Monday evening’s remarks of “Great Sailing, 15kts beam reach” and “Smokin” back up the last two days' race statistics. Spirits are high, distances made good smashed 160nm and speeds crept over 9kts. Tuesday, saw the biggest day of the race for our six skippers, currently speeding towards Southport. The music playlist today; Val Doonican, Bob Marley, and Modern Housework songs?! Great to hear our skipper’s sense of humour and sailing pleasure loud and clear. Out the front and back, Sarau and Crocus were frustrated in light winds Monday until finally at 1500 Crocus started to sail in a southerly wind of 13Kts. Sarau sits in Line Honours position with a DTF of 150nm.
Mid-fleet there has been some leap-frogging and Hullabaloo, Mister Lucky, and Allegresse are converging closer. Mister Lucky and Hullabaloo were close together again Monday (12nm) – visible to each other on AIS and possibly close enough for a radio call. Their progress Tuesday means they might now contest a very close finish with just hours between each other after 10 days of Tasman sailing. Mister Lucky made the greatest distance over the last 24 hours. In his morning schedule, Mark commented “Amazing how dark it still is at 0630 now that we are so far west!”
In the early hours of the Tuesday morning Frontier sailed by Lord Howe Island and is running parallel to the rhumbline at present after a “very boisterous day”.
Crocus and Craig have been enjoying a “wild ride!”, maintaining 8kts in a 20kt SE. He’s expecting to “come up on the rhumbline soon”
Sunday was reported as a ‘shorts and pina colada day’ whilst on Monday with the southerly change out came the ‘Merino and Goretex’.
In Southport, members of the race committee, sponsors Ray White New Plymouth, family, and friends are gathering ready to welcome each skipper over the finish line and into the Superyacht berth at Southport Marina.
