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Page B4; Anges 26, 1979- ~ Sunday News

“Light. “to. codérate
southwest wind"! That's
what the British weather
forecast: “predicted a’ couple
of weeks ago - just before

“ helicopters ands ships: pulled ~

at least 130: survivors ‘from
the raging seas after the
storms ran rampant among
306 yachts in the..| 970-
kilometre Fastnet Race from
the English Channel to
southern Ireland and back.

i

“<l¢ompetitors want to know
“where the gusts will. come
from, their speed, velocity
changes throughout the day,

portantly, they want to learn
how to recognize a Situation
as it develops and know what
is likely to happeri next.
‘Since sailors at this
competitive level have
several suits of sails that they
use in different wind

and probably most im-_

Since then sailors around
the world question
forecasters, hull designers,

race, organisers ‘and Safety-
committees. -

i:
} »

a

We suddenly realise the
importance of the men, who
design and build ships. The

price of errors in judgement, : .

ignorance, stupidity or
dishonesty. on the part of
these men is revealed by the
comments in the shipping
news. “Lost at sea with all
hands”.

- “Wrecked, ship .a total
loss”. Every naval architect
and ‘shipbuilder worth his
salt realises that this is the
judgement of a court from
which there is no appeal. No
excuse will serve the craft-
sman, if loss results from his
acts. Therefore designers
and craftsmen make sure
that their vessels are tested
for strength, and proper
performance - under normal
conditions. But what are
ese normal conditions in a
highly competitive race.

Many skippers misjudge

‘velocities, wind speed

forecats can ,be critical.

They got to know, when a:

persistent or continual shift
is going to take -place;
knowing it in adyance can be
the difference between
winning or losing - or bet-
ween life and death.

Olympic yachting teams.
employ a meteorologist, who:
have professional experience
in small” area wind
forecasting and can inform
sailors what would for in-
stance happen if it did begin
to clear up; that the wind
would back to a _ south-
westerly direction, light to
moderate;"4-12 knots, that it
might change to 270 degress
to 320 degress. Possible
periods of very light 0-3
knots winds oscillating back
and forth either side of 270
degrees, visibility 7 miles,
decreasing showers, waves -
1’-3’.

I don’t want to bore you

; with the clinical data, but I

think it is clear that weather
forecasters have a cross to
bear, and if they don't make
us happy, what should the
sailors say.

know where the wind comes
from, because it changes
constantly.

To a racer, 90 percent of
the time races are won with
one’s own skills, sailing
instincts, past experience,
and watching the com,
petition - rather than wat-
ching the weather.

Lenda
hand...

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the ability of their vessel and ; ;
blame the designers if Each time I watch the re |
something goes wrong, but sailors race across English -

I'm certain that the com- Bay. I wonder‘how do they

petitive urge drive some of

the yachtsmen to take un-

necessary risks. N ew ‘80’
What about the forecast

before a race? Why wasn’t

the race called off before the Mercury

yachts set off from the Isle of

Wright? Everyone realises Outboards

sometimes forecasters are

wrong - but som wrong that

17 sailors die and 20 yachts - "

sink? I am_ certain that =

forecasters do the best ;

possible job to inform the a 2 id aN oe
general public about any o

change in the present. wa : 7 - 7 ‘Specially good when you've just won
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A racing sailor's interest in
the wind goes far beyond
ae.  hat_any_ public__forecast.....
“ —~F——couldgonceivably give the ie
short-to-medium o wind:
oscillations as well as’ the
persistant shifts, such as a
gradient wind shifting to a

sea breeze.

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