Weather Forecast for Pacific Series - Feb 12 - RepCast #6

Auckland, February 12, 2009  - See previous RepCast Feb 10 - See Latest RepCast

Windspotting, 110 feet up.  Photo: ©2009 Gilles Martin-Raget

Thursday 12th February 2009:
Repcast chance of racing is about 70%... it will be even warmer 25 degrees will be the high and those northerlies of 18-20 knots will have arrived.  High Tide on the Waitemata is 0952hrs and the waves will build to 1 metre waves today after the tide has turned (0952 hrs) -- the breeze looks like it will be stable in pressure with a chance of going from N to NNW later in the day.  There is a chance of some light rain in the afternoon so there may be some isolated squalls.  Those 1 metre waves will produce a fair bit of energy and will be choppy with a 5 second period between crests which is going to but a bit of pressure on the equipment with wind in the upper range powering up the rigs and wind against tide today.  Remember these boats don't have reefs in the mainsail.

Friday 13th February 2009:
RepCast chance of racing is 70% -- Thursday evening the wind will veer towards the west with some light rain overnight and then move to the South West Quarter.  Those waves will ease to almost a mill pond but the breeze will fill in from the SW - it will be 18-20 knots in the morning and will freshen to 23-26 knots all afternoon.   The change in direction sees cooler conditions with an expected high of 21 degrees down from the 26-27 degrees and 90%+ humidity we've had in the past week.

Saturday 14th February 2009:
Finals day -- the washing machine of wind direction in Auckland arrives again with that fresh Sou'Wester on Friday swing to SE during Friday evening.  By the morning, it's filled to 25-27 knots  and 1.2 metre waves as the low tide arrives at 0522 hours.  The waves will be at a similar level of energy as Thursday afternoon and if anything will be choppier with an even shorter period between successive crests.  The wind will ease a touch in the afternoon and come around to due East with a cool change dropping the temperature down to about 19 degrees.

So at last a few days of wind to get the programme done... however the intensity of competition, conditions and programme are going to push the design envelope of these boats so I hope the maintenance crews have had some rest in the past few days...
 

Links of Interest:

CupInfo's main Louis Vuitton Pacific Series page

Visit the Official LVPS Web Site