Provided By The University Of Athens
For The International Aegean Rally

During the International Aegean Sailing Rally, which is organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC), the Ocean Physics and Modeling Team (OPAM) of the University of Athens, will provide a detailed wave forecast every 3 hours of the areas where the regatta will be taking place. In this way, for the first time this year, the participating teams will have at their disposal the weather forecast, which will be provided by the National Observatory of Athens, as well as the wave forecasts which will specify the height and direction of the waves. It is believed that this combined information will play an important role in the safety of the regatta as well as the sailing strategy which will be followed by the participating teams.

The forecasts will be directly available from the University of Athens web site (http://pelagos.oc.phys.uoa.gr/page3.html/) and will cover the geographical areas of the Southern Aegean Sea, the Cyclades and the Saronikos Gulf. They will consist of maps showing the forecasted Significant Wave Height (see footnote) and the Direction of the Waves at each point. The numerical models will provide a new 60-hr forecast starting at 0300 UTC (20 maps at 3 hr intervals for each day) on a daily basis. Furthermore, the significant wave height and direction for the forecast period will be provided in the form of time series plots at pre-selected points along each of the four legs of the rally.