Melbourne to Osaka Double Handed Race 20.4.13 0600hrs

Mixed reports this morning from the fleet with only Wasabi near hull speed, others making roughly half speeds in breezes up to 8 kts. Turbulence reports ‘sea calm as glass, Wind 319M  @ 2.5, Boat Speed 1.5 K, 1022 mb pressure and Optimus Prime Boat Speed    7.4 knots SOG 7 knots Wind 8 knots from 065 degrees. Weather Wet and cold overnight Full cloud. Funnelweb announced she has retired due to time and lack of wind. and will motor sail to Hokko. Kiss Goodbye to MS is now motor sailing to Saipan for fuel and provisions and hopefully repairs as she has not reported in recently. Southern Cross is heading to Chuuk for fuel and provisions and has roughly 180 nm to go to get there. All things considered the weather is not behaving itself and the maps changing quite unpredictably. Notwithstanding this, the leaders are pushing on and Escapade has only a Sydney Hobart to go!-RF

1800 19/4/13 Frustrated with calms, downwind and reaching!. Time to give the windward boats a go? How about some tacking? Out of the trades and back into variables coming up, but first to deal with the centers of the belt of Northern highs. Looks like Escapade might have broken through and mixed results through the rest of the fleet. Kiss Goodbye to MS and Southern Cross are a bit happier now after motoring so long and finding some wind assistance at last.  Another 2 days should see Escapade begin to mix with the shipping. Bit of a shock after all the rhetoric about the busy port of Melbourne. I wonder if anyone is going to shout ‘Land Ho’ when it happens and such a long time at sea. Another feature is often large eddies of the Kuroshio to 50 miles diameter in which ships ‘park’, while waiting for cargo?  Escapade has roughly held her position at 155 nm ahead of Wasabi and a further 25 nm to Optimus Prime. Seems gusto did not have a good day with 30 miles for a half days run. Looking through the fleet you’d have to wonder why go yacht racing? What about motor cars? 3 months work preparing and all over in a couple of hours? Big adrenalin rush! I like to think of ocean racing as a controlled adrenalin release. Let’s see what overnight does, but night probably makes no difference to the sailors now.-RFH