What do the weather Gods have to say about this weekend’s Port Fairy race?

Looking at the weather maps for weekend there is a very slow moving high pressure that will endure for the weekend. The race will start under south to south easterly winds of 8 to ten knots moving to a westerly and going to the west after that.

Looking at the Predictwind models they are in broad agreement that a Beneteau First 40 will be finishing early Saturday morning. So sailors we will keep you updated, but plan for light weather and you will need plenty of diesel to come home.

Weather Forecast for Melbourne To Stanley Yacht Race

Forecast at 1200 0n Friday 30/10/2015

So Overall things are looking set for a great race across to Tassie. The Predict wind models are all very consistent and you can see from the course tracks they are all following closely the rhumb line. The larger boats in the TP52 size should expect a fast trip arriving by Midday Saturday and maybe threatening the race record. The smaller boats in the Beneteau First 40 range will arrive around 1400 and the latest boats should be enjoying festivities by 2200. All in all a pleasant, fun and fast event for everyone in great conditions

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There are currently no warnings for the area between Queenscliff and Stanley for the next 24 hours.

The initial period will be controlled by a high pressure system located over Tasmania. Winds at the start of the race are predicted to be Easterly to South Easterly at 15-20 knots with some strengths to 25 knots. The swell will be from the south west at 1.5 to 2.0 meters. Seas will be 1-1.5m.

During Saturday winds will stay easterly at 10-15 knots increasing to 20 knots. Turning towards the NE in the late afternoon/evening as a trough approaches from South Australia. Swell will continue from the SW at about 1m with seas 1-1.5m.

As the high moves slowly west the following trough will begin its influence into Sunday and will bring winds from the W beginning during early Sunday around 10-15 knots and some chance of rain

So Based on the wind patterns we are expecting a very fast race across to Stanley. If these winds hold the race will break the record. Good luck and fast sailing to all yachts and crews.

Boat Beacon AIS smartphone/tablet app - Aids to Navigation

Further to our website article on the Boat Beacon AIS smartphone/tablet app, one of many benefits of Automatic Identification System (AIS), is virtual Aids to Navigation (AtoN).

For the trial of the Boat Beacon app the ORCV is conducting during the 2015 Melbourne to Port Fairy ocean yacht race, Steve Bennett the CEO of Pocket Mariner (the Boat Beacon developer) has created some virtual AtoN.  These AtoN only appear in the Boat Beacon app, not on global internet based AIS traffic sites like Marine Traffic.

To follow are some screen dumps of the Boat Beacon app that display the AtoN.  NB. The dark line on these images is an approximate rhumb line for the Melbourne to Port Fairy ocean yacht race.