will be going very slowly on the way home. So going South or Sou'west your turning latitude would be preferred, but are you going to get there? So the sea will be flat, the temperature warm and the race will be won and lost on who has the correct stratergy and if you don’t know anything about VMG, we suggest you brush up your skills.
Ed: Me thinkey the 0835 sked will offer some exciting story lines... Then again, you would not expect anything else.
© John Curnow, ORCV Media
Please contact me for re-issue rights.
