e e e e thank you also is this song good morning good morning everyone good morning everyone and welcome to the uh the no Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2024 weather briefing I'm Sam Haynes and I'm the uh the Commodore of the club and I'm uh here to also introduce Lee Gard uh David kellet a couple of our directors Peter Godard Jules Hall and uh also introduce Gabriel Woodhouse from the Bureau of meteorology thank you all for attending the briefing and um I'll let uh Gabrielle do her briefing and let us know when the rain's going to stop and then uh come back with a couple of closing remarks thank you good morning everybody um it's nice to be with you uh in person today rather than how it was on uh Thursday but uh what we're looking at at the moment is a cold P that's still currently uh over parts of Victoria and that's what's going to be bringing that southwesterly change um overnight tonight but as you know it's a little bit wet outside at the moment and um with that rainfall we're expecting to start to ease off in the next hour or hour and a half but uh once we get towards race start time we may still still see a few lingering showers and what we can also see on the map it's a little bit hard to see though is in the far Northwestern corner of Sydney there has actually been some lightning strikes earli this morning um in and amongst This Cloud so there is that risk of lightning um within this broader area of cloud uh across the eastern and Northern parts of New South Wales so taking a look at the prognosis charts for the next few days what we see is that coldfront uh move across um Victoria and New South Wales so by tonight um by the middle part of tonight we're expecting that to be over most of the New South Wales bers with those winds turning more Westerly and then southwesterly and then what we see is that coldfront develops a low pressure system over the Tasman Sea so that complex low pressure system looks like it's going to hang around for pretty much most of the week um and that's going to be driving the the winds and the waves that we'll see along the New South Wales Coast in particular and we're expecting some of those conditions to ease as you get past sort of about Cape Byron and in towards the Gold Coast so to summarize at the moment um what we're expecting this morning is for those West northwesterly Winds at race start time and for those West uh West northwesterly Winds to persist through the afternoon and then gradually turn more Westerly in the middle part of the night and by tomorrow much more southwesterly and that's when we'll start to see those winds pick up and then that vigorous South to southwesterly flow persisting through most of the race um and with that we're going to see some pretty large and Powerful waves develop um particularly uh sort of area south of about koughs Harbor um and more so offshore as well um and those large waves will persist into uh most of next week really so at the moment it's very likely that we'll have strong wind warnings and it's also likely that we'll see some Gale wind warnings particularly for the New South Wales Coast on Monday and into Tuesday um and likewise in terms of some of the uh rainfall Outlook we are looking at some showers around for a fair junk of the race but also that chance of thunderstorms and lightning and that's going to be more likely today but we could still see a few lingering uh uh thunderstorms and and a bit of lightning uh through Sunday and Monday as well so taking a closer look at conditions um at the moment uh what we've been seeing in the winds has been around that 5 to 8 knot Mark and probably remain fairly similar and maybe head towards 9 or 10 knots by race start time but through the afternoon we'll start to see those winds um uh you know pick up a little bit once we get out past the heads and there is a chance that if you stay really close inshore that some of those winds may tend a little bit more Northerly or even northeasterly so one thing to watch out for if you're staying uh really close in Shore but in terms of that uh rainfall a little bit of rain around not as much as what we're experiencing right now though so um a little bit of rain but not a huge amount and obviously that slight chance of some lightning as well so as we move through the afternoon um what we see is those northwesterly winds start to pick up a little bit getting up to around 10 to 15 knots but if you're headed well and trly offshore we may start to get up towards 20 knots later in the afternoon and again still looking at that chance of showers and thunderstorms and as we move into the evening what we start to see is those winds start to gradually turn a littleit more Westerly so we're not going to see a very sharp change the way that we tend to when we see like a big suly bust or something like that move up along the New South Wales Coast it's going to be a fairly gradual change rather than an Abrupt change so at the moment we're expecting those winds to be more West to northwesterly by the um evening um and around that 10 to 20 knot Mark and it's more likely that we'll see those 20 knots a little bit further offshore and inshore it probably be around that 10 knot Mark so one thing to to note with that aspect and likewise still looking at those showers and chance of thunderstorms through through the evening now as we start to move into Sunday morning like in the early hours we start to see those winds pick up a little bit so this is where we're expecting um particularly for those areas sort of south of about Southwest rocks to be getting up towards 25 uh 15 to 25 knots sorry and uh the closer inshore you are the lighter some of those winds are going to be so the further offshore you are the more likely that we'll have some of those uh stronger winds around and potentially getting up towards 30 knots once we get offshore um particularly for south of about port mcari or um even uh crowd ahead now as we move into the late morning as you see we start to see those winds pick up a little bit more and tend a little bit more southwesterly so for the most part we're looking at winds getting up towards 20 or 30 knots so strong wind warnings are likely on Sunday and we'll see those uh that sort of warning come into play particularly from the latter half of the morning and uh increase through the afternoon so with that um we're expecting the significant wave heights to start to pick up as well as we see those winds increase now once we get to Sunday afternoon um what we can see is that uh southwesterly wind still there and is going to be there for for pretty much most of the race but the significant wave heights are starting to get up there so looking at uh some areas getting up to about 2 to 3 and a half meters for those significant wave heights and most that is going to be wind driven uh wave rather than swell at this uh point in time and for those areas a little bit further north um that's where we'll see those winds be a little bit lighter um so looking around that uh you know particularly for you know nor of Baler getting around 10 to 20 knots rather than that 20 to 30 knots that we're seeing a bit further south so it's fairly likely that we'll continue to see those strong wind warnings and also the chance of some Gil wind warnings for winds potentially getting up towards 35 knots offshore but it's going to be more likely south of about Foster but it could extend up towards Port mro by uh the latter half of the afternoon or indeed overnight so um one thing to watch out for is that risk of galewind wings for um parts of the mcari coast uh for tomorrow night and as you expect those significant wave heights are getting around to 2 to 3 1/2 M and a little bit lower once we uh head further north up to towards the Gold Coast so um quite windy conditions and uh this story persists um so what we see on the charts here is a little comparison between some of the global models around where that low and its trough is going to be across the tasmin sea so what we can see here is that sort of green and blue coloring um is indicating strong and gale force winds and uh we can see in all of these models is we've got a very complex low pressure system over the Tasman Sea and there is a trough and maybe some other small low pressure centers um that are closer towards the Northern parts of the New South Wales Coast so the closer those are towards the coast it's more likely that we'll see strong and G force winds um particularly more that G force wind uh sort of area so um that's one thing to watch out for for for Monday and also we'll go and have a look at Tuesday as well but um particularly for that northern part of the new South Welles Coast that's where we're looking at um particularly strong conditions for those uh winds as well as those waves so um there is still the chance we could see a thunderstorm offshore um and it's likely that we'll see some damaging uh the Hazardous surf warning as well as strong G force wind warnings and there's a chance that we may end up seeing a uh Coastal Hazard warning for damaging surf so one thing to watch out for um on Monday so if we take a closer look through Monday um what we can see particularly for um north of B coming in towards the Gold Coast his winds will be a little bit lighter up in that area particularly in Shore so probably looking around that 5 to 15 knot Mark and uh particularly as you're coming in towards the Gold Coast some of that uh wind speed may be a little bit variable at times so one thing to watch out for as as you're comeing towards the Gold Coast but a little bit further south that's where it's more likely that we'll see those much stronger winds and uh looking likely for those uh strong and Gale wind warnings um particularly for those areas a little bit further south so south of KS Harbor in particular is where we're looking at Gale wind warnings being likely and that's why we could be seeing those winds get up towards 40 knots um so pretty pretty significant and uh obviously with those sorts of wind speeds we'll be seeing the uh uh significant wave heights increasing so at this stage getting up towards 2 to 4 MERS um and further south will be potentially getting up towards 6 MERS and as you sort of go past Cape Byron and and in towards the Gold Coast uh some of those significant wave heights will be a little bit less because we've got that little bit less wind around this story persists through uh Monday afternoon um and again we're seeing those much stronger uh conditions in terms of the Winds and the waves um for areas most likely south of about koughs Harbor but it's not out of the question that we could see um some of those uh Gil wind warnings extend to areas offshore a little bit further north of kofs Harbor um so this is what it's looking like for some of the significant wave heights um on Monday afternoon where you can see um particularly south of KS Harbor that's where we're starting to pick up a lot more in in the sign signicant wave heights and getting up towards that you know 5 or or 6 M Mark so bear in mind that uh some of those maximum wave heights can be about double that so pretty nasty out there but uh further north um where we don't have the the wind as strong um we see much lower significant wave heights and generally as you're coming in towards the Gold Coast around that 1 to 2 meter Mark and so what we can see here on Monday same story and as we start to see some of those winds turn a little bit more southernly um we start to see those significant wave high extended a bit further north up the coast uh so one thing to watch out for is going to be the the winds and those waves um persisting but uh for coming in towards the Gold Coast itself it looks as though those winds will be a little bit weaker and again they may fluctuate at times and maybe during the afternoon um R inshore we might see those winds turn a little bit more southeasterly but overnight turn a bit more southwesterly coming into the go Coast now as we look at Tuesday what we see is that low pressure system is still hanging out over the tasmin sea but it started to shift a little bit further um to the East and we've also then moved uh some of those troughs through and around so we should start to see slight slackening in the pressure gradient so a slight reduction in some of the wind speeds um but we're still going to be seeing that large and Powerful Sly swell and a few showers lingering as well so um not a huge amount in of a different story in terms of what we're looking at on Tuesday um particularly for those large waves and and those winds so going in towards the Gold Coast uh generally speaking about 5 to 15 knots and um South South southwesterly initially and maybe turning southeasterly for a little period during the afternoon and as you can see some of those significant wave heights quite significant um so uh at this stage it looks as though once you get past Cape Barron and in towards the um near inshore um some of those significant wave heights will be a little bit less so around the sort of know 1 and a half to 2 meter Mark but definitely further south and further offshore we're expecting those significant wave heights to be around that 4 to 5 meter Mark at this stage and having a quick little glance at Wednesday and uh Thursday and Friday what we see is uh we start to see that low shift further east and that Ridge of high pressure move across so by Thursday you can see that for the most part um we're expecting that Ridge to move across New South Wales and by Friday extend right up along the um Queensland Coast so for those that have headed up towards Mai um we're expecting South to southeasterly winds um along the Queensland Coast um probably around that 10 to 20 knot Mark but can't rule out seeing winds up to about 25 knots and a few showers around for those that are headed further north so um at this stage depending on what day you come into the go Coast uh could still be a little bit wet on Sunday but we start to see things clear up uh during the the first half of the week but during the second half it may again become showery and likewise in terms of what we're seeing with the currents um we still have that uh tongue of stronger current um uh north of um sorry um north of uh about Bal and a little bit uh south of uh Port MCC but what we see through the early part of next week is um a little bit of a weak Northerly current develop uh in the near inshore um along parts of the New South Wales coast and sea surface temperatures a little bit cool at this point in time um particularly inshore so Sydney this morning I think was reading about 17° in the offshore Wave Rider boy um and uh what we're expecting along the new southwest coast and in towards uh uh the Gold Coast is temperatures are around 17 to 21 and um those overnight temperatures will be cooling down um over the course of the weekend in the first part of next week Tides a little bit on the decreasing Trend uh through the weekend um and the the high tide is expected around race start to today and um obviously the um higher of the High Tides is going to be in the afternoon so just to summarize we got some West northwesterly Winds um expected at race start and we're expecting those to pick up a little bit through the afternoon and evening tonight and then gradually turn Westerly um in the early hours of Sunday and then become more set in in that southwesterly uh flow from the second half of of Sunday and remain fairly vigorous throughout the race be a little bit lighter winds once you get up past Cape Byron but uh as you expect with these sorts of winds it's going to be some fairly large and Powerful swells around and likely to see Marine wind warnings and uh has the surf warnings being issued and last but not least slight chance of some thunderstorms for today and the next few days um particularly once we move a little bit further offshore so with that I'm going to say thank you and uh good luck and I really look forward to seeing how you guys [Applause] go um thanks Gabriel um if there are any questions for Gabriel or the race committee we could take them now okay thank you um I also just want to uh make a couple of other points about the race uh the Finish Line marks are on the um have got yellow bricks on them so they'll be view viewable on the tracker and you can download um their position on Expedition and also be they'll be able to be seen on the main white race website um so just note that I also would like to um call out just the following Bo to see the sailing office uh Clockwork Pacman son of a son and also if the honor of dinari could please see Justine and myself um I just want to make some closing remarks because at uh at this meeting and online uh we have all the owners the two i's the sailing Masters Navigators I want to thank you for and acknowledge your effort in taking responsibility for your programs and racing in the spirit of adventure and competition that we only get with blue water offshore racing so thank you for uh your competition the forecast looks pretty interesting I think there's plenty of boats which can probably win this race I'll be watching with a lot of interest as to how it all unfolds and I'd also like to thank noes and Shan langman for their support and their sponsorship of the race it's really important to have a great sponsor and N has been fantastic so thank you for him to them and with [Applause] that race well and good luck meeting's closed for