Tony Bullimore
Blue Ocean Wireless Solo Round the World Challenge

The weather conditions British round the world yachtsman Tony Bullimore is looking for to slingshot him away from Hobart and down into the Southern Ocean towards Cape Horn remain doubtful for the next week, but as Summer turns to Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, the Doha 2006 skipper is hopeful that at least one low pressure system will set him on his way within the next 2-3 weeks.

Commenting on the succession of high pressure systems that have parked themselves over Tasmania to lock Tony's 102ft catamaran in port all summer, Robin White, Vice Commodore of the Bellerive YC in Hobart said today: "I can't remember such an extended period of calms. These High Pressure systems are very out of the ordinary.  Hobart is 42 Degrees S and now that autumn is approaching we can expect some Low Pressure systems to come up from the South and blow the Highs away."

 

It may have been a long, frustrating wait for Tony, but Robin White offered some cheer for when Bullimore, who hopes to break the 70 day barrier for sailing solo around the world, returns to Hobart in May or June. "The winter winds come up from the Southern Ocean and he should have no trouble with light airs then."

 

Lee Bruce,  Doha 2006's weather router says that the prognosis for the coming week is far from clear. "The forecast for the Hobart area is unreliable beyond the next couple of days, as the computer model struggles to outguess the movement of low pressure expected in the area this weekend.  From the 05/06Z forecast run to the 05/12Z version, the solution has markedly changed.  So until there's better consistency, it is best to not get too enamoured with the wind forecast. Even if we assume confidence in the first 72-hours of the outlook, it still does not bring favourable starting conditions in the near term."

 

Meanwhile, Tony Bullimore is keeping fingers firmly crossed that conditions will finally improve in mid-March