Roaring Forties

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The Clipper Route followed by ships sailing between England and Australia/New Zealand

The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds. These winds are due to the Coriolis effect. Because there is less landmass to slow them down, the winds are especially strong on the Southern Hemisphere, notably in the South Indian Ocean, which is now incorporated into what is known as the Southern Ocean

Wellington, New Zealand, is the world's only national capital located in the roaring forties latitudes. The island of Tasmania, the southern most state of Australia, lies entirely within the Roaring Forties, and as a consequence has a lightly populated and windswept western coastline.

The winds of the Roaring Forties played a significant part in the clipper route.

The winds were probably first identified by Dutch sailor Henderik Brouwer in 1610 as a means to rapidly transit across the Indian Ocean en route to Batavia (Dutch East India Company). The traditional route, pioneered by Portuguese sailors, involved following the coast of East Africa after the Cape, through the Mozambique Channel and then across the Indian Ocean, sometimes via India. However, Portuguese occupation of Mozambique and navigational hazards made the route less than desirable. The route travelling east of Madagascar was also troublesome, with problematic winds and currents and the risk of a ship becoming becalmed in equatorial waters, and the crew dying. The solution was discovered by Brouwer in 1610, and involved sailing eastwards at the latitude 35-45° South until turning northwards at 110° East. By utilising the prevailing westerlies, the so-called Brouwer Route reduced travel time by up to six months, and became mandatory for all Dutch vessels. However, in the seventeenth century calculating the 110° East longitude was not an exact science and ships risked being wrecked on the reefs and coast of Western Australia.^[1]

[edit] See also

• Horse latitudes
• Furious Fifties
• Screaming Sixties

[edit] References

1. ^ Jeffreys, Max (1999). Murder, Mayhem Fire and Storm: Australian Shipwrecks. Sydney: New Holland Publishers (Australia), p. 1-2. ISBN 1-86436-445-9. 

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