Favourable winds for race start
Spirit of Bermuda will look to make the most of favourable winds during today’s start of the Newport Bermuda Race.
The triple mast sloop will start the 635 mile ‘Thrash to the Onion Patch’ reaching in 20 knot northeast winds.
“The wind will be ninety degrees on our port side and that’s the fastest point of sail for most boats,” said Spirit’s navigator Larry Rosenfeld. “We’ll just have all our sails up and the wind will be blowing 20 knots and we will be going about 11-13 knots (15 miles per hour) and that wind forecast is supposed to be pretty steady for about a day and a half. I think the first day and a half is going to be fast with all the weather information we have.”
With the wind going against the direction of the Gulf Stream, Rosenfeld said that leg of the race could be a “bouncy” ride for the crew of Spirit.
“The wind will have been blowing for a couple of days in that direction so the waves will have had a chance to build, so I expect it will be a bit bouncy there,” Rosenfeld said. “The waves will get taller and steeper in the stream but we should be able to cut right through because we are a good sized boat and we’re heavy so I don’t think we will be slamming off the waves.”
When Spirit eventually crosses the St David’s finish line hinges largely on a low pressure system in Nova Scotia and another developing near Bermuda.
“Come Saturday night it’s going to start to get a little bit uncertain because we don’t know what the wind is going to do,” Rosenfeld said. “The wind could diminish or shift more to the southeast which is more on the nose, so that means we would have to tack back and forward which would add 60 percent to the distances we have to sail.
“I have a good prediction of how long it’s going to take to be two thirds of the way. But the last third is going to be hard to predict right now.”
Spirit of Bermuda is among the 166 entries in this year’s Newport Bermuda Race.
The 118 ft sail-training vessel is competing alone with skipper Scott Jackson at the helm in the newly formed ‘Spirit of Tradition’ Division for the War Baby Trophy.
The trophy was donated by local sailing legend Warren Brown who is among Spirit’s 32-strong crew.
The local sloop has been designated as the flagship for this year’s Bermuda Race.
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Published Jun 15, 2012 at 8:16 am (Updated Jun 15, 2012 at 8:15 am)