Friday, January 05, 2007
The Sydney Hobart Race 2006 (26December 2006)
Most of you would had caught this news on the TV. The race started with near perfect conditions. The next morning, the mast of Maximus broke and one crew suffered a serious head injury but in no mortal danger. Four other crew were also injured.By the first day nine boats had retired due to a variety of technical problems caused in big part by the treacherous weather. Miraculously, no fatalities were recorded.
This brought about a grimsome reminder of the race in 1998 where the outcome was disastrous.
It was the worst tragedy in the 54 years race history. Weather reports of 45 - 55 knots was forecasted. In reality conditions in excess of 70 knots greeted the sailors. 6 sailors perished in the extreme conditions. 55 had to be rescued and 5 yachts went down in the huge seas.
Most of you would had caught this news on the TV. The race started with near perfect conditions. The next morning, the mast of Maximus broke and one crew suffered a serious head injury but in no mortal danger. Four other crew were also injured.By the first day nine boats had retired due to a variety of technical problems caused in big part by the treacherous weather. Miraculously, no fatalities were recorded.
This brought about a grimsome reminder of the race in 1998 where the outcome was disastrous.
It was the worst tragedy in the 54 years race history. Weather reports of 45 - 55 knots was forecasted. In reality conditions in excess of 70 knots greeted the sailors. 6 sailors perished in the extreme conditions. 55 had to be rescued and 5 yachts went down in the huge seas.
