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The Parmelia Race, Plymouth to Perth, 1979 was a feature event of the Western Australian 150th Anniversary Celebrations, 1979. Competitors were invited to recreate the 1829 voyage of the merchant barque ''Parmelia'' bringing the first British settlers to the Swan River Colony. The race was organised by the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Western Australia and sponsored by The Parmelia Hilton International, Perth The course was Plymouth, England - Cape Town, South Africa - Fremantle, Western Australia, a distance of 10,548 nautical miles by the shortest route; the Great-circle distance. In the North Atlantic the conditions were variable. Yachts expect fresh and mainly adverse winds on leaving the English Channel before skirting around the calms of the "North Atlantic High". The North-East Trade Winds follow, fresh and favourable winds right down to the "Doldrums", where there are more calms indispersed with tropical storms. Into the South Atlantic the fleet faced the challenge of the adverse South-East Trades before having to negotiate the "South Atlantic High" and then finding fresh Westerlies which pushed the fleet towards Cape Town. Leg 2 was to present tricky conditions on departure from Cape Town prior to entering fresh and favorable Westerlies. Yachts following the "Great Circle" had to venture down to 45° South latitude, into the very vigorous "Roaring Forties". And the final approaches to Fremantle could also be tricky. In an endeavour to shorten the arrival period in Fremantle two new formats were introduced to the world of long-distance ocean racing. The formats proved to be popular and more than 50 entries were received. However, only 27 started in Plymouth and another joined the fleet in Cape Town for Leg 2. At the time it was claimed to be the biggest fleet to contest an "inter-ocean" yacht race; i.e. a race which traverses more than one ocean. ==IOR Division== Ocean racing yachts rating between 20 and 70 feet when measured under the International Offshore Rule were invited to enter, and each leg of the race was run as a "pursuit" race. This necessitated "Fixed Handicaps" using the Time-on-Distance handicapping system. A "Handicap Distance" was allotted to each leg which, taking into consideration the wind systems to be encountered, reflected the most likely distance to be sailed by the "average" yacht. The handicaps for each leg then decided each yacht's starting date. Then, after minor changes to the finishing times, the "Corrected Finishing Times" decided the order of placings in each leg. The Overall placings were decided by the combined "Corrected Times" of both legs. IOR Fleet in Handicap Order: # ''Ilusion'' (representing Spain), Noray 43 sloop, 13.00 metres (length overall), Enrique Vidal (skipper) # ''Bubblegum'' (Scotland), Contessa 43 sloop, 13.03 metres, Iain McGowan Fyfe # ''Thor'' (South Africa), Montevideo 43 sloop, 13.10 metres, Dr. Ken Warr - Leg 2 only # ''Parmelia'' (Western Australia), Curran 46 cutter, 13.90 metres, Bob Williams # ''Spirit of Ramfish IV'' (Netherlands), Suncoast 50 cutter, 15.25 metres, Adriaan van Stolk - Leg 1 & Rob Kwekkeboom - Leg 2 # ''Independent Endeavour'' (Western Australia), Swan 65 ketch, 19.66 metres, Skip Novak King's Legend # ''Gauloises 3'' (France), one-off sloop, 19.20 metres, Phillipe Facque. # ''Seltrust Endeavour'' (England), one-off staysail schooner, 17.02 metres, Capt. Mike Durham # ''Anaconda II'' (Australian Armed Services), one-off ketch, 25.45 metres, Josko Grubic # ''Siska'' (Western Australia), one-off sloop, 23.47 metres, Rolly Tasker Whilst ''Independent Endeavour'' was a Western Australian entry it's skipper, Skip Novak, was an American who had navigated the Swan 65 sloop ''King's Legend'' into second place in the second Whitbread Round the World Race. And Skip put together an experienced "international" crew. The fleet departed Plymouth between 28 August and 6 September. ''Independent Endeavour'' was the first into Cape Town on 12 October followed by ''Gauloises 3'', ''Spirit of Ramfish IV'' and ''Siska''. Then the "Finishing Time Corrections" advanced ''Siska'' into third place and she had set the Fastest Time. The first six yachts arrived within six days and ''Seltrust Endeavour'' was the last to finish, 18 days after the leader. The Leg 2 start period was from 26 October to 1 November. A little more than half way across a crewman on ''Seltrust Endeavour'' sustained suspected broken ribs when the yacht broached before a rogue wave. He was lifted off quite dramatically by a helicopter from the Australian naval supply ship HMAS ''Morseby'', which was accompanying the fleet at the time. Then the Fremantle finish was very close. Both ''Siska'' and ''Gauloises 3'' were making a southerly approach to Fremantle anticipating the favourable, over-night south-easters and daytime south-westerlies which generally prevail in November along the Western Australian coast. But an unseasonal north-east gale greeted them which, in turn, favoured ''Independent Endeavour'', which was making a more northerly approach. ''Independent Endeavour'' finished in the evening of 21 November, a little less than three hours in front of ''Siska'', and ''Gauloises 3'' crossed the line early the following morning. This time the "Finishing Time Corrections" bumped ''Gauloises 3'' up into second place and, once again, ''Siska'' had the Fastest Time. The first eight yachts finished in four days and the whole fleet in six. And the Overall Results were the same as both legs; ''Independent Endeavour'' first, ''Gauloises 3'' second and ''Siska'' third and Fastest. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Parmelia Yacht Race」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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