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On the sea the term "ghost ship" has unpleasant connotations.
But in the Sydney to Hobart race this year, the "ghost ship" in question is a tracking comparison between a yacht's current speed and the speed Wild Oats XI was doing in 2005 when she set the current record.
The comparisons are good. In the afternoon sun propelled by northerly winds she is making her way across Bass Strait at speeds approaching 25 knots.
If nautical terminology is not your thing that's the equivalent of driving your car at 40km/h - fast sailing. An average speed of just fewer than 15 knots will get a yacht down the 628-nautical-mile course in record time.
There's talk of another treble - line honours, an overall win and the race record.
If only it was as straightforward as that. The intangibles are so many and varied that even the most sophisticated tracking technology is good as it can only serve as an indicator.
The first and most likely variable is the question as to what will happen after nightfall. It's predicted that on current pace the leading yacht could reach Tasman Island by the early hours of tomorrow morning; that's just 41 nautical miles from the finish line in Hobart.
By that hour of the day though the winds could have really shut down and it's unlikely that through the wee hours the leader will be travelling at a record-setting pace.
It's a question of how far south the super maxis can propel themselves in the optimum conditions presented this afternoon. Then, as always, it'll be the intrigue as to how the leaders negotiate Storm Bay and then the notoriously fickle conditions on the Derwent River.
There's other variables too. Overnight Wild Oats XI collided with an unknown submerged object and sustained "superficial damage" to the dagger boards below the hull. Moving at such high speeds, these high-powered yachts are at the mercy of dangers below, from shipping containers to sun fish. Ragamuffin LOYAL has also experienced gear trouble in this race so far.
It's also worth considering the human element. As Wild Thing skipper Grant Wharington discovered to his fury yesterday, the interpretation of even a minor transgression of the race rules can create mayhem.
For the last two years Wild Oats XI and LOYAL, after crossing the line first respectively, have endured protracted protest hearings brought on by the race committee. Both times the winning yacht was reprieved, but there was no such luck for Wharington yesterday after the committee found that his transgression of race rule 4.1 was sufficient for his race to be over before it began.
If it's not danger lurking under the water, it's the eagle eye of rulekeepers and the winds that can shut down at any time though most likely overnight.
The speed of the super maxis has one tangible benefit for the yachting lay person. If the line honours winner does happen to miss the record then the finish time will be some time in the abundant daylight hours summer provides, a happier outcome for all concerned than a pre-dawn finish. Like the "ghost tracker", technology once again seems to have changed something else for the better.
Topics: sailing, other-sports, sport, sydney-2000, nsw, hobart-7000, tas, australia
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