Shaun Quincey has been rowing across the Tasman for over 30 days now on his epic expedition Tasman Trespasser II. We have put together some basic analysis on his route so far and made some interesting comparisons to Crossing the Ditch. We are yet to digitize Colin Quincey’s route and about a week out from Shaun’s landing we will look to profiling all three side by side.
The images below show the route taken by Tasman Trespasser II and Crossing the Ditch respectively. Markers are placed at 24 hour intervals, TT2 square day markers and CTD round day markers. Day 1 is 24hrs after departure and so on. You will note that the line changes colour. The colour of the line represents the speed that the vessel was travelling at the time of each specific GPS report, as a basic rule of thumb GPS reports for the two trips are 10 to 15 mins apart. The legend in the bottom left of each image shows the colour corresponding to certain speeds.
Click on each image for the full size render. Enjoy!
The Rush Labs Team
Halfway Relative Progress Australia to New Zealand
We start with the first 30 days relative to the distance Shaun intends on rowing. We absolutely love this image as you couldn’t distance yourself further from the pain, local conditions, adventures and mishaps by looking at a Satellite image and critiquing a superhuman effort. When Colin Quincey, Andrew McAuley and Crossing the Ditch planned their respective crossings everyone acknowledged that mathematically speaking the crossing should take a little over 30 days all thing being equal. Each expedition however also noted that the likelihood of 30 days straight of perfect conditions are near none. The Tasman serves up an unpredictable mix of easterlies, westerlies, storms, dynamic current patterns and challenging swells. Base3, an expedition of four rowing from New Zealand to Australia and tracing Colin Quincey’s route, crossed the Tasman in an unbelievable 32 days.
Halfway Progress Australia to Day 30
We have moved in closer for this image to show the first 30 days only. We will go into further detail on the route below however cant go by the distance between day marker 10 and day marker 22 which is only one days good paddling apart.
Week 1
What an awesome first week! Day 1 gets Shaun off the shelf and into a massive day 2 registering 8-9km/h in parts and softening into the evening. Really steady days 3 and 4 into a bumpy 5 and solid 6. Day 7 didn’t make much lateral progress. What we are not covering in this analysis is the combined current/oceanographic and met picture. Shaun and his support crew sometimes make decisions that at this level do not make sense. On days like this he may be resting and being taken by the current or moving into position to catch a stronger current pattern. Other times he might be trying to avoid adverse met conditions.
Week 2
Days 8 through 14 in isolation are great as well. Massive days 8, 9 and 10 before a frustrating few days on 11 and 12. Days 13 and 14 are the beginning of some tough conditions that were unfortunately just the beginning.
Week 3
No doubt a week Shaun will not forget soon enough. The trend set at the back-end of week 2 continued into a horrific day 15 and 16. 17 is no doubt sheer determination as is the loop-de-loop in day 18. Be careful to look at day 19 (between markers 18 and 19). Day 19 is a tough day and great distance to barely make it laterally past his day 11 marker. Days 20 and 21 are the end of an era.
Week 4
Shaun hits the straps again in Week 4 driving a magnificent day 22 and 23. Day 24 was outstanding with a day lost in 25. 26 through 30 are solid pushing Shaun over halfway.
Tasman Trespasser II vs Crossing the Ditch
This image overlays TT2 departing Coffs Harbour (Northern departure point – square day markers) with CTD departing Forster (Southern departure point – round day markers). It is busy but with some careful review provides a great head-to-head comparison of Shaun’s 30 day progress to the entire CTD route. At this level it is worth calling out that TT2 encountered issues much earlier on than CTD. The first cluster of day markers is TT2 circle-work (remember days 11-22). The second cluster of day markers occurs just above TT2s day 30 marker and CTDs circle-work (days 22-33). Our fingers are crossed that Shaun has had his circle-work time already and that another isn’t lying in wait ahead of him.
Tasman Trespasser II vs Crossing the Ditch // Week 1
This image is a tighter comparison of week one for TT2/CTD. CTD made some excellent progress through this period. TT2 spends a lot of time on 5 through 8 with not much lateral progress then into some circle-work.
Tasman Trespasser II vs Crossing the Ditch // Weeks 2-3-4
This image is a tighter comparison of weeks 2, 3 and 4 of TT2 alongside CTD progress. Note the relative distance each expedition is making between day markers, the speeds they are maintaining and of course TT2 early vs CTD late circle-work. Forgetting what was behind each at this stage, TT2 is well placed to make a sub 60 day crossing. The two are laterally very comparable and generally the next 30 days were more favourable for CTD than the first 30.
Tasman Trespasser II vs Crossing the Ditch // Halfway to New Zealand
Crystal Balls are out now. CTD lost much time on days 35 through 37 and 45 through 48 before driving into New Zealand. TT2 is half way across with the hardest half ahead. Fatigue and exhaustion will have set in a long time ago now and Shaun will be relying on determination and self-discipline to pull back on those oars over and over. Shaun is a remarkable character, calm and collected, easy going and mentored by a man, his father, who showed the world that crossing the Tasman could be done solo back in 1977. We wish Shaun the best of luck for the remainder of his crossing.
Acknowledgements
Satellite Imagery and Geographic Overlays copyright as noted in image (Data SIO, NOAA, US Navy, NGA, GEBCO, Digital Globe and Google. GPS Track Data provided by TracPlus as part of TT2 Live Coverage.
