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Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 1972
1972 American Eagle - Line Honours and Handicap winner
1972 American Eagle - Line Honours and Handicap winner

LocationSydney to Hobart
StateNSw
CountryAustralia
ClubMiddle Harbour Yacht Club
Length of Race630nm

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 1972

Weather

The CYCA put back the starting time to 12 noon local time to give the afternoon sea breeze time to catch up with daylight saving, and the huge fleet started in a light nor'easter. The breeze was light to moderate for the first two hours of the race, giving the fleet a spinnaker run down the NSW coast. The leaders gybed off Jervis Bay and they reached down almost to Twofold Bay, until a fresh southerly came in.

After a few tacks of Cape Howe, most of the fleet were able to sail across Bass Strait on a close fetch in the fresh sou'wester. With the wind abeam from the west and nor-west, the leaders continued to make a fast reach down the Tasmanian coast.

The without warning, the leaders were hit by a fierce southerly change, gusting to more than 40 knots. But as they approached the Iron Pot, the leaders ran into a series of frustrating calms as the rest of the fleet battle a Force 7 gale off the east coast.

However, as the front passed, almost all the fleet were to suffer the same frustrations as they sailed a "stop-go" course up the Derwent.

The Race was a long, drawn-out affair, as the smaller yachts had to battle headwinds down the east coast, round Tasman Island and then across Storm Bay, most of the also encountering fickle winds of the Derwent.

Articles

Hobart Race Highlights 1982
Hobart Race Highlights 1982
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley
The Way to Hobart by Rob McAuley

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