Into the Storm Read Free Page A

handicap based on a mathematical calculation of its potential speed, and the boat with the best corrected time based on its handicap is the winner.
    Of course, there will always be a boat that makes it over the finish line first. Winning line honors is not an insignificant accomplishment, and sailors compete to be first. But winning line honors is different than being the overall winner .
    Like the America's Cup, the first boat to finish will undoubtedly be an expensive boat with the latest technology. Anyone with enough money to build a state-of-the-art boat and hire a world-class crew has a chance at being first across the line. Enough money, perhaps, and maybe enough Dramamine. But the handicap system of the Fastnet levels the playing field, and it gives great sailors on smaller boats a chance to take home the Challenge Cup.
    The Fastnet is a tough race. It also gained a worldwide reputation for being a dangerous race when, in 1979, 303 yachts were hit by 60-knot winds. The unexpected storm slammed into the fleet, bringing 40-foot waves that smashed into boats and sailors, ultimately claiming fifteen lives.
    The Fastnet is a demanding race that's not just for rich guys. It takes skill to win, and it can be a treacherous undertaking. But there is another race that's not just for the wealthy. It is a race that many call the Everest of ocean racing. That event is the Sydney to Hobart Race.
The Sydney to Hobart Race
    The Sydney to Hobart Race may not be widely known throughout the world, but most Australians are familiar with “the Hobart,” and many are at least acquainted with its history. In 1945, Peter Luke and several Australian sailing enthusiasts who had formed the Cruising Yacht Club invited Captain John Illingworth, a visiting British Naval Officer stationed in Sydney, to accompany them on a cruise to Hobart. Illingworth thought it was a superb idea but persuaded them to make the cruise a race, and so the Sydney to Hobart was born.
    The Sydney to Hobart soon became an annual event. It was exciting and could be dangerous. The Sydney to Hobart soon took its place alongside England's Fastnet and America's Newport to Bermuda as one of the three “majors” in offshore racing. All three events demand the highest skill and endurance no matter what the conditions. Australians come out in the hundreds of thousands to watch the start in Sydney Harbour, and sailors throughout the world watch for news of the race with great anticipation. As one newspaper put it, “It's a disease, not a yacht race.”
How Ocean Races Are Classified
    Ocean races are classified by categories that calibrate them according to the degree of difficulty. The most challenging are Category 0 races, defined as:
    Trans-oceanic races, including races which pass through areas in which air or sea temperatures are likely to be less than 5° C other than temporarily, where yachts must be completely self-sufficient for very extended periods of time, capable of withstanding heavy storms and prepared to meet serious emergencies without the expectation of outside assistance.
    The Volvo Ocean Race is a Category 0 race. Although the route may vary, boats sail some 37,000 miles through some of the world's most treacherous seas. Crews have no fresh food and take only one change of clothes. It is not for the fainthearted.
    Neither is the Sydney to Hobart Race, which is a Category 1 competition. It is not considered transoceanic, and temperatures are not below 5°C “except temporarily,” but it is long distance and well offshore. The rest of the description is precisely the same as a Category 0 race. Category 1 competitions include:
    Races of long distance and well offshore, where yachts must be completely self-sufficient for extended periods of time, capable of withstanding heavy storms and prepared to meet serious emergencies without the expectation of outside assistance.
    A race like the Fastnet is a tough, demanding race, and it can