Sydney-Hobart race: skippers get set for fast start, wild first night in gale-force winds
A fleet of 105 setting sail on Boxing Day from Sydney Harbour, including Hong Kong-based Antipodes, will face fine weather and then strong gusts
Skippers of the supermaxi yachts in the Sydney-Hobart blue water classic are bracing themselves for a fast start on Thursday and a wild first night at sea with gale-force winds forecast.
A fleet of 105 will set sail from Sydney Harbour in one of the world’s great ocean races before they head down Australia’s east coast, then tackle the notorious Bass Strait towards the Tasmanian state capital, Hobart.
In the final race briefing, meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse said the boats could expect fine weather and brisk north-easterly winds to get them under way before gusts strengthen as they fly down the coast.
“We’ll see those winds strengthening and potentially getting gale-force speeds, particularly along the southern parts of the New South Wales coast on Thursday,” she said.
Woodhouse added that a strong southwesterly change would move across the Bass Strait on Friday morning, potentially bringing showers, lightning, thunder and swells of up to four metres (13 feet).
