Season Report - Summer of 2005/2006
Unseasonal
weather conditions made planning for Cook Strait very
difficult this summer, which meant we had to take calculated
risks so that swimmers could achieve their goals.
COOK STRAIT 2006:
Successful
Swims
Robert Binney
was the first swimmer up in 2006.
The weather finally broke on the 10th
February. It was
7.15 a.m. when Rob hit the water at Ohau Point.
The water temperature on the day ranged from 16.4 on
the North Island and dropped to 14.5 on the South Island.
Rob finished in 7 hours 11 minutes with a great effort.
One of the highlights of the day was a sleepy shark which swam
very calmly and slowly past the pilot launch Tangaroa as we
were looking out the window preparing to start the swim.
As this was Rob’s second attempt on Cook Strait it
was very rewarding to get him across in such a reasonable
time. Rob’s
effort of consistently swimming 4 km per hour every hour
ensured him of a good time and successful crossing.
I wish Rob all the best
for any marathon swims which he undertakes.
Penny
Palfrey came all the way from Townsville, Australia.
Penny got into the water at Perano Head on the South
Island at 7.00 a.m. on the 5th April.
Her time of 8 hours 26 minutes was a great swim. Penny
became the oldest female to swim Cook Strait.
The conditions on the day
were calm to start with, with the water temperature on the
South Island of 14.6 degrees and when Penny finished the
temperature was 15.3 degrees.
Some of the highlights of
the day were the 300 – 400 dolphins that came to play with
Penny for several hours in the middle of Cook Strait.
The weather ended up being rather sloppy for 4 – 5
hours of the swim.
Penny’s effort was huge considering the coldest water
temperature in which she would swim in Townsville
would be around 20 degrees.
Being able to spend 8˝ hours in sub 15 degrees was an
excellent effort.
Hopefully this has been good training for Penny’s English
Channel attempt later this year.
We wish her all the best.
Unsuccessful
Attempts
We had five
unsuccessful attempts on Cook Strait this summer, failing for
a variety of reasons. For
some the water temperature was too cold at 12 degrees at the
beginning of May. For
others it was chronic sea sickness or bad luck due to
unpredictable weather and tidal conditions on the day.
This is why Cook Strait one of the toughest and
unpredictable marathon swims in the world.
Weather
Conditions
The weather
conditions in the Cook Strait this year have been very
frustrating. When
the tides have been right for swimming the wind has been
blowing. When it
has been calm, the tides have not been right.
This makes it very frustrating for swimmers and pilots
who are striving for the best day. One hopes when we get windy
conditions before Christmas we should have calm months in
January/February/March which is the warmest and best time for
swimming.
Summary
Unseasonal weather
conditions made planning for Cook Strait very difficult this
summer, which meant we had to take calculated risks so that
swimmers could achieve their goals.
Unfortunately, one swimmer returned to Australia
without even an opportunity to attempt the swim due to poor
weather conditions. Swimmers
must be prepared for cold water and rough conditions as we do
not seem to get the calm flat days as most swimmers expect.
This is a very tough piece of water to swim.
The best advice I can give is for swimmers to arrive in
the best possible shape, being prepared to swim for around 10
hours in water temperature ranging from 12 – 20 degrees
depending on the summer conditions and being able to swim
consistently at 3 kms plus per hour for the 10 hours.
This will give you your best possible chance of
conquering Cook Strait. If
you come unprepared Cook Strait will be very unforgiving.
It is very important that people book their swims 12 – 18 months in advance as bookings to swim Cook Strait are very heavy. We need the enrolment form and deposit to confirm your reservation.
I wish everyone good luck for their future swims.
Philip Rush