The '''south coast tornado''' was a Waterspout/Tornado spawned by a Supercell_thunderstorm off the south coast of New_South_Wales on the 26th of December, 2001, during the Sydney_to_Hobart_Yacht_Race. The tornado passed very close to the Yacht ''Nicorette'', which was severely damaged but able to complete the race with a spare Mainsail. ''Nicorette'' recorded Wind_speeds of close to 100 knots (making the tornado at least F2 on the Fujita_scale) and was struck by Hail the size of Golf_balls. According to the boat's meteorologist, the tornado began with a diameter of around 50 meters, but grew in size until it was 500 meters across. http://www.weatherzone.com.au/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000166 The waterspout proceeded to strike several other boats with weaker winds. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/sailing/12/27/sydney.spt/index.html The tornado should not be confused with the severe storm that wrought havoc on the race in 1998. http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/editorial.asp?key=551 == External links == * Forum with numerous images of the tornado Category:Tornadoes_in_Australia