Teen sailor Jessica Watson and the weather on the way

8:33 PM Thu 29 Apr 2010 GMT

'Saturday forecast and Jessica’s current position - see the systems lining up' .

16-year-old almost-circumnavigator sailor Jessica Watson, and more importantly her support team, always knew that the final stages of her journey were going to be the hard bit, and Ella's Pink Lady is now caught in a morass of passing gales.

In attempting to pass below all three high latitude segments of her journey - Cape Horn, Cape Agulhas at the southerly tip of Africa, and South West Cape at the southerly tip of Tasmania, the voyage has to be scheduled to a plan that will be a compromise between the best weather for all three.

There's a reason why the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is staged in mid-summer,

Sunday forecast - .. .

and it's not only because it's holiday season and the harbour departure looks good on the TV set. The best weather for being in Tasmanian waters is January to March, but Jessica had to balance her timing with the rounding of Cape Horn, which she completed a little early - February is the best time for the Horn as well.

Now, to the left, you can see the systems that build up in the winter, and the forecasts for the next three days. The young sailor, who has been experiencing 8-12 metre swells and high winds, sometimes exceeding 50 knots, is now waiting for the worst of the current systems to pass before diving below Tasmania and into its lee.

On the subject of 8-12 metre

Monday forecast - .. .

swells, a word is necessary. Without knowing the distance between crests, the size of the swell cannot give one an idea of the conditions. A twelve metre swell can be anything from a long slow very pleasant mountain of water to a raging torrent, simply depending how far apart are the peaks of the waves. Jessica's blog, written not for sailors but for her mostly non-sailing fans, is vague in the particulars.

However, in the position that Ella's Pink Lady is in at the moment, the water between the yacht and King Island is shallowing, which would suggest that her seas would be very confused.

It's been a long journey, and, by Jessica's own admission, the fact that she knows she is not alone - is being watched by half the world, is some comfort. The thoughtful sailor will know that, while Jessica will not have taken any record away from fellow Australian sailor Jesse Martin, whose journey complied with the demanding criteria of the WSSRC and Jessica's did not, it has been no mean feat to get as far as she has.

The boat is strong, and Jessica has now been seasoned by many months of hard sailing. This is, hopefully, her final test.

by Nancy Knudsen

Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:

Newsfeed supplied by

#News #Cruising #Sailing

Cruising

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

Watch stints, handovers and sleep that holds up

Cruising

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Cross on slack or the first of the flood.

Nearby
North Head, NSW	7 kn NNW
Little Bay, NSW	4 kn NW
Cronulla, NSW	12 kn NW
Windiest in Australia
Hogan Island, VIC	32 kn WSW	12°
Most Windless in Australia
Edinburgh Airport, SA	Calm	9°
Hottest in Australia
Lajamanu, NT	12 kn NNW	35°
Coldest in Australia
Mount Wellington, TAS	14 kn WSW	-1°
Wettest in Australia
Cape Moreton, QLD	81.4 mm

Gear Reviews
	Simmer 2026 blacktip team carbon
	Severne MONSTER
	North 3Di
Gps and Speed talk
	GPS Team Challenge has new hosting!
	Can't access GPSTC on my phone
	Budgie weed
General
	Board Transport
	Windsurfing masts
Foiling
	The foil freestyle wave - mojo tasty 105
Wave sailing
	Foot strap width

Teen sailor Jessica Watson and the weather on the way

Night Watch: Stay Useful After Dark

The Bar Crossing: Wait for Slack Water

Live Weather

Nearby

Windiest in Australia

Most Windless in Australia

Hottest in Australia

Coldest in Australia

Wettest in Australia

(Other) Articles

Windsurfing Forum Topics

Buy & Sell

Unifoil Unifoil Quiver Killer, Vyper 130, 830Mm

2024 Amos Shapes Phantom

2025 Obm Freeride Carbon

2019 Airush Ultra

2024 Unifoil Hyper2 250

Aerotech Boom Bag

2025 Eleveight Kites Ws V8

Know before you go

Download the Seabreeze app for iOS or Android.

Weather

Activities

About

Other

Support